West End retailers poised for £2.3bn Christmas and Black Friday 2015 shopping bonanza October 27, 2015 West End retailers are bracing themselves for a £2.3bn shopping bonanza this Christmas, with spending set to reach its highest level since 2007, as higher disposable incomes and lower prices help boost consumer confidence. London’s main shopping streets – Oxford Street, Bond Street and Regent Street – are expecting a 1.2 per cent uplift in sales [...]
Northern Powerhouse child development gap: Educational impact of North/South divide visible from age of five October 27, 2015 Children as young as five are suffering from the impact of the north-south divide on their development and education, a think tank has warned. Less than half of children born into the poorest families in the north of England reach a "good standard" of development by school age – but they are behind even their [...]
Chemring share price falls 30 per cent after it warns on full-year profit due to a contract delay October 27, 2015 Shares in defence group Chemring slumped as much as 40 per cent to a 10-year low at 134.3p per share this morning, after the aerospace and defence technology company warned on its full-year profit. In an unscheduled trading update, Chemring said a delay to a 40mm ammunition contract worth £100m from the Middle East meant there was a "realistic chance" underlying [...]
Alibaba share price: Stocks surge after second quarter revenue surprise October 27, 2015 Alibaba shares are surging in pre-market trading as another tech giant beats expectation The figures Revenue at the Chinese internet company has risen 32 per cent, well ahead of expectations of around 21bn yuan, hitting 22,171bn yuan in the quarter to the end of September. The value of goods traded on the ecommerce platform also rose 28 per cent [...]
Asda owner Walmart goes head-to-head with Amazon as it requests permission to test drones for delivery October 27, 2015 Could your next Asda shop be delivered by drone? The supermarket's parent company, Walmart, has entered the drone wars, it's been reported, applying to US regulators to request permission to test out drones for delivery. Reuters reported that the company hopes to use drones for "home delivery, curbside pickup and checking warehouse inventories". That pits Walmart [...]
Pound falls as UK GDP growth slows to 0.5 per cent in the third quarter, held down by construction October 27, 2015 Sterling dipped 0.05 per cent to €1.3875 this morning, after official figures showed the UK's economic growth slowed in the third quarter of this year, held back by falls in manufacturing and construction output. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the economy grew 0.5 per cent between July and September, missing economists' expectations for 0.6 per cent growth, and down from 0.7 [...]
African art collection of collapsed oil producer Afren goes on sale at Bonhams October 27, 2015 Afren, the former stock market darling which collapsed into administration earlier this year, is selling its art collection at Bonhams' auction house in London. The collection of 97 works, amassed by Afren over the years, includes pieces from primarily Nigerian artists, with estimated values of up to £8,000. "The story relating to the demise of Afren has ensured that this dispersal has [...]
Hammersmith & Fulham, Kensington & Chelsea, Westminster, Wandsworth and Camden most prosperous parts of UK – but Outer Hebrides is the happiest October 27, 2015 Londoners may have to put up with crowded commutes, overpriced properties and a complete misunderstanding of the phrase "work-life balance" but naysayers be warned: the capital's residents have just been named the most prosperous in the UK. Topping the list of 170 places in the UK are Hammersmith & Fulham and Kensington & Chelsea followed by Westminster, [...]
BP share price rises despite earnings slide – but it can break even if oil prices hit $60 per barrel October 27, 2015 A mammoth dip oil prices, now at $47.14 per barrel, during the third quarter was not all bad news for BP as outdid analysts' expectations, and the company predicts it can break even by 2017 based on oil prices of $60 per barrel. The figures BP reported a 40 per cent drop in underlying replacement cost profits (a measure of profitability [...]
India’s biggest airline IndiGo launches $465m IPO October 27, 2015 IndiGo, India's biggest airline, has begun proceedings for a $465m (£302m) initial public offering. The budget airline is India's largest by passenger numbers – in one of the world's fastest-growing aviation markets. Read more: AirAsia inks £11bn deal with Airbus "They have figured out that people are more focused on getting to their destination on time than anything else. And they [...]