Financial news

• Alphabet shares sink despite making $8.9bn profit in last quarter

  04-02-2019 23:23
  Parent company of Google earned $39.27bn in last quarter of 2018, with revenues 22% higher compared to previous yearAlphabet, the parent company of the internet search giant Google, earned $39.27bn in the last three months of 2018, but its share price sank as its costs rose. Related: Google board tried to cover up sexual misconduct, shareholders allegeContinue reading...
  
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• Nissan was offered secret state aid to cope with Brexit, minister concedes

  04-02-2019 21:42
  Business secretary vowed to maintain manufacturers’ capacity to trade with EULong read: Will Nissan stay once Britain leaves?
  The business secretary has been forced to admit the existence of a previously secret package of state aid to Nissan that could have been worth up to £80m had the carmaker gone ahead with plans to manufacture a new model X-Trail in Sunderland after Brexit.Greg Clark released a letter dated October 2016 in which he pledged tens of millions of taxpayer support an
  
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• Promises, promises … Greg Clark's foolishness over Nissan exposed

  04-02-2019 20:41
  Letter reassuring carmaker over Sunderland commitment was merely hot airNow we know why the government was so keen to keep Greg Clark’s letter to Nissan in 2016 under wraps. The document was embarrassing. The business secretary was making promises he couldn’t underwrite and was offering cash he would struggle to reclaim if the Japanese car company didn’t stick to its half of the supposed bargain at Sunderland.On both scores, the foolishness has been exposed. Clark’s vow t
  
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• North-east England will pay the price for decades of dishonesty about Nissan | David Conn

  04-02-2019 20:34
  Thatcher’s ministers knew EU membership was vital in attracting the Japanese carmaker. No one told the publicThe sprawling site near Sunderland of the giant Japanese car manufacturer Nissan is a fine-tuned product of Britain’s participation in the European Union. The company’s decision to pull the making of its proposed new X-Trail model out of that plant is a disastrous consequence of the failure to explain this to the British people.The virtual absence of public explanation a
  
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• Barclays bosses pressured by Qatar to mask Gulf state PM’s holding, court told

  04-02-2019 20:22
  Prosecutors for Serious Fraud Office present internal emails and phone calls to juryBarclays bosses were put under pressure by Qatari officials to mask the Gulf state prime minister’s holding in the UK bank as it rushed to close a multibillion-pound rescue package that would help the bank avoid a government bailout, a court has heard.Prosecutors for the Serious Fraud Office presented internal emails and phone calls to a jury at Southwark crown court on Monday, detailing discussions on how
  
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• Japan's EU deal 'threatens post-Brexit UK industry'

  04-02-2019 19:54
  Alarm raised after Nissan decision to halt expansion of Sunderland car plantExperts have warned that a new EU-Japan trade deal could pose a post-Brexit threat to British industry in the wake of Nissan’s decision to backtrack on expanding its Sunderland plant.The world’s biggest free trade deal came into force on 1 February and there are fears that Japan will stop using the UK as a manufacturing base, especially with a 0% tariff on car imports built into the EU-Japan agreement. Contin
  
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• Cryptocurrency investors locked out of $190m after exchange founder dies

  04-02-2019 17:51
  QuadrigaCX, Canada’s largest exchange, was unable to access password or recovery key after Gerald Cotten died last DecemberAbout $190m in cryptocurrency has been locked away in a online black hole after the founder of a currency exchange died, apparently taking his encrypted access to their money with him. Related: Bitcoin: after 10 wild years, what next for cryptocurrencies?Continue reading...
  
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• UK households lose feelgood factor amid rising debt – ONS

  04-02-2019 17:27
  Benefits from parts of economy that are performing strongly are not being felt by allBritish households have grown more pessimistic about the state of the economy and their own personal finances, according to official figures, amid rising debt levels and faster income growth for the richest in society.Pulling together an assessment of personal and economic wellbeing data for the first time, the Office for National Statistics said the benefits from parts of the British economy that were performin
  
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• Brexit: what are carmakers' contingency plans?

  04-02-2019 15:30
  From stockpiling to Nissan’s U-turn on making new model in the UK, here’s what firms are doingUK-based ​carmakers have triggered a wave of Brexit contingency plans, with Nissan the latest manufacturer to warn that uncertainty around leaving the EU is “not helping” companies.The British car industry is a major exporter, with eight out of 10 cars sold abroad to markets including the EU, the US and China. The sector made more than 1.5m cars last year, although the indu
  
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• Government's fracking policy will cause energy crisis, says UK's richest man

  04-02-2019 14:13
  Ministers are playing politics with the country’s future, says Ineos boss Sir Jim RatcliffeThe UK’s richest person has launched an attack on the government’s fracking rules, accusing ministers of policies that will cause an “energy crisis” and “irreparable damage” to the economy.Sir Jim Ratcliffe, chairman of petrochemicals firm Ineos, pledged four years ago to start a UK fracking revolution but the company has been bogged down in planning battles and is
  
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• Michael O’Leary to step back from day-to-day running of Ryanair

  04-02-2019 13:17
  Boss to stay on as group chief executive until 2024 as airline warns of fall in profitsThe Ryanair boss, Michael O’Leary, is to step back from the day-to-day running of Europe’s biggest low-cost carrier, which has warned again of falling profits and fears over a no-deal Brexit.However, O’Leary has signed a contract to spend another five years at the helm as group chief executive of a restructured Ryanair, overseeing the bosses of four subsidiary airlines including the recently
  
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• Kitchen for rent? Ikea to trial leasing of furniture

  04-02-2019 12:55
  Retailer to test idea of renting office furniture – but home products could be nextIkea is to start renting out furniture as part of attempts to build a more environmentally friendly business.The world’s largest furniture retailer said it wanted to test out the idea of leasing office furniture such as desks and chairs to business customers, starting in Switzerland. However, kitchens could also potentially be rented rather than sold in future. Continue reading...
  
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• Why did my nursery furniture arrive long past the due date?

  04-02-2019 08:00
  I waited months for a moKee ‘bundle’ – and then the mattress and sheets were missingI placed an order with baby products company moKee for a nursery “bundle” (essential equipment including a cot) at the end of September 2018, allowing plenty of time before my November due date for the quoted four to eight weeks’ shipping. We received part of the order on 2 December after a great deal of chasing. But our daughter had arrived a week earlier, so we could not set
  
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• I own my home with my parents – what happens to it when they die?

  04-02-2019 08:00
  Neither of my parents have a will, so does ownership of the house automatically come to me?Q I own my home with my parents. It’s jointly owned between me, my mother and my father. Also living here are my husband and my son (who are not named as joint owners).My parents haven’t got wills. What happens to my home if I’m still living here when they die? Does the property automatically come to me or does it go to probate? Continue reading...
  
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• From work to family - the experts' guide to a low-stress life

  04-02-2019 08:00 via theguardian.com
  How to ease your anxiety about relationships, work, family or moneyBy Kate Thompson Continue reading...
  
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