Financial news

• BREXIT CRUNCH: BARCLAYS launches business advice clinic network   

  21-02-2019 19:05 via feedproxy.google.com
  Barclays is hosting over 100 clinics across the UK for businesses from March to help firms navigate the latest stages of Brexit.
  
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• Centrica's profits may not be the only casualty of the energy price cap | Patrick Collinson

  21-02-2019 18:47 via theguardian.com
  If price cap becomes the target, rather than the ceiling, it will be customers who payIs the energy price cap working? Iain Conn, the chief executive of the British Gas owner, Centrica, has 300m reasons why he thinks it has failed, as it has lopped that much off the firm’s profits. The cap, he says, is strangling competition in the market and could also strangle supply, as energy companies stop investing.The knee-jerk response will be “well, he would say that”. But there are lo
  
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• Pound US dollar exchange rate: GBP/USD rises on Brexit progress, FOMC wary about rate hike

  21-02-2019 15:51 via feedproxy.google.com
  The pound US dollar exchange rate edged slightly higher today to trade in the region of $1.306. GBP/USD gained as Theresa May indicated that progress had been made in Brexit discussions and the Federal Open Market Committee adopted a cautious stance in the meeting minutes from the last policy gathering.
  
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• Pound Euro exchange rate: Pound rises as Eurozone economy flounders

  21-02-2019 15:42 via feedproxy.google.com
  This morning, disappointing manufacturing data from the Eurozone weighed on the euro, helping the GBP/EUR exchange rate trade in the region of €1.153. Flash PMI data showed that in February, Germany’s services PMI rose to 55.1, a five-month high, with the composite figure jumping to a four-month high.
  
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• MPs turn heat on ministers amid boiler installation slowdown

  21-02-2019 13:57 via theguardian.com
  Critics warn of ‘chronic public health crisis’ as green initiative leaves homes in the coldCampaigners and MPs have accused ministers of leaving vulnerable households in the cold, as figures show installations of insulation and boilers have sunk to their lowest levels since the government’s flagship energy efficiency scheme started six years ago.Delays to legislation were blamed by fuel poverty campaigners for the fall, which coincided with households being hit by energy price
  
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• Purplebricks shares plunge 40% on lower revenue forecasts

  21-02-2019 13:26 via theguardian.com
  Online estate agent announces departure of both UK and US heads after second downgradeShares in the UK’s largest online estate agent, Purplebricks, plunged 40% after the company slashed its revenue forecasts and announced the surprise departure of both its US and UK bosses.The company blamed slower than expected growth in its fledgling US business and “headwinds” in Australia, as it said revenue for the year was unlikely to exceed £140m compared with an earlier forecast o
  
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• British Gas owner loses 742,000 customers and issues price cap warning

  21-02-2019 11:56 via theguardian.com
  Centrica says it will take £300m hit on cap on energy bills and lowers 2019 cashflow outlook The owner of British Gas, Centrica, lost about three-quarters of a million customers last year and warned it will take a £300m hit from the government’s price cap on energy bills.Shares in Britain’s biggest energy company dropped more than 10% after the company lowered its cashflow outlook for 2019, leading investors to fear Centrica’s dividend could be cut. Continue reading
  
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• UK public finances hit record surplus in boost to chancellor - business live

  21-02-2019 11:32 via theguardian.com
  A surplus of £14.9bn in January was the highest since records began, in a boost to Philip Hammond ahead of his spring statement on 13 MarchTrump says ‘no magical date’ in trade talks with ChinaEurozone economy ‘close to stagnation’ in FebruaryBarclays pledges to hand shareholders more cashCentrica shares fall after gloomy outlook for 2019 10.32am GMT January is traditionally a surplus month for the public coffers because of the flow of income tax receipts, but this
  
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• What Brexit means for YOUR money – Savings, house prices, travel and MORE

  21-02-2019 11:19 via feedproxy.google.com
  BREXIT uncertainty and political chaos have led to fluctuations in the British economy. So what will Brexit mean for your personal finances?
  
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• Barclays pledges to return more money to shareholders

  21-02-2019 09:24 via theguardian.com
  Bank reports flat profits and sets aside £150m to cover uncertainty over BrexitThe Barclays chief executive, Jes Staley, has promised to return more money to shareholders in a bid to fend off the attentions of the activist investor Edward Bramson, as the bank reported flat profits for 2018.Profits before tax of £3.5bn for 2018 were held back by litigation and conduct charges of £2.2bn for the year, while the bank also took a £150m charge to cover economic uncertainty over
  
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• How can I legally avoid paying a TV licence fee?

  21-02-2019 09:00 via theguardian.com
  Steve doesn’t watch TV and wants to stop paying the UK licence fee, but now it applies to smartphones, consoles and the BBC iPlayer app on all devicesI have a TV set for streaming videos from my NAS, but I have given up on the BBC, and I never watch ITV, Channel 4 and certainly not 5. What exactly do I need to do to stop paying a TV Licence fee? Is unplugging my aerial enough? SteveIn the old world of analogue broadcasting, this was an easy question. “Watching TV” just meant fe
  
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• Money Club took £5,978 from my 89-year-old mother

  21-02-2019 08:00 via theguardian.com
  I discovered 26 payments for £98 had been debited from her account in a yearWhen I took on power of attorney for my 89-year-old mother, after she had started to go overdrawn, I then discovered 26 debits for £98 over the last 12 months to a company called the Money Club. I was unable to get through on the phone and there’s no email address. SS, LiverpoolComplaints about the Money Club have been filling my inbox for 10 years. Most are from those who found themselves unwitting sub
  
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• It’s a bit rich of bankers to criticise the spending habits of millennials | Zoe Williams

  21-02-2019 08:00 via theguardian.com
  Infantalising financial advice from Barclays won’t wash when young people can only dream of home ownershipYesterday, I was woken with a start by a call from someone who wanted me to talk on the radio about millennials, an age bracket that tops out at 37, and starts in the early 20s: I am not in this range. They had someone who was, but he pulled out, because millennials are snowflakes. Barclays had conducted research that showed millennials spent £3,000 a year on “treats”
  
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• UK and Ireland retailers warn of 40% tariffs on food in no-deal Brexit

  21-02-2019 07:01 via theguardian.com
  Consumers could face meat, fish, fruit and vegetable shortages and higher pricesA no-deal Brexit could lead to tariffs of 40% or more being imposed on food such as beef and cheddar cheese, driving up prices in shops and squeezing household budgets across the UK and Ireland, retail organisations from both countries have warned.With mounting fears that the UK could leave the European Union without an agreement in 36 days’ time, the British Retail Consortium (BRC), Northern Ireland Retail Con
  
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• Ministers urged to provide rescue package for ailing high streets

  21-02-2019 07:01 via theguardian.com
  MPs committee report suggests online sales tax and more help for local authorities The government should consider taxing online sales, deliveries or packaging and cutting property taxes for retailers as part of a package to help revive the UK’s ailing high streets, according to an influential group of MPs.In a report published on Thursday, the housing communities and local government committee says local authorities need more help, including extra cash, to redevelop town centres. It also s
  
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• Fresh concerns over Whirlpool's 'fire-risk' tumble dryer repairs

  21-02-2019 01:01 via theguardian.com
  Which? calls for clarity after 30 consumers report ‘fixed’ dryers catching fire, producing smoke or burning smell A consumer group is calling for the urgent publication of a report into Whirlpool’s fire-risk tumble dryers, amid fresh concerns about the manufacturer’s repair programme and its handling of an issue that may have left up to 500,000 potentially dangerous machines in UK homes.Which? revealed it had been contacted by more than 30 consumers whose supposedly &ldqu
  
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• Delay to tax havens’ public registers ‘risks national security’

  21-02-2019 01:01 via theguardian.com
  Foreign affairs select committee says government has ignored MPs’ deadlineThe UK government is undermining national security by delaying the introduction of publicly available share ownership registers in Britain’s major tax havens such as the British Virgin Islands, the foreign affairs select committee has said.During a general inquiry into the relationship between the UK and its overseas territories, the MPs on the committee discovered that the Foreign Office planned to delay the i
  
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• Culture secretary to meet Mark Zuckerberg in US after snub to MPs

  21-02-2019 01:01 via theguardian.com
  Jeremy Wright visits Facebook HQ following founder’s refusal to face Commons committee
  The culture secretary has flown to meet Mark Zuckerberg in California, despite the Facebook boss refusing to come to the UK to answer questions from a parliamentary committee.Jeremy Wright is due to meet the social network’s founder at Facebook’s global headquarters on the outskirts of San Francisco, as the government prepares to unveil its proposals for regulating internet companies. These c
  
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• Ban gas boilers in new homes by 2025, says Committee on Climate Change

  21-02-2019 01:01 via theguardian.com
  Government advisers suggest homes are heated using low-carbon energy insteadGas hobs or boilers should be banned from being installed in new homes within the next six years, government advisers have recommended.A report by the Committee on Climate Change (CCC) says that from 2025 at the latest, no new homes should be connected to the gas grid – with super-efficient houses and flats heated using low-carbon energy instead. Continue reading...
  
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