Financial news

• Sports Direct hits out at Debenhams for rejecting £40m loan

  11-01-2019 19:23 via theguardian.com
  Board accused of ‘dereliction of duty’ for turning down interest-free offerSports Direct, which dramatically ousted the chairman of Debenhams on Thursday, has accused the department store’s directors of “dereliction of duty” for turning down a £40m interest-free loan offered by the sports chain before Christmas.In a letter to the chair of the housing, communities and local government select committee of MPs, published on Friday, Sports Direct said: “If D
  
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• Beneath the bonnet of the UK economy, there are plenty of faults | Larry Elliott

  11-01-2019 18:45 via theguardian.com
  Manufacturing is struggling, growth is unbalanced – and solving Brexit won’t fix our woesJudged by what is happening in the rest of Europe, Britain’s economic performance in late 2018 was reasonably good. France was paralysed by the gilets jaunes protests, while Germany and Italy flirted with recession. The UK is likely to have grown by 0.3% in the final three months of 2018, and by contrast with the other major European economies that’s not too shabby.Look beneath the bo
  
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• The Entertainer retailer stockpiles summer toys as Brexit fears mount

  11-01-2019 18:41 via theguardian.com
  Founder Gary Grant says ‘no shortage of toys’ likely because company had shipped own-label items earlyThe UK’s biggest independent toy retailer has stockpiled 100 container loads of paddling pools, slides, wheelbarrows and other toys to try to ensure there are no shortages this summer in the event of a no-deal Brexit.Gary Grant, the managing director and founder of The Entertainer chain, said it had doubled the amount of containers it usually brought into the UK at this time of
  
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• Let’s move to King’s Lynn, Norfolk: it’s beautiful – all cobbles, alleys and warehouses

  11-01-2019 17:29 via theguardian.com
  If it wasn’t in the remoter end of the Fens, it would be overrun with touristsWhat’s going for it? Amazing, the effect of geography. Were King’s Lynn anywhere else in the country but squelched into the remoter end of the Fens, it would be overrun with tourists. They’d be there getting selfies next to some 18th-century townhouses or cutie-pie half-timbered cottages they’d seen in the latest Sunday night costume drama. Bistros and artisan coffee houses would be flush.
  
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• Couple accused of misleading entrants in raffle for £3m house

  11-01-2019 17:09 via theguardian.com
  Winner received £110,000 after Mark and Sharon Beresford failed to sell enough ticketsContestants who entered a raffle to win a £3m luxury home in Hampshire have been left disappointed after the prize was cut to £110,000 when the couple running it said they had failed to sell enough tickets.Mark and Sharon Beresford decided to sell their home using a raffle last year aiming to sell 250,000 £25 tickets. Last week, however, they revealed they had only sold 30,000 tickets, r
  
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• MPs attack ministers over delay to tax havens' public registers

  11-01-2019 17:03 via theguardian.com
  British overseas territories win reprieve after threatening legal action or secessionThe government has been accused of defying parliament by delaying plans to require British tax havens such as the British Virgin Islands to bring in public registers that reveal the true identity of owners of companies sheltering assets.Foreign Office ministers have caved in after a rebellion in the British overseas territories, including threats to take the government to court or even to secede from the UK. The
  
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• Pensioners missing out on THOUSANDS by not claiming full State Benefits entitlement

  11-01-2019 16:51 via feedproxy.google.com
  PENSIONERS are missing out on thousands of pounds by failing to claim their full State Benefits entitlement, new research has found.
  
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• Lidl Christmas sales results boosted by premium range as Brexit fails to dent supermarket

  11-01-2019 16:40 via feedproxy.google.com
  LIDL UK saw its Christmas sales rise off the back of its premium product range as Brexit failed to dent appetite for the German supermarket chain.
  
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• What are biggest risks to the global economy in 2019? | Kenneth Rogoff

  11-01-2019 15:23 via theguardian.com
  From China to Europe and beyond it is likely to be a nerve-racking yearAs Mark Twain never said: “It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you think you know for sure that just ain’t so.” Over the course of this year and next, the biggest economic risks will emerge in those areas where investors think recent patterns are unlikely to change. They will include a growth recession in China, a rise in global long-term real interest rates a
  
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• Hitachi set to cancel plans for £16bn nuclear power station in Wales

  11-01-2019 14:48 via theguardian.com
  Move by Japanese firm would be blow to UK plans to replace coal plants and ageing reactorsThe Japanese conglomerate Hitachi looks certain to cancel its plans for a £16bn nuclear power station in Wales, leaving Britain’s ambitions for a nuclear renaissance in tatters.An impasse in months-long talks between the company, London and Toyko on financing is expected to result in the flagship project being axed at a Hitachi board meeting next week, according to the Nikkei newspaper. Continue
  
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• CES 2019: from beer tech to a banned sex toy – 10 standout gadgets

  11-01-2019 14:20 via theguardian.com
  Also unveiled in Las Vegas: the world’s first rollable TV and Alexa for your toiletThe Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas revealed what the tech world has in store for us this year. From the spectacular to the controversial – as well as some total tosh – here are 10 of the most memorable products unveiled at CES 2019 last week. Continue reading...
  
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• Germany tells EU ‘get tough on China’ as BDI warns of ‘CHALLENGES’ facing Berlin

  11-01-2019 14:08 via feedproxy.google.com
  GERMANY’S leading industry association has urged the European Union to adopt a tougher policy toward China as a competitor and its reluctance to open up market access.
  
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• Pound US dollar exchange rate: GBP fails to gain due to Brexit paralysis

  11-01-2019 13:56 via feedproxy.google.com
  THE pound US dollar exchange rate is down today and is currently trading within the region of $1.273.
  
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• Pound euro exchange rate: Weakening eurozone data sparks fear in ECB policymakers

  11-01-2019 13:50 via feedproxy.google.com
  THE pound is trading down against the euro today despite a recent run of poor data from the eurozone, hitting a rate of €1.105 this morning.
  
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• Flying taxis: Uber partner reveals design

  11-01-2019 13:48 via theguardian.com
  Uber on track to deliver aerial rideshare network by 2023 as manufacturer Bell Helicopter unveils full-scale model in Las Vegas
  Uber got a step closer to on-demand aerial taxis this week, as partner company Bell Helicopter unveiled a new flying car design in Las Vegas. The scale model of a hybrid-electric aircraft, called Nexus, is being exhibited at the 2019 Consumer Electronics Show in the city until 11 January.Uber said the Nexus represents “a major step in its Elevate initiative to cre
  
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• Japanese bank blames Brexit for move to Amsterdam

  11-01-2019 13:15 via theguardian.com
  Norinchukin announces plan day after Shinzō Abe offered public backing for May’s dealOne of Japan’s largest banks has blamed Brexit for its decision to move part of its business to Amsterdam, 24 hours after Theresa May sought to enlist the Japanese prime minister in the fight to save her deal with the EU. Norinchukin bank announced plans to set up a wholly owned subsidiary in the Dutch capital, a move that critics of the prime minister’s deal cited as evidence that both a
  
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• Germany CRISIS: Economy minister says Berlin must ACT NOW as economists fear RECESSION

  11-01-2019 12:19 via feedproxy.google.com
  THE GERMAN government is discussing fiscal measures to set incentives for growth after a raft of bleak economic data sparked fears of a recession for Europe’s most powerful nation.
  
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• Bitcoin CRUNCH TIME: What happens next with BTC is ANYONE'S guess – analysis

  11-01-2019 12:03 via feedproxy.google.com
  BITCOIN'S attempt to pull clear from the gravitational grasp of capitulation has run out of fuel.
  
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• Pound exchange rate: GBP higher against euro and US dollar amid claims of Brexit DELAY

  11-01-2019 11:44 via feedproxy.google.com
  THE pound nudged higher against the euro and US dollar today as speculation began to swirl of Brexit being delayed.
  
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• Fashion chain Quiz issues profit warning after slow Christmas

  11-01-2019 11:42 via theguardian.com
  Womenswear retailer blames discounting for second profit downgrade in three monthsQuiz has issued its second profit warning in just over three months, as the womenswear retailer’s woes continue following a weaker than expected Christmas.The company said heavy discounting meant its main measure of profits for the 2019 financial year would be £8.2m, 29% lower than the £11.5m it expected when it cut its forecasts in October. Continue reading...
  
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• Virgin Atlantic swoops on troubled Flybe with £2.2m bid

  11-01-2019 11:36 via theguardian.com
  Shares in regional airline fall 90% after consortium led by Virgin offers cut-price dealFlybe has recommended shareholders accept a cut-price £2.2m takeover offer from a consortium led by Virgin Atlantic, after the regional airline struggled with rising fuel costs, currency volatility and political uncertainty.Virgin, part-owned by the billionaire Sir Richard Branson, has banded together for the deal with the infrastructure firm Stobart Group and the investment house Cyrus to form a joint
  
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• Virgin and Stobart agree to buy Flybe in £2.2m rescue deal to save cash-strapped airline

  11-01-2019 09:47 via feedproxy.google.com
  VIRGIN Atlantic and Stobart Group have come to the rescue of Flybe after agreeing to purchase the cash-strapped airline in a £2.2million deal.
  
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• Why can’t I get a refund on my £500 deposit for a help-to-buy home?

  11-01-2019 08:00 via theguardian.com
  After a nine-month wait for a handover date, I couldn’t get our money backI paid a £500 deposit on a new-build flat using the help-to-buy scheme. The development was supposed to be completed three months later, but nine months on there was still no handover date, so I withdrew. But the agent, Claremont Property Group, says the deposit is non-refundable. DE, Swindon Continue reading...
  
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• Farms and smallholdings for sale – in pictures

  11-01-2019 01:00 via theguardian.com
  Go back to the land on these five rural properties, from Devon to North YorkshireContinue reading...
  
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