Quindell admits it got its sums wrong on Slater & Gordon deal to the tune of £13.5m following share suspension April 1, 2015 The mystery of this morning's decision to suspend trading in Quindell shares has been solved, after the troubled insurance claims processor admitted it had understated the amount its professional services division contributed to the company, to the tune of £13.5m. Shares were restored this afternoon after the company posted a statement several hours after its [...]
Controversial Grangemouth bosses Jim Ratcliffe and Calum MacLean fall out after 16 years of building an empire together at Ineos April 1, 2015 Billionaire industrialist and Ineos chairman Jim Ratcliffe is to sue his former lieutenant Calum MacLean in a multi-million pound dispute, Morning Wire understands. The row is centred on claims that Ratcliffe’s former close colleague of 16 years poached one of his finance directors. The ground is set for a bitter legal battle between the [...]
Quindell suspends trading in its shares on Aim April 1, 2015 Quindell has suspended trading in its shares on Aim "pending an announcement", it said today. The London Stock Exchange issued a notice saying it had taken the decision to cancel 126 trades made between 9.40am and 9.42am, equating to a volume of 403,512. UPDATE: Quindell shares resume trading, mystery of share suspension is solved Shares [...]
Challenger bank Shawbrook prices shares at top of range on IPO April 1, 2015 Challenger bank Shawbrook may be late to the IPO party, but that hasn't prevented it from getting its flotation off to a running start, after it priced shares at 290p each, near the top of its range of 255p-305p on its first day of conditional trading. The pricing valued the bank at £725m, raising £90m [...]
FirstGroup gets back on track with UK bus and rail transformation plan April 1, 2015 FirstGroup has faced a difficult couple of years, but its focus on transforming UK bus and rail operations is starting to pay off. The figures In a trading update posted today, the train and bus operator said it expects full-year growth across all its UK offerings, in line with expectations. It said it had [...]
Asos UK sales soar but half year profit is cut by 10pc April 1, 2015 Asos' share price soared more than six per cent this morning after releasing a bullish statement for the rest of the year. The figures Asos has reported a rise in group revenue for the first half to 28 February, with group sales climbing. 14 per cent. UK retail sales soared 27 per cent but profit before [...]
Veronique Laury: DIY is not dead, says chief exec of Kingfisher March 31, 2015 The chief executive of Kingfisher denied yesterday that the younger generation had fallen out of love with DIY, even as the home improvement chain announced the closure of one in six stores across the UK. Veronique Laury, who took the helm at Kingfisher in January, said: “I am not one of those who thinks DIY [...]
Tidjane Thiam earnt £11.8m in last year as Prudential’s chief executive March 31, 2015 Outgoing Prudential chief executive Tidjane Thiam received £11.8m in his final year at the company, the insurer revealed yesterday. The vast majority of that came from long-term incentive awards – those payouts gave him £8.3m. Combined with a salary of just over £1m, pension contributions of almost £400,000 and a bonus of £2.1m, the boss [...]
How the Grangemouth tough guys Jim Ratcliffe and Calum MacLean fell out March 31, 2015 When Ineos was founded in 1998, it was formed by Jim Ratcliffe in an £84m buyout of a chemicals firm. Sixteen years later, Ratcliffe and his team, including Calum MacLean, had built that into an industrial titan with operations in 16 countries and turnover of $54bn (£36bn) a year. An aggressive approach to acquisitions and [...]
Simon Murray stands down as boss of Gulf Keystone Petroleum March 31, 2015 Oil firm Gulf Keystone Petroleum revealed yesterday that its colourful chairman Simon Murray is to retire. Ex-Glencore chairman Murray has had a varied past, which includes a stint in the French Foreign Legion. He previously led Li Ka-Shing’s Hutchison Whampoa for 10 years, and is famously known for having once been chased by a leopard. [...]