Financial news

• Business leaders welcome cabinet Brexit approval as markets remain wary

  14-11-2018 20:33
  ‘A step back from cliff-edge’ says CBI, but business leaders warn that parliament should not derail deal• Critics line up against May’s deal: how the day unfoldedBusiness leaders have welcomed cabinet approval for Theresa May’s draft Brexit agreement but warned that parliamentary divisions should not be allowed to derail the chances of a deal.The Confederation of British Industry (CBI), Britain’s leading business lobby group, said on Wednesday night the move wa
  
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• What reason did Philip Hammond have for delaying FBOT reform? | Nils Pratley

  14-11-2018 20:00
  It is suspected that lobbyists took a punt on the Treasury that very nearly paid outYou’d think the Treasury, in the midst of Brexit, would have enough on its plate without picking unnecessary fights over fixed-odds betting terminals that end in humiliating retreat. Defeat duly arrived on Wednesday as the government capitulated and said, yes, maximum stakes will be reduced to £2 from next April, rather than the October 2019 date announced by chancellor Philip Hammond in the budget. W
  
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• Debenhams shares fall by 21%

  14-11-2018 19:26
  Department store chain’s sharp decline came after very poor weekly sales Debenhams shares plunged by more than a fifth on Wednesday amid fears for its financial health, as a grim year for some of the high street’s best-known names threatened to get even worse.The 240-year-old department store chain was valued at just £65m by the end of the day, after its shares fell by 21% amid reports that it was now being shunned by suppliers. It was the biggest one-day fall recorded by the r
  
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• Flybe – buffeted by fuel prices and weak pound – goes up for sale

  14-11-2018 19:18
  Budget airline in discussions over sale, easyJet and Stobart Group among possible buyersThe budget airline Flybe has put itself up for sale as a cocktail of rising fuel prices, the weaker pound and lower demand weigh on profits.Stobart Group and easyJet are among the contenders for all or part of Flybe’s business, after the Exeter-based airline said it is in discussions with a number of strategic operators about a potential sale of the company, in a statement to the stock market. Continue
  
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• Kweku Adoboli deported to Ghana on flight from Heathrow

  14-11-2018 19:06
  Former UBS rogue trader fought deportation having lived in the UK since childhoodThe convicted former UBS trader Kweku Adoboli has been deported from the UK to Ghana, his country of birth, after Home Office officials put him on a flight from Heathrow airport on Wednesday afternoon.Adoboli, who was arrested in Glasgow on Monday when he went to report to the Home Office, was taken to Harmondsworth immigration removal centre on Monday. He was not informed about when and how he would be deported but
  
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• Deliveroo riders denied rights to collective bargaining, court told

  14-11-2018 19:04
  Union stages high court challenge over employment status of delivery driversDeliveroo riders have been denied their human rights to collective bargaining, the high court in London has heard in the latest legal case involving the gig economy.The Independent Workers Union of Great Britain (IWGB) is attempting to overturn a ruling which found that the company’s riders are not entitled to collective bargaining rights because they are “self-employed”. Continue reading...
  
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• SSE-npower merger at risk over price cap and lost customers

  14-11-2018 18:41
  Joint firm would be second biggest retail energy company after British GasThe loss of almost a million customers and the government’s energy price cap have thrown into doubt a merger between the retail arm of SSE and npower, two of the UK’s big six energy firms.The merger, agreed in November 2017, was intended to create the second largest retail energy supply company in the UK, behind British Gas, but the companies will now miss a deadline for its completion by April next year as the
  
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• German economy shrinks for first time since 2015

  14-11-2018 18:17
  Europe’s largest economy hit by weaker trade position and lower consumer spending Fears for the health of the eurozone economy have intensified after Germany, the single currency’s powerhouse, suffered its first contraction in more than three years.Tough emission tests affecting the country’s strategically important automotive industry, lower consumer spending, and weaker exports triggered by rising global protectionism resulted in the economy shrinking by 0.2% in the third qua
  
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• Berketex wedding firm collapses leaving brides without dresses

  14-11-2018 16:27
  Berketex Bride goes into administration leaving customers disappointed and out of pocketUK bridal chain Berketex Bride has collapsed into administration leaving customers thousands of pounds out of pocket and without a wedding dress in the latest retail failure.The Grantham-headquartered chain said it had closed its doors on Tuesday and would not be reopening, affecting about 300 people who had placed orders. Continue reading...
  
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• Spanish train firm to create 1,000 jobs at new factory in Scotland

  14-11-2018 15:43
  Talgo, which is bidding to win HS2 rolling stock contracts, will build its first UK base in FifeMore than 1,000 jobs are to be created at a new train manufacturing plant in Scotland by a Spanish company bidding to win HS2 rolling stock contracts.Talgo will build its first UK manufacturing base at the site of a decommissioned power station at Longannet on the north shore of the Firth of Forth. Continue reading...
  
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• Government makes U-turn over delay to £2 FOBT maximum stake

  14-11-2018 15:27
  Reduction to take effect in April 2019 after MP rebellion and minister’s resignationA cut in the maximum stake on fixed-odds betting terminals (FOBTs) will be brought forward to April 2019 after the government backed down in the face of a growing rebellion that made allies of MPs across the political spectrum.The chancellor, Philip Hammond, said in the budget that a reduction in FOBT stakes from £100 to £2 would not take effect until October next year, a decision that handed bo
  
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• The rise of the nano-influencer: how brands are turning to common people | Richard Godwin

  14-11-2018 12:38
  It’s not just celebrities and YouTubers who are paid to plug stuff – now everyday Instagram citizens are being courtedFor his book Mimesis, the German-Jewish literary critic Erich Auerbach undertook a grand survey of western literature from his wartime exile in Istanbul. He wanted to show that literature was becoming ever more democratic in its representation of reality, ever more attentive to the human individual. From Homer’s gods and monsters, we had moved through Shakespear
  
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• Inflation rate steady as higher energy and petrol offset by cheaper food and clothing

  14-11-2018 12:29 via feedproxy.google.com
  INFLATION remained steady in October as lower prices for food and clothing offset energy and petrol hikes.
  
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• Germany in REVERSE: German economy SHRINKS for first time since 2015

  14-11-2018 12:05 via feedproxy.google.com
  THE German economy was thrust into reverse after shrunk for the first time since 2015 as global trade tensions sparked a knock-on effect on exports.
  
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• UK inflation steady at 2.4% in October after food price war

  14-11-2018 12:03
  A rise had been predicted and ONS says cost of fuel pushed up cost of livingUK inflation was unchanged at 2.4% in October after a rise in the cost of petrol and utility bills was offset by falling food prices.City economists had predicted an increase to 2.5% but a price war on the high street, especially among food retailers, drove down the cost of the weekly shop and held back consumer inflation. Continue reading...
  
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• Pound US dollar exchange rate: GBP retreats as Brexit text faces Cabinet scrutiny

  14-11-2018 12:00 via feedproxy.google.com
  THE pound US dollar exchange rate has fallen as much as 0.5 per cent this morning, slumping from a high of $1.302 to the current rate of $1.295 as Brexit jitters weigh on sentiment.
  
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• Pound euro exchange rate: EUR under pressure as eurozone faces THIS trio of problems

  14-11-2018 11:35 via feedproxy.google.com
  THE pound is trading at a rate of €1.149 against the euro this morning as Brexit anxieties take their toll on Sterling, despite a number of problems besetting the single currency.
  
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• Pound LIVE: GBP Sterling BOOSTED against euro as May summons Cabinet TODAY for Brexit

  14-11-2018 09:40 via feedproxy.google.com
  THE pound has rallied against the euro this morning as Theresa May prepares to sell her draft Brexit withdrawal agreement to her Cabinet.
  
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• Why do British Gas and npower both claim they supply us?

  14-11-2018 08:00
  The two energy providers were even arguing about it in a conference callMy wife and I moved to our new home 18 months ago and there has been confusion over who supplies us with gas. Npower was supplying the property previously. We requested to switch to British Gas and were told there was a problem. Both npower and British Gas claim they supply us and over the past year both have sent demands for payment and debt collectors’ letters. There appears to be a phantom meter and no one can agree
  
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• Why millennials' money diaries are a media phenomenon

  14-11-2018 07:00 via theguardian.com
  Viral stories about spending habits often hide the real structural problems faced by young people“I earn 40k and live at home, but I still need my parents to bail me out each month,” reads the viral Grazia article you may have seen furiously shared on social media. Money diaries are the media phenomenon for the millennial age, raising the collective blood pressure of thirtysomethings like me at a time of squeezed wages and a housing crisis. Grazia is only the latest in a long line of
  
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• Coca-Cola scales back UK Christmas truck tour after protests

  14-11-2018 07:00 via theguardian.com
  Campaigners call on company to hand out only sugar-free drinks on 24-stop tourCoca-Cola has scaled back its UK Christmas truck tour after opposition from local authorities and fresh demands from health bodies for it to stop handing out free sugary drinks.Usually the tour, which first ran in 1995, is hosted by councils, shopping centres and other landowners as part of their Christmas festivities. This year more than a third fewer visits are planned than last time. Continue reading...
  
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• G20 nations still led by fossil fuel industry, climate report finds

  14-11-2018 06:00
  Coal, oil and gas subsidies risking rise in global temperatures to 3.2C, well beyond agreed Paris goalClimate action is way off course in all but one of the world’s 20 biggest economies, according to a report that shows politicians are paying more heed to the fossil fuel industry than to advice from scientists.Among the G20 nations 15 reported a rise in emissions last year, according to the most comprehensive stock-take to date of progress towards the goals of the Paris climate agreement.
  
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• Bitcoin will BOOM! ‘All-conquering economic JUGGERNAUT’ - EXPLOSIVE theory revealed

  14-11-2018 04:05 via feedproxy.google.com
  BITCOIN , “the hardest money ever created”, will triumph over existing fiat currencies because its finite supply means it will always be a better “store of value” over time, bitcoin economist Dr Saifedean Ammous has suggested.
  
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• Less than half of rail complainants happy with response, data shows

  14-11-2018 01:01 via theguardian.com
  Research into train companies highlights huge failings in complaints processLess than half of rail passengers who have complained to train companies believe they have received an adequate response, analysis shows.Data from the rail regulator shows that fewer than one in five passengers on three particular operators – Govia Thameslink, Great Western and Northern – were satisfied with the outcome or handling of their complaints. Continue reading...
  
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