BHP Billiton cuts dividend and profits slides as it battles commodity rout February 22, 2016 Mining giant BHP Billiton has cut its dividend as it struggles to maintain its A-grade ratting in the midst of its biggest ever profit slump. The company scrapped its pledge to keep its dividend steady or rising, slashing the dividend by 74 per cent. Dividend per share has been cut from 62 cents to 16 [...]
Sainsbury’s granted extended deadline of 18 March to make new bid for Argos owner Home Retail Group February 22, 2016 Sainsbury's has been given an extended deadline to make a new bid for Argos owner Home Retail Group. The supermarket group has until 5pm on 18 March to make a new offer for the company, almost four weeks from now. Home Retail's shares closed up 12.96 per cent today at 173.5p, after a rival bidder [...]
At the close: FTSE 100 index closes higher as the oil price rises with banks’ and miners’ share prices including Anglo American and Glencore rising despite housebuilders and HSBC’s share price falling February 22, 2016 The FTSE 100 index closed higher today after the price of oil rose and there was a bounce-back in mining companies and banking shares. The UK's blue-chip index rose 1.47 per cent to 6,037 points, led higher by Glencore and Anglo American. "Rallying commodity prices from crude oil to copper have boosted the beaten up [...]
UK North Sea explorer First Oil Expro goes into administration due to decline in brent crude price February 22, 2016 First Oil Expro, an Aberdeen-based UK North Sea oil explorer, has gone into administration. Two other oil companies, Enquest and Cairn Energy, have taken on the company's 15 per cent stake in the Kraken North Sea oil field. Enquest will now have a 70.5 per cent holding and Cairan 29.5 per cent. Parent company First [...]
Deutsche Bank cuts fixed-income jobs in London and New York February 22, 2016 Deutsche Bank is cutting 75 jobs from its fixed income division, split between London and New York. Staff are being notified today, according to reports. "We are restructuring our FIC business to make it more suited to future market demand," said a spokesperson for Deutsche Bank. The cuts will affect less than two per cent [...]
Visa’s new app will mean you can pay for petrol without leaving your car February 22, 2016 The Western world's quick decline into obesity was accelerated today by news that Visa has created new services whereby drivers can pay for fuel and parking without even leaving their car. The financial services firm has teamed up with Honda to create one of the apps, which can be accessed from the car's dashboard. It unveiled the new [...]
Why taking a selfie is going to start costing you money as MasterCard brings “selfie pay”, its facial recognition payment software, to the UK February 22, 2016 Now there's a less vain reason to take a selfie: MasterCard is bringing facial recognition payment services, dubbed "selfie pay", to the UK. The company has already trialled the technology in pilot schemes in the US and Netherlands, ahead of a launch in 14 other countries this summer. (Rumours Kim Kardashian was the first person [...]
HSBC share price slides as it posts surprise dip in profits February 22, 2016 Admittedly, it hasn't been the easiest year for HSBC – but analysts were nonetheless taken by surprise when it posted a 1.2 per cent decline in net profit for 2015. The figures Net profits fell to $13.52bn (£9.52bn) in the year to the end of December, down 1.2 per cent from $13.69bn last year. Meanwhile, pre-tax profits rose one per cent to $18.9bn, from $18.7bn last year – [...]
Bumper year for Bovis Homes as house price growth boosts profits by 20 per cent February 22, 2016 Housebuilder Bovis Homes said house price growth helped it deliver bumper profits in 2015. The figures Revenues in the year to the end of December rose 17 per cent to £946.5m, from £809.4m last year – while pre-tax profits rose 20 per cent to £160.1m, from £133.5m. It said it had been bossed by a strong increase in average sales price, which grew seven per [...]
HSBC’s share price falls after revealing it’s being probed by SEC over so-called princeling hiring practices in Asia February 22, 2016 HSBC is being investigated by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over nepotistic hiring practices, it revealed this morning. HSBC's share price was down 3.6 per cent in early trading. The bank, which today posted worse-than-expected figures for 2015, admitted it was one of many financial institutions being probed by the US watchdog over "hiring [...]