Financial news

• OBR caps UK growth forecast at 1.2% but says five-year outlook bright

  13-03-2019 21:16
  Forecaster’s mid-term outlook buoyed by £50bn in tax increases, despite low growth and falling house prices in 2019Britain’s economy will struggle to grow by more than 1.2% this year as Brexit uncertainty hits business investment and sends house prices into reverse for the first time since the 2008 financial crash, the Office for Budget Responsibility has warned.The Treasury’s independent forecaster has cut its estimate of economic growth for 2019 from 1.6%, made only las
  
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• Sports Direct offers Debenhams £150m interest-free loan

  13-03-2019 20:50
  Department store would have to make Mike Ashley chief executive and up stake by 5%Mike Ashley’s Sports Direct has offered to bail out Debenhams with an interest-free £150m loan in exchange for an additional 5% stake in the company, on top of a prior demand to make him chief executive.Sports Direct set out its one-year loan as an alternative proposal to a £150m loan Debenhams this week said it was negotiating to borrow from existing lenders as the department store chain battles
  
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• Carphone's reputation takes a hit from £29m fine for mis-selling | Nils Pratley

  13-03-2019 20:37
  Watchdog’s finding is a terrible blow for a business built on the idea that it’s the punter’s friendRemember those sunny days of 2014 when the managements of Dixons and Carphone Warehouse unveiled their “genuine” merger of equals? The fit was perfect, the executives agreed, and Carphone’s mobiles would soon be communicating with Dixons’ fridges. The 50:50 merger terms were declared to be fair to both sets of shareholders.No they weren’t. Half a dec
  
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• Spring statement: Brexit deal could end austerity, but benefit freeze continues - live

  13-03-2019 20:33
  Chancellor reveals growth and borrowing forecasts, plus money for period poverty, knife crime prevention, and affordable housingAnger as benefits freeze remainsBan on fossil-fuel heatingGrowth for 2019 down, but Brexit war chest up to £26bnHammond: No-deal uncertainty has to stop
  Spring statement 2019: the chancellor’s key points at a glanceHow much does the EU cost you? 7.33pm GMT There’s big drama in the House of Commons right now -- MPs have narrowly voted for an amendment r
  
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• Trump follows lead of other nations and grounds Boeing 737 Max planes

  13-03-2019 20:16
  US had stood virtually alone in allowing the plane to keep flying after Canada joined growing list of nations that grounded aircraftDonald Trump grounded Boeing’s 737 Max fleet on Wednesday, days after the second fatal crash involving the plane in five months.Issuing an emergency order, Trump said all 737 Max jets in the US would now be grounded. “Planes that are in the air will be grounded if they are the 737 Max. Will be grounded upon landing at their destination,” Trump told
  
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• Your money: Passing on assets can backfire

  13-03-2019 20:03 via feedproxy.google.com
  LOCAL authorities are issuing demands for tens of thousands of pounds from families who have given their wealth away in a bid to qualify for help with elderly care home costs.
  
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• HMRC in line for £1bn windfall from Lehman Brothers collapse

  13-03-2019 19:58
  UK supreme court rules administrators winding up bank must pay tax on assetsMore than a decade after the collapse of Lehman Brothers sparked the global financial crisis, the British taxman may be in line for a £1bn windfall from the catastrophe.The UK supreme court on Wednesday ruled that administrators overseeing the winding up of the investment bank must pay tax on more than £5bn in assets that have been left over from the collapse. Continue reading...
  
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• RADNOR HILLS: Soft drinks firm’s sales fizz as it invests in products, people and machines

  13-03-2019 18:35 via feedproxy.google.com
  Soft drinks producer Radnor Hills aims to sparkle with a £50 million turnover by 2022, as it expands with new ranges, introduces cans, increases recycling and cuts packaging.
  
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• Hammond sidelined by Brexit as he holds out for 'deal dividend' | Larry Elliott

  13-03-2019 18:33
  Sandwiched between Brexit votes, the chancellor’s spring statement was pretty low keyOne of Philip Hammond’s early decisions was to make his spring statement play second fiddle to the Treasury’s main event of the year, the autumn budget.Even the chancellor could not have expected his half-yearly update on the state of the economy to be as low key as it actually turned out to be, though. For the time being, all that really matters in UK politics is Brexit. There has been little
  
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• Chancellor offers £3bn fix for Britain's 'broken housing market'

  13-03-2019 16:46 via theguardian.com
  Philip Hammond’s spring statement includes funding to build 30,000 affordable homes
  A new £3bn scheme will fund the building of 30,000 affordable homes, the chancellor has said, as he proclaimed that the government was on track to reach its target of 300,000 new homes a year in Britain.Philip Hammond’s spring statement also contained a patchwork of separate schemes to boost housebuilding, including £717m to “unlock up to 37,000 homes” in the Oxford-Cambridge a
  
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• Did no one tell Philip Hammond that austerity is raging outside? | Aditya Chakrabortty

  13-03-2019 16:10
  Public services are in tatters, interest rates are negligible, and yet in his spring statement the chancellor gives us ‘reviews’ instead of policiesListen to Philip Hammond and it’s easy to get lulled into a false sense that he is an adult making sober, cautious decisions. Not blessed with the (ahem) charisma of a Boris Johnson, he is happily less given to spouting headline-grabbing rubbish. While his colleagues have spent the past two and a half years promising voters the moon
  
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• Jaguar Land Rover recalls 44,000 cars over carbon dioxide levels

  13-03-2019 16:05
  Ten models found to be emitting more greenhouse gases than certified initiallyJaguar Land Rover has been forced to recall more than 44,000 cars for repairs after UK regulators found some models were emitting more carbon dioxide than previously thought.The Vehicle Certification Agency found 10 models for the Land Rover and Jaguar brands were emitting more greenhouse gases than had been certified initially. JLR then informed the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency, which handles recalls, of the fi
  
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• Apple's 30% app store commission unfair, Spotify claims

  13-03-2019 15:30
  Music service files complaint with European commission over subscription ‘tax’Spotify has filed a complaint with European regulators arguing that Apple limits choice and competition in its app store, giving its own music streaming service an unfair advantage over rivals.Apple’s app store is an important distribution platform for Spotify. But Apple takes a 30% commission on all sales made through the app store – including music streaming subscriptions – which Spotify
  
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• UK firms react with fury to 'cack-handed' no-deal Brexit plan

  13-03-2019 15:18
  Government accused of failing to consult with businesses, giving them no time to prepareUK firms have reacted angrily to plans for sweeping changes to tariffsin the event of a no-deal Brexit, with business leaders slamming the government’s approach as “cack-handed”.Bodies representing a wide range of UK business sectors accused policymakers of rushing out plans for major changes in trade terms without consulting companies, leaving them with no time to prepare. Continue reading.
  
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• Edmond de Rothschild bank to be taken private by family

  13-03-2019 15:02
  Move would make company the only Swiss private bank to be 100% family ownedThe family of Benjamin de Rothschild, a scion of the 250-year-old banking dynasty, has said its plans to take the stock market-listed Edmond de Rothschild bank private.Edmond de Rothschild would become the only Swiss private bank to be 100% family owned and under a simplified structure would be headquartered in Geneva, the historical centre of the country’s banking sector, if the plan announced on Wednesday is appro
  
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• Spring statement 2019: the chancellor's key points at a glance

  13-03-2019 14:49
  Philip Hammond has delivered his spring statement – here are the main points, with political analysis • Spring statement 2019 - live blog• Forecast of 1.2% growth for 2019. Continue reading...
  
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• Hammond promises Brexit dividend in spring statement

  13-03-2019 14:39
  OBR says lower borrowing has swelled chancellor’s five-year war chest to £26.6bn Philip Hammond has promised a Brexit dividend to boost spending on public infrastructure projects and vital services, after forecasts of lower government borrowing over the next five years swelled the chancellor’s war chest to £26.6bn.The chancellor said he remained confident that a Brexit deal would be agreed by parliament in the next few weeks and he could include the extra funds in a three
  
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• Pound euro exchange rate: GBP/EUR jumps as markets hope no-deal will be avoided

  13-03-2019 13:41 via feedproxy.google.com
  This morning, following Theresa May’s defeat in the House of Commons the pound has risen by around 0.6 percent against the euro, and the pairing is currently trading at around €1.162. Last night, Prime Minister Theresa May’s EU withdrawal agreement was rejected in the Commons by 391 to 242 votes.
  
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• Pound US dollar exchange rate: GBP/USD rises half a cent as no-deal Brexit showdown nears

  13-03-2019 13:27 via feedproxy.google.com
  The pound rose against the US dollar this morning, and is currently trading around $1.314. GBP/USD edged higher after Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit deal was voted down by a majority of 149 in Parliament last night.
  
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• US firm urges vigilantes to report car owners’ bad debt in exchange for crypto

  13-03-2019 11:27 via feedproxy.google.com
  AN American cryptocurrency firm is offering its coins to anyone willing to snitch on drivers who are late with their car finance payments. The US is currently enduring a huge debt problem from vehicle loans, with an estimated seven million people behind on their finance deals.
  
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• Shoppers stockpiling painkillers and toilet roll, says Morrisons

  13-03-2019 10:59
  Supermarket is also building up stock for in-house operation against a no-deal BrexitShoppers have begun stockpiling toilet rolls and painkillers ahead of a potential no-deal Brexit, according to Morrisons.The supermarket’s boss, David Potts, said sales of these basic goods had risen by more than 7%. “Whether that has any bearing on how people are feeling about Brexit, I don’t know,” he said. Continue reading...
  
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• Is this the age of the four-day week? | Robert Booth

  13-03-2019 10:30
  Dozens of firms are trying out shorter working hours – and finding it’s good for workers, customers and the bottom lineIf you try to contact Indy Cube, a provider of workspaces in Wales, after 5pm you receive an automatic message that would make a good manifesto for the fast-growing four-day week movement.“We’ll get back to you pretty quickly during working hours,” it says. “If you’re messaging us outside of these, we’re probably busy with other th
  
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• Carphone Warehouse fined £29m for insurance mis-selling

  13-03-2019 09:10
  FCA says company trained sales force to push product to customers who were coveredThe City watchdog has fined Carphone Warehouse £29.1m for mis-selling Geek Squad, a mobile phone insurance and technical support product. The company will pay a further £2.3m in compensation to customers.The Financial Conduct Authority found the phone retailer failed to give its sales consultants thecorrect training to offer suitable advice to customers buying the product. It said they were trained to r
  
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• £350 bill for cancelling car insurance policy within cooling-off period

  13-03-2019 08:00
  Carrot insurance is charging me the fee although I was only five days into the 14 days allowedI tried to cancel a new car insurance policy with Carrot five days into the 14-day cooling-off period last December. However, Carrot refused to let me because of an ongoing Cue check to verify my claims history, triggered when I applied because a third party had incorrectly named me as the driver in an accident. When the check was completed in my favour, and the incorrect information removed, I had gone
  
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