Generali boss Mario Greco leaving to take up chief exec role at rival Zurich Insurance January 26, 2016 Mario Greco, chief executive of Italian insurer Generali, is to step down at the end of his current contract, in order to take up the helm at Zurich Insurance. He will replace Tom de Swaan, who has been leading Zurich since Martin Senn quit as boss on 1 December, after the company’s attempted takeover of UK insurer RSA [...]
Tesco’s not out of the woods yet January 26, 2016 Tesco is still very much paying for the sins of the past, but it has started to turn the corner on the slow road to recovery. The coming weeks are likely to contain some unpleasant tidings for the embattled supermarket. The slap on the wrist from the grocery watchdog for failing to treat suppliers fairly is [...]
FTSE 100 index rebounds as oil prices climb and miners rally January 26, 2016 The FTSE 100 index closed up on Tuesday as the price of oil rebounded and mining stocks began to rally. The UK's blue-chip index rose 0.59 per cent to 5,911 points, led by Anglo American and Glencore as the price of oil staggered back over $30 a barrel. "A short-squeeze in crude oil has dragged markets out [...]
Tesco faces legal battle with shareholders over profits scandal January 26, 2016 Angry shareholders are poised to launch legal action against Tesco over the billions of pounds in value wiped off the supermarket chain in 2014 following revelations of its £265m profits black hole. Law firm Stewarts Law said it will shortly be writing to the company on behalf of institutional shareholders as the prelude to formal legal action, which will seek to [...]
Leslie Berland hired as new Twitter chief marketing officer from American Express January 26, 2016 Leslie Berland has been named the new marketing boss of Twitter following an executive shake up. She joins from American Express where she headed up global advertising, marketing and digital partnerships. Chief executive Jack Dorsey announced the news, where else, but on Twitter. Welcoming @leslieberland to Twitter! She will join as our CMO to help tell [...]
These are the worst examples of how Tesco mistreated suppliers January 26, 2016 THE Groceries Code Adjudicator (GCA) has released a scathing report today into Tesco's treatment of suppliers, concluding that the supermarket "seriously" breached the industry's code of practice by prioritising its own finances at suppliers' expense. Below are some examples of how Tesco mistreated its suppliers. "Aspirational" Margin Targets The supermarket watchdog found that suppliers were often forced to pay [...]
Another Royal Dutch Shell shareholder Allianz Global Investors backs its takeover of BG January 26, 2016 Another Shell shareholder has thrown its weight behind the oil giant's takeover of BG. Oil prices have nearly halved since Shell made the £47bn bid for BG in April, subjecting the deal to increased scrutiny. One shareholder subsequently warned the deal no longer makes sense with the oil price so low. But Chris Wheaton, an oil analyst [...]
Purplebricks, the Neil Woodford-backed property company, sees its revenues and profits soar up 814 per cent January 26, 2016 Purplebricks, the hybrid online estate agent which floated on AIM in December, has announced interim results for the six months ending October this morning. The figures Gross profits rocketed up 814 per cent, to £4.1m from £400,000 the year. Revenues were up to £7.2m, from £800,000 his time the year before, a 777 per cent increase. Despite [...]
Tesco “seriously” breached grocery code, says supplier watchdog Groceries Code Adjudicator January 26, 2016 Tesco has been given a slap on the wrist over its relationship with suppliers during the lead-up to the accounting scandal which rocked the supermarket in 2014. Supplier watchdog the Grocery Code Adjudicator (GCA) said Tesco seriously breach of the code of practice, prioritising its own finances over treating suppliers fairly and acting unreasonably when delaying payments to suppliers, often for lengthy periods [...]
Goldman Sach’s head of commodities research Jeffrey Currie: More oil price volatility as storage hits capacity January 26, 2016 The global supply glut means millions of barrels of oil are sitting in tanks at oil fields and ports waiting for export across the world – but Goldman Sachs has warned storage space is running out. There’s no precise figure on oil storage capacity, with very little data outside of the OECD. But Goldman's head of commodities research, Jeffrey Currie, [...]