Financial news

• Whirlpool should be made to recall tumble dryers, say MPs

  10-05-2018 18:50 via theguardian.com
  Committee accuses firm of not taking responsibility for defects that have caused household firesWhirlpool should be ordered to recall millions of tumble dryers as they pose a serious risk of bursting into flames, a group of MPs has told the government. Rachel Reeves, the Labour MP who chairs the business, energy and industrial strategy select committee, has written to ministers calling for them to take action over Whirlpool’s refusal to “take proper responsibility” for the defe
  
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• Bank of England holds UK interest rates at 0.5%

  10-05-2018 18:41 via theguardian.com
  Decision seemingly based on data showing economy faltering in first few months of 2018The weaker-than-expected performance of the economy in early 2018 has forced the Bank of England to put back plans for an increase in interest rates until later this year. Continue reading...
  
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• Melrose shareholders revolt against directors' £42m bonuses

  10-05-2018 18:30 via theguardian.com
  Rebellion at new owner of GKN too late to stop bumper £167m payout shared by four directorsShareholders in turnaround specialist Melrose have staged one of the largest pay revolts this year, amid disgruntlement over a decision to pay a £42m bonus to each of four directors.Nearly 26% of Melrose shareholders who voted at the firm’s annual meeting on Thursday failed to back its pay report, with leading City institution and top 20 shareholder Standard Life Aberdeen among the rebels
  
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• BT's credibility is still very much on the line | Nils Pratley

  10-05-2018 18:15 via theguardian.com
  As it cuts 13,000 jobs, the telecoms giant needs to regain investors’ confidenceThe humbling of BT in two short years has been extraordinary. Back in May 2016, the chief executive, Gavin Patterson, was hailing the “landmark” acquisition of mobile operator EE; was reporting the strongest revenues for seven years; and was promising that a dividend that had just been raised by 13% could be juiced by a further 10%-plus in each of the next two years.And now? EE still looks a good pu
  
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• Italian markets stutter as Berlusconi steps away to allow new coalition

  10-05-2018 18:00 via feedproxy.google.com
  FEARS a new rightwing coalition in Italy would prompt higher government spending saw the yield on Italian government 10-year bonds rise to a seven-week high on Thursday.
  
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• Bank of England governor Mark Carney defends leaving interest rates on hold again - as it happened

  10-05-2018 17:08 via theguardian.com
  Britain’s central bank has left borrowing costs unchanged, and predicted that the slowdown in economic growth this year is temporarySummary: Carney forced to defend leaving rates unchanged againCarney press conference: highlights start hereGovernor blames Beast from the East for poor growthDoesn’t like being reminded of ‘unreliable boyfriend’ tagBREAKING: BoE leaves borrowing costs unchanged2018 growth slashed 4.08pm BST Here’s our economics editor Larry Elliott on
  
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• Chris Grayling defends expensive last-minute rail fares

  10-05-2018 16:47 via theguardian.com
  Transport secretary says passengers can avoid fares of up to £338 by planning in advance
  The transport secretary has defended train companies that charge more than £300 for peak-time fares, as he launched the biggest overhaul of Britain’s railways in a generation.Chris Grayling said passengers should book in advance to avoid paying fares in the hundreds of pounds. A standard Manchester to London peak-time fare is £338 return. The first off-peak train from Manchester doesn
  
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• House of Fraser slides to £44m loss ahead of Chinese takeover

  10-05-2018 15:34 via theguardian.com
  Retailer’s parent group swings from £1.5m pretax profit the year before amid tough UK marketHouse of Fraser’s parent group swung to a near £44m loss last year ahead of a deal to sell a 51% stake to the Chinese owner of Hamleys for £140m.Documents filed at the Hong Kong stock exchange on Thursday by C.banner reveal that House of Fraser Group, which includes the department store chain’s two Chinese outlets, slumped from a £1.5m pretax profit in 2016 to a &
  
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• UK petrol prices to rise after Trump ditches Iran nuclear deal

  10-05-2018 15:14 via theguardian.com
  RAC says the weak pound and Opec curbs on oil production will also contribute to increaseBritish motorists have been warned they will pay more than 2p extra a litre when filling up their vehicles over the next fortnight, owing to Donald Trump ditching the Iran nuclear deal.The price of oil has already climbed from about $75 (£54) to $77 a barrel since the US said it would impose sanctions on Iran, which are expected to hit Iranian oil exports. Continue reading...
  
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• Google wants to cure our phone addiction. How about that for irony? | Matt Haig

  10-05-2018 14:40 via theguardian.com
  It helped us get hooked on tech, now it wants to wean us off – by using more tech. Is this about business, not wellbeing?Worried about the hours you spend scrolling your phone, sinking into despair, gazing at glamorous Instagrammers leaning against palm trees while you try to get out of bed?Worry no longer: help is coming. And it’s coming from, um, Google. Yes, that’s right. Google is now trying to improve our “digital wellbeing’” by making our phones less add
  
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• Steakhouse chain Cau may close putting 700 UK jobs at risk

  10-05-2018 14:38 via theguardian.com
  Gaucho group appoints KPMG to assess options for future of Cau, which has 22 branches in BritainThe Argentine restaurant group Gaucho is considering the closure of its casual dining steakhouse Cau with the potential loss of about 700 jobs.It is understood that the privately owned group has appointed advisory firm KPMG to help assess options for the future of Cau, which has 22 restaurants around the country. Continue reading...
  
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• BT to axe 13,000 jobs and move out of central London HQ

  10-05-2018 11:49 via theguardian.com
  Two-thirds of losses to be in UK, mainly from back office and middle management, as firm tries to save £1.5bnBT is to axe about 13,000 jobs over the next three years and move out of its central London headquarters after almost 150 years, as it seeks to cut £1.5bn in costs after a torrid 18 months.The telecoms company said the job losses would come mainly from back office and middle-management roles. About two-thirds of the job cuts will fall on its UK workforce of about 83,000, with
  
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• Will the UK's starter homes initiative ever get off the ground?

  10-05-2018 11:11 via theguardian.com
  Theresa May has doubled the target to 200,000 homes – but none have yet been completed Q Is anything ever likely to come of the starter homes initiative? It was launched amid much fanfare by George Osborne towards the end of 2014 but there has been little news since, beyond a few stories regarding funding concerns.Meanwhile, the starter homes newsletter, which was getting increasingly infrequent and was only ever a series of adverts for developments (none of which contained starter homes)
  
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• Pizza Hut fails to deliver on its refund promises

  10-05-2018 08:00 via theguardian.com
  The website crashed and my payment was taken twice … eight weeks on I can’t get my money backI ordered a takeaway pizza from my local Pizza Hut and the website crashed just as I was entering my payment details. I went through the procedure again and called the branch to check the payment had only been taken once. I later discovered my account had, in fact, been debited twice. Pizza Hut said they’d sort it. In the meantime, I enjoyed my (incredibly expensive) pizza. Eight weeks
  
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• At last, a reason to celebrate: house prices are falling | Larry Elliott

  10-05-2018 07:00 via theguardian.com
  It won’t be easy to wean Britain off the obsession with ever increasing property values, but it’s important to tryThe housing market is dead. Britain’s biggest mortgage lender, the Halifax, says that prices fell in April by 3.1%, the biggest monthly drop in almost eight years. Newspapers bury this disastrous news way back in their editions for fear that it will spread gloom and despondency.We need to wean ourselves off this way of thinking. Falling house prices are not disastro
  
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