Financial news

• Walgreens heading for biggest private equity buyout ever, says report

  11-11-2019 20:49 via theguardian.com
  
  Shares jumped 6% after Bloomberg report that Walgreens Boots Alliance received buyout from KKRThe global drugstore chain Walgreens Boots Alliance has reportedly received a buyout offer from the private equity group KKR – if successful, the deal would be the biggest private equity transaction on record.Shares in Walgreens Boots Alliance rose 6% on Monday after Bloomberg reported news of the deal. Its shares had fallen nearly 20% between January and the end of October, before news of a poten
  
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• A buyer for British Steel is welcome but what’s Jingye’s strategy? | Nils Pratley

  11-11-2019 20:15 via theguardian.com
  
  It’s hard to see why the Chinese firm wants to take over a loss-making business in a tough marketHalf the woes for steelmakers in Britain derive from dumping into world markets by Chinese producers, or so we have been told for a couple of decades. So it is a strange sort of rescue for British Steel that ownership should pass to a little-known Chinese conglomerate, Jingye, offering a vague promise to invest a large sum.Any buyer is better than none, of course, since the effects of irreversi
  
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• Helping electric car drivers’ eyes light up | Letter

  11-11-2019 18:24 via theguardian.com
  
  Electric vehicle sales are growing rapidly and the provision of chargers needs to keep pace, says David BricknellI have been driving an electric car for almost five years and nearly 60,000 miles. I understand the due process essential to the spending of public money but your article (Questions raised over UK’s state-backed fund for electric car charging, 9 November) made me despair. Electric vehicle sales are growing rapidly and the provision of chargers needs to keep up; nothing should sl
  
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• Banking tech could lead to discrimination, says ex-regulator

  11-11-2019 17:23
  
  Banks can now more accurately identify ‘unprofitable’ or costly customersAdvances in banking technology are putting vulnerable customers at risk of discrimination, a former City regulator has said.Mick McAteer, a former board member at the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), said lenders and insurers were gaining access to tools to more accurately identify “unprofitable” or costly customers, increasing the risk of exclusion for certain sections of society. Continue reading
  
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• World's most expensive watch sells for £24.2m in charity auction

  11-11-2019 16:38
  
  All proceeds from sale in Switzerland go to research into Duchenne muscular dystrophyA Patek Philippe watch has sold for a record 31m Swiss francs (£24.2m) at a charity auction hosted by Christie’s in Switzerland. It is by far the highest price ever paid for a wristwatch, and all of the proceeds will be donated to research into muscular dystrophy.The Patek Philippe Grandmaster Chime 6300A-010, which was created specially for the charity auction Only Watch, was bought by a private tel
  
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• British Steel to be sold to Chinese firm in deal that could save 4,000 jobs

  11-11-2019 15:20 via theguardian.com
  
  Jingye Group agrees £50m buyout that prevents closure of Scunthorpe plantNils Pratley: a buyer is welcome but what’s Jingye’s strategy?British Steel is to be sold to the Chinese firm Jingye, the UK government has announced, in a deal that prevents the closure of the company’s Scunthorpe site and could safeguard 4,000 jobs.Jingye and the government’s official receiver signed a sales contract on Monday, with a formal deal subject to regulatory approvals as well as con
  
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• 'Uncertainty has been a nightmare': UK businesses on the economy

  11-11-2019 15:06 via theguardian.com
  
  Business figures from film and TV, housebuilding and manufacturing discuss how their firms are doingThe UK has avoided recession after official figures showed the economy growing by 0.3% in the third quarter of the year. We talk to businesses in key sectors about their view of the economy’s performance. Continue reading...
  
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• UK avoids recession but that's cold comfort amid Brexit cloud

  11-11-2019 14:36 via theguardian.com
  
  There was little good news in the ONS’s latest growth figuresThe day’s business news – liveAfter a tough spring, the economy returned to growth in the summer and early autumn – but only just. The slowest annual rate of expansion in almost a decade poses an obvious question: is the glass half empty or half full?Actually, it’s about a third full at best. There were really only two pieces of good news for the government in the latest bulletin from the Office for Nation
  
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• Greggs predicts higher profits as it bucks high street gloom

  11-11-2019 14:18 via theguardian.com
  
  Bakery chain on a (vegan) roll as it says sales growth is stronger then expectedGreggs has raised its profit guidance for the fourth time this year as the bakery chain continues to buck the high street slowdown.The company’s shares rose by more than 15% after reporting that total sales for the six weeks to 9 November were up 12.4%. The firm, which has more than 2,000 stores across the UK, has thrived despite the malaise afflicting many businesses. Continue reading...
  
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• North York Moors mine plan could be rescued by £465m investment

  11-11-2019 14:07 via theguardian.com
  
  Sirius Minerals’ potash project had been in doubt, partly because of Brexit uncertaintyThe company behind plans for a giant fertiliser mine under the North York Moors hopes to rescue the struggling project by raising $600m (£465m) from new investors by March.Sirius Minerals has revised plans to finance the world’s largest potash mine of its type after the $5bn project was thrown into doubt in September when it abandoned a bond issue, blaming a lack of government support and Bre
  
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• A Chinese digital currency is the real threat, not Facebook's Libra | Kenneth Rogoff

  11-11-2019 12:07 via theguardian.com
  
  Western governments need to start thinking about their response to currencies they cannot controlThe Facebook chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg, was at least half right when he recently told Congress that there was no US monopoly on regulation of next-generation payments technology. You may not like Facebook’s proposed Libra (pseudo) cryptocurrency, Zuckerberg implied, but a state-run Chinese digital currency with global ambitions is perhaps just a few months away, and you will probably lik
  
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• MOBILITY SCOOTER SCAM ALERT: Hopes rise for customer’s refund

  11-11-2019 12:00 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  ALLURINGLY cheap, useful and utterly fake - that’s the electric, foldable mobility scooters that have been widely featured in some online adverts and heartlessly conned people the world over in the past few months.
  
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• What are Children’s Bonds? How do Children’s Bonds work for existing customers?

  11-11-2019 11:52 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  CHILDREN’S BONDS are no longer on sale, however it was in the past possible to buy Children’s Bonds from NS&I. What are Children’s Bonds and what happens when the end of this term approaches?
  
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• Inheritance Tax: Brits warned to review their will - could you shave £140k off IHT bill?

  11-11-2019 11:51 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  INHERITANCE TAX is the tax paid on a deceased person’s estate above a certain threshold. Following the introduction of the Residence Nil Rate Band, a tax partner has warned members of the public to review their wills to ensure it is “Inheritance Tax efficient”.
  
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• How much Universal Credit do I get? Universal Credit payments are set for boost in 2020

  11-11-2019 11:50 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  UNIVERSAL CREDIT is a payment an eligible person can claim in order to help with their living costs, such as if they are on a low income or are out of work. How much is Universal Credit?
  
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• State pension age: How old must you be to claim a state pension? Changes explained

  11-11-2019 11:01 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  STATE PENSION age is when a person is able to claim their state pension. The state pension age has been rising in recent years - how old must a person be in order to claim the payment?
  
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• Benefit payments Christmas date changes: When will you receive Universal Credit & others?

  11-11-2019 08:20 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  BENEFIT payment dates will alter around the Christmas period. Here is what you should know if you claim Universal Credit, tax credits, pension, Disability Living Allowance and more.
  
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• Universal Credit: How to check if the £25 Cold Weather Payment is due in your area

  11-11-2019 08:16 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  UNIVERSAL CREDIT claimants and recipients of a number of other benefits may be able to receive the Cold Weather Payment during periods of very cold weather. How can one check if a payment is due in their area?
  
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• Retirement and me: Mortgage free couple reveal 'worst mistake they've ever made'

  11-11-2019 08:14 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  RETIREMENT AND ME is the weekly series that looks at how people are spending their time and money as they approach and enter retirement. This week, a couple who are now mortgage free look back on their financial journey and reveal their “worst mistake”.
  
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• Virgin West Coast’s ‘return’ ticket turned into a single issue

  11-11-2019 08:01
  
  Our train was delayed but the train company would only refund the outward journey, not the whole return tripMy wife and I recently travelled by Virgin Trains (West Coast) from Glasgow to London after buying return tickets via Trainline. Our outward journey should have taken less than five hours but turned into a nightmare 10. The apologetic conductor repeatedly announced that, as the journey had been delayed by more than two hours, there would be a full refund on return tickets bought at the poi
  
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• I got a home with help-to-buy – can my dad buy it for less than market value?

  11-11-2019 08:01
  
  I’m hoping my parents can give me the balance between sale price and what the property is really worthQ I have a property which I bought with an equity loan under the help-to-buy scheme. This means that if I sell my property I will pay back a proportion of the significant value growth to the help-to-buy agency.Can my father’s property company purchase my property at lower than market value – thus reducing the proportion of profit transferred to the help-to-buy agency – an
  
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• Cornish homes take part in trial to supply clean power to grid

  11-11-2019 07:01 via theguardian.com
  
  Project links solar-fitted premises in ‘milestone’ to form a mini virtual power plantHundreds of homes and businesses in Cornwall have started selling electricity to their local energy network and the national energy system in a pioneering move.The trial is the first time that traditional energy users – such as homes, hotels and businesses – have acted as suppliers in a microcosm of a full energy system. Continue reading...
  
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• Thousands of UK workers' pay to rise as living wage increases

  11-11-2019 01:01
  
  Living Wage Foundation pushes up national minimum hourly rate by 30p to £9.30 More than 210,000 workers in Britain are to receive a pay rise after the charity behind the living wage increased the national minimum hourly rate by 30p to £9.30.The Living Wage Foundation, which sets the voluntary measure, said London workers’ basic hourly rate will also rise, by 20p to £10.75, compared with the government’s “national living wage” of £8.21 for workers a
  
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• BA to review 'fuel tankering' after Panorama revelations

  11-11-2019 01:01 via theguardian.com
  
  Carrying excess fuel saves airlines on fuel bills but has adverse environmental impactBritish Airways has pledged to review its practice of making aircraft carry tonnes of excess fuel to avoid filling up at destination airports, which saves money but drives up CO2 emissions.Willie Walsh, chief executive of BA’s parent company IAG, admitted that using the method – called “fuel tankering” within the industry – was “maybe the wrong thing to do” despite the
  
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