Financial news

• Netflix adds 9.6m subscribers in three months despite increasing competition

  16-04-2019 23:17 via theguardian.com
  Streaming service, which spent $12bn on original content in 2018, beat analysts exceptions in latest earnings reportNetflix added 9.6 million new subscribers in the first three months of the year even as it increased prices and faced stiffer competition from rivals including Amazon, Apple and Hulu.The streaming video service now has nearly 149 million subscribers worldwide and beat analysts expectations in its latest earnings report. Its often volatile share price dipped slightly after the news
  
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• The Guardian view on rights for renters: only the start | Editorial

  16-04-2019 19:40
  A consultation on scrapping no-fault evictions and introducing new safeguards for tenants is welcome – but not enoughHome is not an address. It is a feeling. Millions of people have the keys to a property, yet enjoy none of the security we associate with the word “home” because their housing is not decent, safe and affordable, or because they have no idea how long they may remain there. Private renters are particularly vulnerable.The proportion of private tenants in England dou
  
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• Asda staff could end up £500 worse off under wage changes, says MP

  16-04-2019 19:23 via theguardian.com
  Siobhain McDonagh says plans, including end of paid breaks, could impact 3,000 staffAsda has been accused of planning to cut the pay of 3,000 supermarket staff, under proposed changes to employee contracts that will end paid breaks.The supermarket confirmed last week that consultations were taking place to simplify terms for hourly paid workers and increase the basic rate of pay to £9 per hour. Continue reading...
  
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• Flexible working for parents is great. But child-free people need it, too | Caroline Bullock

  16-04-2019 17:35
  The office-bound 9-5 job is an anachronism. All workers, whatever their family status, need greater control over their lives
  Fresh rallying calls for greater equality and support for mothers in the workplace are made in two recent books: Heading Home: Motherhood, Work, and the Failed Promise of Equality and Making Motherhood Work: How Women Manage Careers and Caregiving.In the latter, the sociologist Caitlyn Collins casts her net wide to explore how work and family tensions are exacerbated by bo
  
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• Mastercard ruling: almost every UK adult could receive payout

  16-04-2019 16:56 via theguardian.com
  Lawsuit could benefit 46 million people even if they have never owned the credit cardAlmost every adult in the UK could receive a payout of up to £300 from Mastercard after a court ruling paved the way for a £14bn class action lawsuit.The legal action taken by former financial ombudsman Walter Merricks claims that 46 million UK consumers paid higher prices in shops over a 16-year period because of allegedly excessive transaction fees charged by Mastercard. Continue reading...
  
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• US government is 'ignorant of technology', say Huawei bosses

  16-04-2019 15:43 via theguardian.com
  Company executive Peter Zhou said he often had to ‘explain it to them like I do to my kids’Huawei bosses have accused the US government of being “ignorant of technology” and belittling national security concerns with unsubstantiated claims the company is an arm of the Chinese state and its mobile network can be used to spy on western governments.John Suffolk, Huawei’s chief security officer and the UK government’s former chief IT adviser, said US politicians h
  
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• The strength of the UK's jobs market is not as simple as it seems | Larry Elliott

  16-04-2019 15:23 via theguardian.com
  If firms were really taking on more people as a result of Brexit jitters, there’d be more part-timersThere is a straightforward explanation for the continued strength of the UK jobs market. Firms are reluctant to invest because acute Brexit uncertainty means it is almost impossible to forecast future demand. Rather than be left with a bit of unwanted and expensive kit on their hands, businesses have taken on more workers instead.That all seems to make perfect sense. Britain has a reputatio
  
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• Democrats escalate Trump investigation with Deutsche Bank subpoenas

  16-04-2019 15:02 via theguardian.com
  Subpoenas issued to German bank that has long been Trump’s financial ally, in investigation of possible illicit financial activitiesTwo House committees have stepped up their investigation of Donald Trump’s business operations by issuing subpoenas for a range of documents from the institution that has long been his main financial prop, Deutsche Bank.The move comes from the intelligence committee and financial services committee of the House, both of which have been controlled by the
  
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• Lufthansa suffers turbulence with €336m loss in first quarter

  16-04-2019 14:29 via theguardian.com
  Excess seat capacity and rising fuel prices leaves German airline recording high negative
  Lufthansa has become the latest European airline to reveal it is suffering financial turbulence and said it would make a €336m (£290m) loss for the first quarter of 2019.The German group said a combination of excess seat capacity across the industry and rising fuel prices had impacted its earnings, turning the €52m profit it made for the same period last year into an unexpectedly high negati
  
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• UK pay grows at fastest rate since financial crisis – ONS

  16-04-2019 13:11 via theguardian.com
  Almost 180,000 workers hired, while unemployment remains at lowest level since mid-70sPay growth in Britain has risen at the fastest rate in more than a decade, as companies keep hiring despite growing fears over Brexit.Average weekly earnings, including bonuses, rose by 3.5% on the year in the three months to February, according to the Office for National Statistics, matching the rate recorded in January and the joint highest level since mid-2008. Continue reading...
  
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• JD Sports bucks retail trend and runs up a record annual profit

  16-04-2019 12:21 via theguardian.com
  Pretax profits up 15% as sportswear company presses on with expansion into USShares in JD Sports soared to a record high as the retailer unveiled a leap in profits despite the gloom on Britain’s struggling high streets.Profits jumped 15% to £340m and like-for-like sales – which exclude gains from new shopfloor space – were up 6% in the year to 2 February, making JD a standout performer when some of the biggest names in retail are being forced to close stores amid rising c
  
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• Plant firm Thompson & Morgan sows seeds of despair

  16-04-2019 08:00 via theguardian.com
  Mail-order company is taking weeks to deliver and fails to update customers on ordersI am writing to suggest you look into Thompson & Morgan, the mail order gardening firm. Check out its Trustpilot page which lists a host of very unhappy customers.They mail us every few days with “offers”. They then fail to deliver. Because the orders are likely to be for just a few pounds, maybe most people don’t chase up non-delivery. Continue reading...
  
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• Flood of ‘fake’ five-star reviews inundating Amazon, Which? finds

  16-04-2019 07:00 via theguardian.com
  Unverified reviews may be being used to artificially boost products, says consumer groupAmazon’s customer review system is being undermined by a flood of “fake” five-star reviews for products from unfamiliar brands, a new investigation claims.The consumer group Which? analysed the listings of hundreds of popular tech products in 14 online categories including headphones, dashcams, fitness trackers and smartwatches, checking for telltale signs of suspicious reviews. Continue rea
  
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• L&G steps up action against firms with few female board members

  16-04-2019 01:01 via theguardian.com
  Legal & General fund managers voted against more than 100 chairmen in 2018The UK’s biggest fund management group voted against more than 100 chairmen last year, at firms including Barclays, Ted Baker and Sports Direct, for failing to boost the number of women in their boardrooms.Legal & General Investment Management, which manages more than £1tn in assets, more than doubled the number of protest votes cast in 2018 over a lack of gender diversity. A year earlier the asset mana
  
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