Financial news

• Can Apple pip others to be first with trillion dollar valuation?

  01-08-2018 20:46 via theguardian.com
  It’s only a matter of time before the milestone is reached, but investors are advised against complacency over the tech firmsWill it or won’t it? The question dominating Wall Street all week has been whether Apple will become the first company with a stock market valuation of a trillion dollars. For that to happen the tech company’s shares need to reach $203.25 – and they were tantalisingly close to that level in early trading in New York on Wednesday, the first real oppo
  
  Read more

• Tories have avoided the truth over austerity and food banks

  01-08-2018 20:32
  The government has been reluctant to admit that welfare reforms are linked to increased use of food banks While a rise in use of food banks has coincided with the imposition of austerity, the Conservative government has been reluctant to admit any causal link between the two. Related: Revealed: ministers' plan to research effect of policies on food bank useContinue reading...
  
  Read more

• Sales of smartwatches and wearable tech boost profits at Garmin

  01-08-2018 20:24 via theguardian.com
  Company’s activity trackers and marine cameras offset declining sales of satnavsGarmin has reported better than expected quarterly profits and raised its full-year earnings forecast, boosted by higher demand for its wearable activity-tracking devices. The company’s shares were up 1.5% at $63.40 (£48.30) in midday trading. The stock has gained 27% in the last 12 months. Sales of its fitness products rose 24.3% to $225.1m, and sales in its outdoor segment, which sells to campers
  
  Read more

• Revealed: ministers' plan to research effect of policies on food bank use

  01-08-2018 19:18
  Exclusive: ministers want to identify policies or practices that may have contributed to rise in demand for food banksMinisters have secretly drawn up plans to investigate whether the government’s own policies are to blame for the sharp rise in the use of food banks, the Guardian has learned.Two of the most senior officials at the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) have been tasked with overseeing the study, according to a draft proposal, which is marked: “Official - Sensitive&rd
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Blow for House of Fraser as Chinese firm drops plan to invest

  01-08-2018 18:33 via theguardian.com
  Risk of UK store’s collapse could jeopardise 17,000 jobs, after C.banner withdraws from £150m deal with profit warningHouse of Fraser has been dealt a potentially fatal blow after confirming the collapse of a financial rescue deal from its Chinese white knight.C.banner, the Hong Kong-listed owner of Hamleys, said on Wednesday that a dive in its own share price meant plans to raise £150m to invest in the struggling department store group had been “rendered impracticable an
  
  Read more

• Insulin maker Sanofi stockpiles medicines ahead of Brexit

  01-08-2018 18:17 via theguardian.com
  Pharma firm warehouses 14 weeks of supplies in Britain case of ‘no-deal’ shortagesThe French company Sanofi has become the latest drugs manufacturer to start stockpiling medicines amid mounting uncertainty over the UK’s exit from the EU. Supplies of thousands of medicines could be disrupted if Britain leaves the EU without a deal next March and border checks and lengthy transport delays arise.Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• Why the super-rich are taking their mega-boats into uncharted waters

  01-08-2018 18:11
  There are more ‘explorer’ super-yachts being built than ever before as adventurous billionaires seek out ‘the rarest of experiences’News this week that the super-rich are kitting their yachts out to polar explorer standards has been greeted with joy by Inuits, who have never before encountered a PayPal co-founder in the wild.“We absolutely recognise this trend,” says Stewart Campbell, the editor of Boat International. “There are more ‘explorer&rsqu
  
  Read more

• Retailers likely to face backlash for failing to curb plastic use, survey finds

  01-08-2018 18:01 via theguardian.com
  Findings come as part of a pledge by the owners of Canary Wharf in London to become world’s first plastic-free commercial centreRetailers are likely to face a consumer backlash if they fail to take action to curb plastic use, according to a survey by the owners of Canary Wharf in London.The operators of Canary Wharf are pledging to become the world’s first plastic-free commercial centre, in partnership with the campaign group Surfers Against Sewage (SAS). Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Transport gap: London gets £419 more per head than north of England

  01-08-2018 17:38
  North has missed out on £63bn over 10 years due to chronic underfunding, thinktank saysTransport spending in London has continued to dramatically increase at the expense of other parts of the country, according to an analysis of the latest government figures.From 2016 to 2017 spending in the capital rose by 11.4%, compared to a 3.6% fall in the north of England, according to the thinktank IPPR North. Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• Debenhams' credit rating downgraded in further blow to retailer

  01-08-2018 16:09 via theguardian.com
  Decision by Moody’s agency will make it harder for ailing company to borrow moneyDebenhams has sought to reassure investors after a downgrade by credit ratings agency Moody’s.The department store chain, which has issued three profits warnings this year, issued a statement to the stock exchange saying it “remains profitable and cash-generative, and our banks are supportive” after Moody’s said it judged that Debenhams was more likely to default on its debts. Continue
  
  Read more

• Apple shares open 4.4% higher as its value heads towards $1tn - as it happened

  01-08-2018 15:59 via theguardian.com
  UK and eurozone manufacturing sectors show sluggish progress, while Apple shares jump 4% after stellar results 2.59pm BSTA host of manufacturing surveys for July showed a disappointing outcome for the UK, while eurozone growth was also sluggish.
  Over in the US factory growth slipped in July, while a jobs report was better than expected although it came with a warning on the outlook.2.50pm BST US factory growth dipped slightly in July, according to the latest manufacturing survey, partly due to f
  
  Read more

• Donald Trump gets a helping hand from the Brussels bean-counters | Daniel Boffey

  01-08-2018 15:07 via theguardian.com
  EU pledge to import more US soya beans will give president a boost in midterm electionsIt might not avert a transatlantic trade war in the long term, but it will keep the bean counters in Brussels busy.With all the gravity of a Soviet commissar, Jean-Claude Juncker announced on Wednesday that he had ordered a fortnightly count of the number of US soya beans imported into the EU. Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• Warm weather spurs sales rise at Next to offset UK retail gloom

  01-08-2018 14:45 via theguardian.com
  Retailer warns boost – with online figures jumping by 12.5% – is unlikely to lastBritain’s heatwave helped Next to stronger than expected sales over the past three months – but the retailer warned the boost from the hot weather was unlikely to last.The clothing and homeware firm said sales rose 2.8% in the 12 weeks to 28 July, driven by a 12.5% jump in online sales as consumers updated their summer wardrobes. Sales at its shops, however, fell by 5.9% over the period. Cont
  
  Read more

• E.ON to cut 500 UK jobs as it prepares for energy price cap

  01-08-2018 14:08 via theguardian.com
  Company says it is reducing numbers as part of ongoing efforts to improve efficiencyThe German energy company E.ON is to cut around 500 jobs across the UK, as it blames the forthcoming price cap for the need to reduce costs.The firm, which employs 9,400 people, said the UK energy market continued to change at an unprecedented rate and was an increasingly competitive environment. Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• Lloyds profits jump 23% despite fresh PPI hit of £550m

  01-08-2018 12:49 via theguardian.com
  CEO upbeat over Brexit, interest rates and economy as half-year figures rise to £3.1bnProfits at Lloyds Banking Group jumped by almost a quarter in the first half of the year despite taking another hit of £550m to cover claims from mis-sold payment protection insurance.The high street lender said pre-tax profits rose 23% to £3.1bn in the six months to 30 June, on higher interest income and lower costs. An additional £460m PPI provision in the second quarter took the half-
  
  Read more

• Deceased and still in debt: the student loans that don't get forgiven

  01-08-2018 12:00 via theguardian.com
  It’s not clear how many deceased students Navient is chasing for money but the company has been riddled with controversyIn 2005, Sean Bennett took out a student loan with Sallie Mae, in 2010 he graduated from college and in 2011, when Sean was 23 years old, he died in a car accident.At first, Sallie Mae sent out a letter of condolence to Sean’s parents explaining that they had a policy of forgiving debt if the recipient dies before they have repaid (they could afford to forgive &ndas
  
  Read more

• People taking fewer sick days in Britain means more exploitation | James Bloodsworth

  01-08-2018 11:00 via theguardian.com
  Workers on zero-hours contracts are often too scared of losing income to call in sick. So, even if unwell, they just carry onThe number of sick days taken by UK workers has fallen to its lowest rate in 25 years. According to the Office for National Statistics, the number of sick days the average employee takes each year has halved from 7.2 days in 1993 to 4.1 days in 2017. Related: Sick days taken by UK workers fall to lowest rate on recordContinue reading...
  
  Read more

• Germany's 'China City': how Duisburg became Xi Jinping's gateway to Europe

  01-08-2018 08:15 via theguardian.com
  The city is host to the world’s largest inland port, with 80% of trains from China now making it their first European stopFor much of the 20th century, the city of Duisburg in Germany’s industrial west was a steel-and-coal town whose chimneys cloaked the skies in smoke. And yet there is something about this soot-stained spot in the Ruhr valley that seems to encourage a particularly clear-sighted view of the rest of the world.We could become China’s gateway to Europe – and
  
  Read more

• How can Viagogo get away with charging such big fees?

  01-08-2018 08:00 via theguardian.com
  Three £18 tickets for the BBC’s The Biggest Weekend festival ran up a final bill of £1,772I wanted to attend the BBC’s The Biggest Weekend festival and found three tickets on secondary ticketing site Viagogo, [where people who have bought tickets can sell them on]. The original face value was £18 each but I found I’d been charged £1,772 for the three [after fees were added to the seller’s new asking price]. I would never have bought them at that pr
  
  Read more

• Ryanair boss gives up bonus after 2017 flight cancellation crisis

  01-08-2018 03:16 via theguardian.com
  Michael O’Leary waived his yearly bonus after some 20,000 flights were cancelled last year.Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary waived his hefty yearly bonus for 2017-2018 following the flight cancellations crisis that gripped the Irish carrier last year.
  In the low-fares airline’s annual report released on Monday, Europe’s largest low-cost carrier said that despite record profits in the financial year 2017-2018, chief executive O’Leary decided not to take the bonus he was
  
  Read more

• Theresa May must push for even softer Brexit, says thinktank

  01-08-2018 01:01 via theguardian.com
  Prime minister urged to offer more concessions to EU to minimise economic damageTheresa May will be forced to offer further politically difficult concessions to the EU to minimise damage to the economy caused by Brexit, said one of the UK’s leading economic thinktanks.The National Institute for Economic and Social Research (NIESR) said Britain was gripped by an epidemic of uncertainty about the terms of its EU departure, and warned that the government would have to pay a bigger financial c
  
  Read more

Follow @financialnwsUK on Twitter!