California governor signs clean energy initiative
California has announced its goal of committing to solely carbon-free electricity sources by 2045.
Governor Jerry Brown signed the deal on Monday, whilst also saying he vowed to honour the 2015 Paris climate deal.
California is the second state, following Hawaii, to commit to carbon-free energy.
“There is no understating the importance of this measure,” said Brown on Monday, with plans to “continue down that path to transition our economy to zero carbon emissions.”
“We want others to do likewise, and if enough people often enough do what is needed we will curb global warming,” Brown said. “But we’re definitely at the beginning of what’s going to be a long and difficult and contentious journey.”
The path chosen for California is different from Donald Trump’s environment policy. Trump said last year that he plans to pull the US out of the deal and negotiate a new “fair” deal for US businesses.
“It’s impossible to overstate how significant it is for a state as large and influential as California to commit to 100 percent clean energy,” the Sierra Club, an environmental organization, said in a statement.
“California is showing the world that a transition to 100 percent clean energy is within reach and it will continue to drive the transition away from fossil fuels — and it is doing this while the federal government abandons clean energy.”
A statement from a Pacific Gas & Electric spokesperson has said that prices could reportedly rise for customers following the new law.
“If it’s not affordable, it’s not sustainable,” it read.
Network Rail sells railway arches in £1.5bn deal
Network Rail has sold thousands of railway arches in a £1.5 billion property deal.
Britain’s rail network said that investors Blackstone Group and Telereal Trillium won the bid for the 5,200 properties.
The move has sparked concern among tenants, who believe the sale could lead to higher rents.
A spokesperson from the campaign group, Guardians of the Arches, said: “We continue to dispute whether selling off the whole estate in one job lot is the best way of supporting small businesses and the local economies which rely on them.”
Sir Peter Hendy CBE, the Network Rail chair, said: “This has been a very thorough, detailed and complex process and we are pleased we’re now in a position to announce Telereal Trillium and Blackstone Property Partners as the new owners of the commercial estate.”
“This deal is great news – for tenants it will mean significant commitment and investment, and for passengers and taxpayers it will mean massive, essential improvements without an extra burden on the public purse.”
David Biggs, managing director, Network Rail Property, said: “We are proud to have fostered so many small, independent, diverse businesses and communities across the country and we are confident that these will continue to thrive under the new owners.”
“Ultimately our role is to run, improve and grow the railway, and managing these properties isn’t essential to that. The new owners will invest in and grow the estate, and we can focus on our core business of running the railway.”
Rachael Maskell, the shadow rail secretary, was not excited for the sale and called of the transport secretary to block the sale.
Maskell said the sale would “undermine the financial sustainability of the railway and damage small and medium-sized enterprises across the country”.
Snap’s chief strategy officer steps down, shares fall
Snap’s chief strategy officer is the latest executive to leave the group.
Imran Khan said he was leaving the company to “pursue other opportunities”.
“After nearly four years at Snap, I have decided to step down,” Khan said in an email to staff.
“This has been a very difficult decision for me to make. There is never a perfect time to say goodbye, but I know that the time is now. We have a stellar leadership team in place to guide Snap through the next phase of growth and on to the next chapter.”
Shares fell almost two percent on Monday and have plunged 40 percent from their public share offering last year.
Snap has struggled to keep a large following since the group’s redesign of the app.
Earlier this year, Kylie Jenner said on Twitter she was not a fan of the photo messaging app since the re-design.
She tweeted: ‘“Sooo does anyone else not open Snapchat anymore?”
The tweet led to over $1 billion being wiped from the group’s value in February.
Over a million users signed a petition for Snapchat to reverse the unpopular new design.
Snapchat’s financials for the second quarter were revealed last month and showed the first drop in active users in the company’s history. The group said it lost three million users in the past three months.
“I think it’s really dangerous,” commented Rob Kniaz, the co-founder of the technology venture capital firm Hoxton Ventures.
“When you look at the numbers, if you’ve lost three million of your most active users by definition, it tells you something is materially wrong with the product and maybe the company.”
Snap has not made a profit since its flotation on the stock exchange.
Shares in Snap (NYSE: SNAP) closed down 1.91 percent at 9,74.
Dignity shares fall 6pc as Co-op increases sector competition
Shares in Dignity fell six percent after Co-op offered to beat the cost of the funeral services offered by rivals.
As the competition within the funeral industry grows more intense, Co-op said on Monday said it would reduce the cost of its “simple” funeral by £100, to £1,895.
“The key concern post Dignity’s announcement of price reductions in January to match the Co-op on Simple funerals was that the Co-op would respond – it now has with a £100 price reduction,” said analyst Charles Hall.
Although it cut prices earlier this year, Dignity’s budget option is still more expensive than the standard package from the Co-op.
Peel Hunt, an analyst firm, warned that if Dignity cut prices more it would knock up to £1.5 million off the group’s profits.
A report from Sunlife said in its Cost of Dying report that the cost of the average basic funeral had risen for the fifteenth year in a row to £4,271.
Dignity and Co-op both own a big share of the market and are responsible for 12 percent and 16 percent of the market respectively.
Robert Maclachlan, the managing director of Co-op’s Funeralcare business, said the decision to lower prices and match competitors was to focus on “tackling affordability”.
“In the last two years we have seen a huge shift in the number of clients seeking affordable funeral choices,” he said.
James Congdon, an analyst at Canaccord Genuity, said: “There is plenty of evidence that prices are too high.”
“With the backdrop of the CMA investigation into pricing, and clarity of pricing, perhaps its not a surprise that prices are coming down.”
Shares in Dignity (LON: DTY) are down 5.33 percent at 977,00 (1804GMT).
Nike sales surge 31pc on Kaepernick campaign, shares rise
Nike sales surged by 31 percent following the controversial campaign fronted by Colin Kaepernick.
A report from Edison Trends, a top advertising research firm, found that sales in the sports retailer increased by almost a third compared to the same period last year.
The decision for Kaepernick to be the face of the campaign was a controversial one after in 2016 he refused to stand for the national anthem in protest at police brutality and racism.
“There was speculation that the Nike/Kaepernick campaign would lead to a drop in sales, but our data over the last week does not support that theory,” said Edison Trends co-founder, Hetal Pandya.
Following the announcement of the advertising campaign, people released images of them burning Nike materials onto social media.
Donald Trump has also voiced his anger at Nike’s choice of sports star for the recent campaign.
“Nike is getting absolutely killed with anger and boycotts,” Trump said.”I wonder if they had any idea that it would be this way?”
“As far as the NFL is concerned, I just find it hard to watch, and always will, until they stand for the FLAG!”
Nike have defended the deal and said Kaepernick was “one of the most inspirational athletes of this generation”.
Serena Williams, who is also part of the campaign, praised the decision. Williams said the retailer’s decision to use Kaepernick a “powerful statement to a lot of other companies”.
Shares in the group (NYSE: NKE) are up 2.15 percent at 82,03 (1631GMT).
Ted Baker shares edge up on acquisition plans
Shares in Ted Baker crept up on Monday morning as the group announced plans to acquire No Ordinary Shoes Limited from Pentland Group PLC.
The deal for both No Ordinary Shoes and No Ordinary Shoes USA will cost the group £13 million and is expected to boost earnings from the 2019/20 financial year onwards.
“I would like to thank Pentland for their hard work and ’Tedication’ over the last 17 years, during which they have been close friends of Ted Baker and trusted custodians of the brand,” said Ray Kelvin CBE, the founder and chief executive of the retailer.
“This is an exciting opportunity for Ted Baker to drive further growth in our footwear business by leveraging our global footprint and infrastructure, in line with our strategy to further develop Ted Baker as a global lifestyle brand.”
Richard Newcombe, global president of footwear division at Pentland, said: “It’s been a pleasure to have partnered with the Ted Baker team for the last 17 years.”
“Since becoming the Ted Baker footwear licensee in 2001, we’ve grown the footwear category by more than 800 percent and increased distribution from 60 retailer partners in eight markets, to over 200 in 28 markets. We have worked closely with the team at Ted to ensure our strategies are perfectly aligned, and that the product captures what makes it such a special and unique brand,” he added.
“We take pride in the role our team has played in the brand’s continued success, and we wish everyone at Ted Baker all the very best for the future.”
Last month, KPMG was fined £3 million for misconduct over the way it handled its relationship with Ted Baker.
The Financial Reporting Council said it “led to the loss of KPMG’s independence in respect of the audits.”
“In addition, there was a self-interest threat arising from the fact that the fees for the expert engagement significantly exceeded the audit fees in the relevant years.”
Shares in the fashion retailer (LON: TED) are trading up 0.46 percent at 2.180,00 (1135GMT). Arecor Ltd secures investment of £6 million
Arecor Ltd has announced that it has secured an investment for the clinical development of its diabetes speciality pharma portfolio. New and existing investors contributed to the investment that totals £6.0 million.
Currently, Arecor is a leading UK-based developer of superior biopharmaceuticals through the application of a formulation technology platform.
Leading UK institutional investors, Calculus Capital, Downing Ventures and Albion Capital, contributed to the £6.0 million equity investment. Likewise, Arecor’s existing investors participated significantly.
The company’s next-generation diabetes product pipeline offers exciting new progress in the field of diabetes. It aims to enable important new treatment regimens. Equally, it aims to offer greater control of blood glucose to diabetes patients.
The pipeline includes three main developments.
Firstly, proprietary formulations of insulin analogues that are ultra-rapid acting and more closely match a healthy body’s physiological response to blood glucose control. Next, highly concentrated rapid acting insulin optimised for the next generation of body-worn miniaturised delivery devices, including the artificial pancreas. Finally, a stable aqueous ready to use glucagon used in an emergency to treat severe hypoglycaemia and enabling future use in bi-hormonal artificial pancreas systems.
The International Diabetes Federation estimates that 425 million people currently live with diabetes.
In addition, it estimates that the economic impact of diabetes exceeds $1 trillion. Arecor hopes that its products will contribute significantly to addressing this challenge. Arecor will be looking to partner with specialist diabetes companies in the later stages of development. Arecor’s Chief Executive Officer, Dr Sarah Howell, has said: “We are delighted to have secured the investment that we need to progress our lead diabetes programmes through the key stages of clinical development. “With diabetes reaching epidemic proportions worldwide and with close to half a billion people living with the condition today, the opportunity of advancing our diabetes products into human clinical trials and their potential to significantly improve the treatment of this debilitating disease, represents a very exciting and ground-breaking proposition”. Arecor is not a listed company. However, its investors do have some interesting portfolios. Albion Capital has invested in several companies in the healthcare sector. These include Abcodia, Achilles Therapeutics and Oxford Immunotec, as well as several care homes. Likewise, Calculus capital also invests in several healthcare companies such as Arecor and Oxford BioTherapeutics.UK growth forecast to slow to 1.3 percent, as Brexit uncertainty bites
The UK’s growth rate is forecast to dip to 1.3 percent as Brexit uncertainty continues to impact consumer spending and investment, according to KPMG.
According to the consultancy firm, Brexit uncertainty will continue to drag down the UK’s economic performance, falling this year.
This proves a gloomier assessment that the Bank of England, who opted to raise interest rates to 0.75 percent in August.
Yael Selfin, the chief economist at KPMG UK, commented: “If negotiations between the EU and UK result in a relatively friction-free agreement, then growth is likely to remain around 1.4% in the medium term as a result of relatively weak productivity.
“If we see a disorderly Brexit, growth will obviously slow more dramatically. If negotiations end well, the MPC are likely to raise interest rates to 1 percent at the tail end of 2019. If no deal is reached, the MPC will need to use interest rates to soften the economic impact,” she added.
Moreover, KPMG said it expected house price growth continue to slow, particularly in London and the South-East, further dragging down UK growth.
“High price levels, uncertainty around the future economic outlook and rising interest rates are expected to take their toll in London and the south-east especially. House prices in the capital are expected to drop by 0.7 percent in 2019,” it reported.
“In regions with lower pressures on valuations, such as Scotland, there is expected to be growth of 4.9 percent in 2018″, they added.
According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), The UK economy grew by 1.7 percent during 2017.
UK growth dipped to 0.2 percent in the first quarter of 2018, bouncing back to 0.4 percent in the following quarter.
Entertainment One faces shareholder revolt over CEO pay
The chief executive of Entertainment One could face shareholder revolt for the second year in a row.
City advisory firms Glass Lewis and ISS have recommended investors to vote against the group’s remuneration report.
Last year, 47.4 percent of shareholders opposed CEO Darren Throop’s pay package, which grew from £1.68 million to £1.86 million for the year to 31 March.
Throop’s salary increased to £866,000 from £823,000 and his annual bonus more than doubled to £802,000.
The chief executive’s salary is expected to increase to £950,000 in 2019 and by a further seven percent the year after.
Glass Lewis said they were concerned about the “successive significant salary increases” to Throop.
Entertainment One was included in the “name and shame” list of companies that Theresa May said were rewarding bosses with “fat cat pay”.
Other companies included on the list were Burberry, Sky and Sports Direct, who are seen to represent the “unacceptable face of capitalism”.
Greg Clark, the business secretary, said: “It is right that we review and refresh our standards to ensure we continue to have the highest reputation,” he said. “This world-first public register, does exactly that, shining a spotlight on how companies respond to shareholders’ concerns over important decisions, including executive pay packages.”
“This will help to strengthen transparency and corporate accountability and build on our reputation as a world-leading business environment – a key foundation of our industrial strategy.”
The group, who is responsible for The Hunger Games and Peppa Pig, defended Throop’s pay and said that the chief executive had seen revenues increase by 32 percent, with profit before tax also growing by 76 percent and the dividend had going up 27 percent since 2015.
Shares in Entertainment One (LON: ETO) are trading up 0,054 percent at 372,40 (1101GMT)
RPC Group in buyout talks with Bain and Apollo
RPC Group (LON:RPC) announced it is in early buyout talks with Bain Capital and Apollo Global Management.
The UK-based plastics packager said that both companies have until the 8th of October to announce whether they intend to make a firm offer.
RPC had been under pressure in recent months from stakeholders to raise more capital and lower costs.
Earlier this month the company announced it would sell its Letica food packaging business, raising $95 million in funds.
The plastics industry has also come under renewed scrutiny amid increased public awareness of sea pollution and plastic in the world’s oceans.
Various companies and restaurants have since banned the use of plastic straws in a bid to combat waste.
Back in July, Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX) announced plans to ban plastic straws, alongside introducing new strawless lids.
Moreover, the UK government is also looking into potential measures to ban the use of plastic cutlery and plates, as it looks to reduce waste.
This follows an announcement from the European Commission revealing its intention to cutlery, plates, straws, cotton buds, drink-stirrers and balloon sticks by 2021 to further ease marine pollution levels.
RPC shares are currently trading +20.63 percent as of 10.46 as the market reacts to the announcement.