Legal expert warns UK’s North Sea industry risks suffering a “brain drain” May 17, 2016 A legal expert warned employment law has left the UK's already embattled North Sea oil and gas sector at risk of a "brain drain". Katie Williams, employment specialist and partner at Pinsent Masons, blamed the widespread use of contracts which stop individuals joining a potential competitor for anything up to 12 months after leaving a job. [...]
Checking out: Are the Burberry short-sellers short-sighted? May 17, 2016 Investors are not feeling too hot about trenchcoat-maker Burberry today, with its stock among the most heavily shorted ahead of eagerly anticipated results out tomorrow morning. According to financial data providers, Markit, around seven per cent of the company's shares were out on loan to those hoping to cash in from a short-term fall in [...]
Fitness of European IPO market boosted by recent activity flurry May 17, 2016 A Dutch fitness chain has become the latest company to announce plans for a flotation amid a recent flurry of European activity. Basic-Fit operates 351 clubs across Europe and has more than one million members. Read more: IPOh yeah! Signs of life in London's flotation market The company, which operates across the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, [...]
Land Securities warns Brexit could be “painful for the property industry” as it reports pre-tax profits plunge May 17, 2016 Land Securities’ pre-tax profits almost halved in the year to 31 March amid “uncertainty in the lead up to the EU referendum”. It said a Brexit could be “painful for the property industry and those it supports” but stated that it could “thrive” no matter what the outcome. The figures In the year to 31 March, Land [...]
The UK stock market is an “over-leveraged disaster” according to Societe Generale May 16, 2016 The UK equity market has been a "disaster for the best part of a decade" and is dangerously "over-leveraged" according to analysts at Societe Generale. The investment bank issued a hard-hitting note this afternoon warning that firms may be paying out dividends at an unsustainably high rate, and said this was coming at the expense of [...]
Philips Lighting ready to shine with IPO worth up to £665m May 16, 2016 Philips today announced it expects to raise up to €844m (£665m) with an initial public offering (IPO) of its lighting division. The Dutch electronics company expects to sell 37.5m, or 25 per cent, of Philips Lighting shares at between €18.50 and €22.50. This would give the division a market capitalisation of between €2.78bn and €3.38bn. [...]
FTSE 100 narrowly avoids fourth consecutive week of decline May 13, 2016 The FTSE 100 reversed early losses on Friday, but was held back by losses at Inmarsat and Coca Cola HBC. That's not bad for a Friday 13th. The FTSE 100 before today had closed lower on eight out of the past 11 of them. The UK's benchmark index closed at 6,138 points, with Inmarsat one of the largest fallers. While the FTSE [...]
Is the IMF right that a vote to leave the EU would lead to sharp drops in share prices? May 13, 2016 Aengus Collins, country forecast director at the Economist Intelligence Unit, says Yes. Volatility in the UK’s financial markets would unquestionably surge in response to a vote to leave the European Union. Although the medium-term economic impact wouldn’t necessarily be dramatically worse than the baseline, the immediate aftermath of a leave vote would potentially be brutal. The [...]
Brent crude and WTI: Oil prices slump as strong dollar hits demand May 13, 2016 Oil prices slumped today, dragged down by the strong dollar and Russia's warning that the the global oversupply could last longer than expected. Brent crude, the global benchmark, fell 0.5 per cent to $47.9 per barrel this morning. West Texas Intermediate, the US benchmark, shed 0.8 per cent to $46.3 per barrel. Russia said yesterday [...]
Glencore has taken out a big bet on North Sea oil May 13, 2016 Embattled miner and trader Glencore has taken out a big bet on the equally troubled North Sea oil and gas industry. Both have been hit by the commodity price rout, in which oil prices tumbled from over $110 per barrel to below $30 earlier this year. The Swiss firm built up one of the largest positions in [...]