The Bank of England has announced a new position designed to identify potential conflicts of interest among its staff, in the wake of the resignation of deputy governor Charlotte Hogg.
Hogg stepped down from her post after a being reprimanded by a parliamentary committee for not declaring the fact that her brother held a position at Barclays.
The recommendation for a new position to review conflicts of interests came after a review of the Bank’s practices by the Bank’s non-executive directors. BoE Governor Mark Carney said:
“I welcome this review and its recommendations, which will be implemented in full.”
Worldpay and Vantiv seal £9.3bn merger
Payment giants Worldpay and Vantiv sealed their £9.3 billion merger on Wednesday, one month after the deal hit the headlines.
Vantiv, the US payment processing heavyweight, will merge with UK-based rival Worldpay, in a deal that will see Vantiv shareholders owning 57 percent of the business. Vantiv will pay 397p for each share, plus another £1.3 billion to cover debts.
Worldpay said: “The combination of scale and presence the merger will bring is an exciting step in the creation of a truly global leader in payments.” The board will consist of four Worldpay and seven Vantiv directors, and the combined company’s global and corporate headquarters will be in Cincinnati, Ohio. Its “international headquarters” will be in London.Hargreaves Services shares up after swinging from loss to profit
Shares in logistics group Hargreaves Services rose 8 percent on Tuesday, after swinging from a loss to £4 million profit.
The company’s performance was aided by a significant reduction in exceptional costs, to £470,000 from £12.4 million the year before. The group reported a pretax profit of £4.4 million, an impressive improvement on a loss of £12.4 million the year before.
The company, who are a logistics for for the solid fuel supply and bulk material industries, said annual revenue for the year hit £342.9 million. The company saw the biggest progress in its german operations, which generated a £25.5 million of inflow, after contracting new assets.
“These results demonstrate the excellent progress made by the group over the last year. The achievement of our group profit target was a positive step forward, which we believe marks a real turning point for the group,” Chairman David Morgan said.
“The independent property valuation exercise provides further confidence about the longer term value that we aim to create from our property portfolio. Whilst challenges remain to be overcome in some of our businesses, we are on track to achieve or over-acheive the three key strategic goals we set ourselves in 2016. We will continue to be careful in managing capital allocation and risk as we move forward”.
Shares in the company are currently up 7.59 percent at 376.57 (1238GMT).
Pets at Home shares bounce on strong revenue and sales
Shares in pet store group Pets at Home (LON:PETS) rose over 7 percent in early trading on Tuesday, after reporting strong growth in both revenue and sales.
Like-for-like sales for the 16 weeks to 1 April grew 2.7 per cent, with sales in the services division by by 18.8 percent. Total revenue came to £256.5 million, with £216.4 million of that from merchandise.
Ian Kellet, Pets at Home’s group chief executive, said he was “pleased with our positive start to the year”, and that the group had delivered another period of strong growth.
“We have continued our everyday lower price repositioning and reduced the reliance on short-term promotional discounts. We remain encouraged by the overall response to our pricing changes and by the number of both new customers and those we have welcomed back”, Kellet said.
Shares in Pets at Home are currently trading up 6.74 percent at 183.91 (1214GMT).
Housebuilder shares sink as government reviews help-to-buy programme
Shares in major UK housebuilders traded down over 5 percent on Friday, after a report suggesting that the government was reviewing its Help to Buy scheme.
An article in Property Week on Friday said: “The government has embarked on a review of the Help to Buy housing scheme, which could result in it being wound down or replaced before its scheduled end in April 2021.”
Taylor Wimpey (LON:TW), Persimmon (LON:PSN) and Barratt Developments (LON:BDEV) all saw their share price drop by around 5 percent on the news, with the Help to Buy scheme being one of the biggest initiatives to support an increase in housebuilding in the UK.
The scheme was launched in 2013 and was designed to make it easier and more affordable for first-time buyers to obtain a home. However, its effectiveness was questioned by a recent government report that said that 57 percent of those who signed up to it said they could have afforded to buy without access to the scheme.
UK car sales drop in the face of Brexit uncertainty
Sales of new cars in the UK fell by nearly 10 percent in July, marking the industry’s fourth month of decline in a row.
New car registrations fell by 9.3 percent last month, according to the latest figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). The SMMT said the market was increasingly hit by “growing uncertainty” over the plans for Brexit. New regulations on exporting vehicles that may come into force after Britain leaves the EU is likely to have a severe effect on carmakers in the UK. Just under 162,000 vehicles were sold last month. So far this year, 1.56 million cars have been sold, down 2.2 percent from a year earlier. Mike Hawes, SMMT chief executive, said: “The fall in consumer and business confidence is having a knock on effect on demand in the new car market and government must act quickly to provide concrete plans regarding Brexit. “While it’s encouraging to see record achievements for alternatively fuelled vehicles, consumers considering other fuel types will have undoubtedly been affected by the uncertainty surrounding the government’s clean air plans.”DFS shares jump on Sofology takeover deal
Shares in sofa retailer DFS (LON:DFS) jumped at market open on Thursday, after it announced the takeover of smaller rival Sofology.
The deal is initially expected to be worth £25 million, with DFS saying the acquisition would add another “strong distinctive brand” to its business.
The news comes after DFS issued a profit warning last month, causing shares to plunge by 22 percent last month. The company hopes that adding specialist retailer Sofology to the group will allow DFS to compete better in the market, adding another network of 37 stores in the UK and a strong web presence to the group’s portfolio.
Ian Filby, DFS chief executive, said: “While the UK furniture retail market continues to be very challenging, we remain focused on making strategic progress to strengthen our position in living room furniture.”
Shares in DFS are currently up 1.71 percent at 223.50 (1129GMT).
Tesla shares rise as revenue doubles in Q2
Shares in electric carmaker Tesla (NSADAQ:TSLA) rose over 8 percent in after-hours trading, after the company’s revenue almost doubled in the second quarter.
The company reported revenue of almost $2.8 billion, up from $1.3 billion during the same period last year. About $2.3 billion of the revenue during the quarter came from the firm’s automotive unit, the company’s best known business, a 93 percent increase on the same period in 2016.
However, the company’s costs, including for research and development and sales, rose 15 percent over the quarter causing overall losses to rise. Losses increased to $336 million, compared with $293 million last year.
Despite the mixed results, Tesla told shareholders it expects revenue to grow “significantly” in the second half of the year.
The firm have become increasingly well-known for their electric cars, delivering more than 47,000 of its earlier high-end Model S and Model X cars in the first half of 2017.
Shares in Tesla are currently up 1.98 percent at 325.89 (1111GMT).
UK construction sector slows sharply in July
The UK construction industry grew at a far weaker rate than expected in July, according to the latest IHS Markit figures.
The Markit/CIPS construction PMI number fell to 51.9 in July, a significant fall from 54.8 in June. However, anything above 50 signals growth.
Economists polled by Reuters predicted a much smaller dip in the headline number to 54.5.
Tim Moore from IHS Markit commented on the figure:
“July data reveals a growth slowdown in the UK construction sector, mainly driven by lower volumes of commercial development and a loss of momentum for house building.
“Worries about the economic outlook and heightened political uncertainty were key factors contributing to subdued demand.
“Construction firms reported that clients were more reluctant to spend and had opted to take longer in committing to new projects.”
The sector was dragged down by a sharp slowdown in commercial building, but boosted by an acceleration in the civil engineering sector.
Standard Chartered share price falls, despite 82pc increase in profits
Standard Chartered (LON:STAN) shares fell nearly 5 percent in early morning trading, despite reporting an 82 per cent rise in profits in the first half of the year.
Revenues rose 3 per cent at $7.2 billion, with loan impairments halved to $655 million. The group reported an 82 per cent rise in first-half profits to $1.8 billion, despite a 7 percent growth in operating expenses.
The bank saw a 5 per cent growth in its loan book, driven by growth in corporate finance, trade finance and mortgages.
Bill Winters, chief executive, said:
“We have had an encouraging start to 2017, making steady progress against our strategic objectives…we are stronger, leaner and becoming more efficient. We go into the second half of the year confident in our resilience and in our ability to generate better value for our clients and shareholders.”
However, shares fell 5 percent as investors express frustration at how long the bank’s turnaround it taking. Standard Chartered has suffered significantly over the last couple of years, after being hit by US fines in 2012.
Shares in the bank are currently down 4.51 percent at 808.50 (1028GMT).