As details of the UKIP leadership shortlist emerge today, it seems one candidate is off to a reough start; Bill Etheridge, MEP for Dudley in the West Midlands, has raised just £8 for his candidacy after launching a crowdfunding page.
Etheridge, whose campaign has the catchy name ‘Billeive in Bill’, launched a crowdfunding campaign two weeks ago with the target of £5000. So far just one donation has been made, making the grand total £8.
Bill Etheridge, UKIP MEP
However, it’s unlikely that the Ukip MEP needs the extra press that comes with a fundraising campaign – he is well known for his extreme views on crime and punishment, calling for a referendum on bringing back the death penalty. Other key policy areas include banning halal meat and burqas, and bringing back smoking areas in pubs.
Nigel Farage’s replacement will be decided with the official vote on UKIP leadership in September.
The price of Bitcoin has sunk over 10 percent after Hong Kong based exchange Bitfinex admitted it had been hacked.
Bitfinex confirmed it had stopped trading and withdrawals on the platform after the breach was discovered, with hackers stealing around $65 million worth of the currency. In a statement on its website, Bitfinex said that it was “deeply concerned about the issue and we are committing every resource to try to resolve it”.
Wednesday is the second day of downward movement for Bitcoin this week, after it sunk 6.2 percent on Monday. The hack is one of the biggest in history, highlighting the weakness of using a solely internet based currency.
The Italian banking crisis, which has simmered under the surface of the relatively wealthy EU country since 2008, has finally started to erupt. With the UK’s Brexit vote as the catalyst, Italian banking shares have tanked – prompting media speculation on the future of Italy’s economy. After years of bad debts and a typically Italian lax approach to tackling them, it’s crunch time: the government must make a move and tackle the problem, or risk damaging the stability of the Eurozone.
Italy’s economic situation is dire; whilst most countries have recovered since the 2008 financial crisis, Italy has not. Debt was at 121 percent of GDP in 2011, 123 percent in 2012 and 129 percent in 2013. However, the pressing problem of the moment is the €360 billion of ‘sofferenze’ – non-performing loans, in English – weighing down Italian banks; the International Monetary Fund estimates that the Italian banking sector’s non performing loans amount to an astonishing 18 percent of GDP. Borrowers in Italy have accumulated debts they cannot afford, leaving banks unable to offer loans to those that need them. Since the British referendum, the banks – previously propped up by quick-fix intermediate measures in the face of collapse, alongside Mario Draghi’s mass stimuli – have seen shares drop to 2008 crisis levels. It is now clear that action must be taken to completely restabilise the banking system, at an estimated cost of 40 billion euro. But the big question on everyone’s lips is: how?
The problem lies in the European Union’s new banking union, brought in in 2016, which aims to prevent the need for taxpayer intervention in banking crises by placing the responsibility on the banks’ existing stakeholders, who have accepted the risk already.
Italy’s PM Matteo Renzi
However, for Italy this is a big problem. A larger-than-average amount of banks’ stakeholders are small savers, making the future of the average Italian’s household finances strongly intertwined with the banks. Many of the Italian population will be affected should Italy follow the EU’s new bail-out rules – and it will risk shutting down the domestic bond market, heavily relied upon by Italian bankers. Prime Minister Matteo Renzi faces a big decision – to follow the EU rules and risk upsetting a majority of his electorate, or risk going against the EU and fund a bail-out with public money.
The banking crisis also poses a political problem for Renzi himself. His course of action will have a resounding effect on his career – upsetting voters will endanger the result of his government’s referendum on constitutional reform, on which the future of his premiership rests. Making a wrong move and alienating his electorate risks allowing Italy’s 5 Star Movement, whose anti-establishment rhetoric has already proved popular in the mayoral elections, to gain further traction – leading Italian politics away from its relatively stable centre-left leanings and towards a possible exit from the EU.
Italy’s long-standing economic crisis has impacted the country for far too long, creating an unfavourable climate for employment and forcing many young graduates to move abroad. The official unemployment rate is 11.4 percent – but the youth jobless rate in the poorer south of Italy far exceeds that, at 65 percent in Calabria, 56 percent in Sicily, and 53 percent in Campania. It is clear to the Italian government that something must be done, and fast. Whichever course of action Italy chooses to follow, the repercussions will be felt throughout the Eurozone.
UK Cycle Centre, unique online marketplace for cycling kit, is seeking investment via a crowdfunding campaign on Crowd2Fund.
UK Cycle Centre is aiming to raise funds through a £40,000 revenue loan, at a 9 percent interest rate, to expand the company globally in a number of key European markets. Set up in 2014 by avid cyclist Adam Broadhurst, the company retails new and approved used bicycles, including a large range of accessories, and makes it cheaper for users to ride by allowing them to sell and exchange part of their bicycle without charges or fees.
Broadhurst’s enthusiasm for cycling started when he was just 15, and he has since trained up to five times a week. This passion, combined with an education in Business Management, resulted in the creation of the UK Cycle Centre. During the company’s first two years of trading turnover increased by 300% year on year, and is estimated to hit £1 million by the end of year three.
Uk Cycle Centre founder Adam Broadhurst
UK Cycle Centre are now looking for an injection of funds to grow the business by increasing their product range, employing new staff and expanding their current Malvern retail site as well as opening a new flagship retail store in the Bristol area. Funds will also go into work on a new website to offer their customers the best possible service. With a successful crowdfunding campaign, UK Cycle Centre aims to become an international company within five years.
The company chose Crowd2Fund, one of the UK’s leading peer-to-peer lending platform meet their funding needs. Broadhurst said of the choice: “We wanted to find a platform for longer term investment. Crowd2Fund as a professional and flexible partner, deliver quickly so was the right choice for UK Cycle Centre.”
As well as offering an interest rate of 9%, the campaign offers a number of rewards to to investors who inject cash above certain thresholds, including scaling discounts of up to 15%. For more information on how to get involved, visit their crowdfunding page here.
Next shares up on optimistic trading figures
Shares in high street retailer Next soared over 3.5 percent this morning after an optimistic trading statement.
Overall group sales were up 0.3 percent on a year earlier, despite a 3.3 percent decrease in store sales. Recent trading reports have been gloomy for the major retailer, after a disappointing Christmas led to a 6 month downward spiral for its share price.
The group confirmed that full-price sales would this year be in the range of 2.5 percent lower to 2.5 percent higher, narrowing the previous estimated range and highlighting the impact of uncertainty after the Brexit vote.
UK economy contracting at fastest rate since financial crisis
Britain’s economy is shrinking at its fastest rate since 2009 in the wake of the vote to leave the European Union, according to the latest data from Markit.
July’s PMI figure came in at 47.3, a sharp drop from 52.3 in June and the lowest figure since April 2009. Anything below 50 signifies economic contraction.
Chris Williamson, Markit’s chief economist, warned that the numbers pointed to Britain’s economy shrinking by 0.4 percent in the three months to September.
Rio Tinto shares drop in challenging market
Shares in mining giant Rio Tinto have fallen 0.57 percent after seeing profits drop to their lowest level in 12 years.
First-half profit dropped 47 percent, with underlying earnings for the six months to June falling to $1.56 billion, down from nearly $3 billion a year earlier.
However, the group paid a higher than expected dividend to investors, easing the blow from the weak figures. New CEO Jean-Sebastien Jacques said the group remained “confident”, but expected market conditions to remain “challenging and volatile”.
Banking giant HSBC has reported a 29 percent fall in profits for the first six months of the year, as the group continues to face “considerable uncertainty”.
Profits for the last quarter fell 45 percent with pre-tax profits falling to $3.1 billion, down from $6.1 billion for the previous three months. Revenue also fell to $29.4 million, down 4 percent on the first half of 2015.
However, HSBC cheered analysts and investors by announcing a share buy-back of up to $2.5 billion, demonstrating the “strength and flexibility” of the group’s balance sheet.
The markets have reacted calmly to the disappointing figures, sending HSBC (LON:HSBCA) shares up over 3 percent. CEO Stuart Gulliver gave a nod to the “difficult” economic conditions but maintained that the group’s performance was “reasonable” in the face of “considerable uncertainty”.
HSBC is currently trading up 3.29 percent at 498.80 (0937GMT).
Earn a 40% return in 24 months while solving the critical shortage of London burial plots.
Almost every London borough is facing a critical shortage of plots for burials. We now have the opportunity to acquire plots in a new extension to a London cemetery at a ‘wholesale’ cost and receive a 40% premium when they are acquired on behalf of families by local funeral directors.
The first phase of this development sold out in just 12 weeks. That’s 2,500 plots acquired by investors excited by the prospect of a 40% capital gain in two years. Now, we have just launched phase 2 of the project with a further 2,500 plots being made available to private investors.
It’s possible that these will be the last plots to be made available on this model as the developer believes they will have sufficient retained profits after this phase to secure the remainder of the development. Detailed designs of the new cemetery are now under way and will set new standards for memorial gardens in the UK. This is your opportunity to join the hundreds of investors already on board with this project, at a time when the project has been significantly de-risked now that the transfer of land ownership to the developer has been completed.
Just fill in the form below and watch for an email from us with a link to the download page.
What is the level of investment needed?
The burial plots require an investment of £2400 each with a minimum of 4 plots, so £9,600 minimum.
What returns can I expect?
With the burial plots you sign an agreement giving the developer up to 24 months to sell them on your behalf. If they are sold you will receive a 40% premium, that is £3,360 for each plot sold. If they are not sold after 24 months you receive the premium at that time.
Is there a limit on how many plots I can invest in?
No, the only limit is the minimum of 4 burial plots. During Phase 1 the average investment was £25,000 to £30,000.
Who handles the legal element of the investment?
An independent lawyer handles the conveyancing for a fixed fee of £299 + VAT for the first 4 plots and £25 + VAT for each subsequent plot.
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The Bank of Japan has decided to leave interest rates unchanged at -0.1% despite analysts’ predicting a further stimulus increases by reducing rates to -0.2%. The unexpected decision sent the Japanese Yen surging upwards and yields on 10-year bonds sore as investors were disappointed at the absence of further rate easing.
Rate remains at -0.1%
At the end of the BoJ two-day policy meeting to set measures and targets for the coming two-months, it announced early Friday morning that it will keep interest rates at -0.1%. Analysts’ had expected the rate to be lowered to -0.2 to tackle the issue of deflation in the Japanese economy.
The decision came as a surprise and disappointment to investors who had hoped for further easing through a reduction in the interest rate. Yields on 10-year bonds jumped a 9 point basis after the decision became public.
Bank of Japan promises further stimulus to tackle deflation
While leaving the benchmark policy rate unchanged, the Bank of Japan did state that it is prepared to add further stimulus to the economy in order to achieve its inflation target of 2%.
The agency committed to keep its expansion of the monetary base steady at ¥80tn per year and expanded its’ purchases of exchange traded funds from ¥3.3tn to ¥6tn. It also decided to double the size of its’ US dollar lending program to $24bn.
Data on Japan’s economic performance remain worrying
The decision to commit to further stimulus comes on the same day major data on the performance and inflation levels of the Japanese economy were released.
Inflation figures are still looking very unfavourable for the country’s economy. The Japanese Consumer Price Index ex-fresh food for June came in at -0.5%. The shows an increase of 0.1% in deflationary movement of price levels year on year compared to May’s figure and missed analysts’ estimates who believed the rate would remain unchanged to the previous month at -0.4%.
Overall household spending, which was expected to improve was down a staggering 2.2% compared to June 2015 figures. The figure missed analysts’ estimates by 1.9% and undercut May’s rate by 1.1%.
The unemployment rate improved slightly from 3.2% in May to 3.1% in June.
Retail trade improved by more than expected in June. With decline in growth of 1.5% compared to sales in the same month 2015, which represents an improvement to last month’s figure of 0.7%.
Japanese Yen continues its’ surge against other main currencies
In the aftermath of the results, the currency yo-yoed widely over following coming hours but on average gained in strength to reach its highest level against the dollar in over three weeks, with the USD/JPY standing at 103.323 at 12.54pm.
The JYP has been gaining strength across the past 12 months which has hurt earnings through exports of many Japan based companies, such as Sony who had to record on 74% losses in quarterly profits this morning. Effort to depreciate the Yen have so far been largely unsuccessful.
A figure on July’s consumer confidence in the UK market published by the GfK group this morning showed discouraging levels of consumer pessimism.
The figure came in at -12, representing an 11-point reduction from the previous month. It also presents the lowest level the index has taken since December 2013 and the greatest one month drop the index recorded since March 1990 when Margaret Thatcher hiked interest rates to 15%.
The figure also missed analyst estimates by 4 points meaning that the index dropped 57% further than expected.
June’s figure, which was published only 5 days after the UK’s decision to leave the European Union was made, could only reflect little of the impact the political move had on consumer sentiment. However, this month’s shockingly low level shows the first indication of the full impact Brexit may have on the economy over the coming months.
Consumer confidence is a good indicator for GDP growth rates in the coming months and current levels indicate that UK growth is likely to reduce greatly due to lower consumption activity in the markets. The figure adds to a growing herd of UK data which suggests that the country may be entering a longer period of recession due to economic uncertainty post-Brexit.
The BoE earlier this month decided to refrain from introducing stimulating measures at this point in time to wait until the impact of Brexit on the wider economy becomes more clear. The next policy meeting is scheduled for the coming week and amid the new influx of new post-Brexit economic data it is becoming more likely that the BoE is set to act by introducing new stimulus.
Sony Corporation this morning reported quarterly profits ending 30th June were down 74.3% from the same period last year. The poor results were attributed to a strong Japanese Yen, as well as the Kumamoto earthquake in mid-April which forced a temporary production halt.
Sony reports major losses in earnings
Sales & operating revenue fell to ¥1,613.2bn, down 10.8% from the ¥1,808.1bn recorded for the same time period the prior year.
Operating income decreased as much as 42% compared to the same quarter in 2015, to stand at ¥56.2bn.
Net income attributable to stockholders dropped from ¥82.4bn to ¥21.2bn – a staggering 74.3%. Income per share fell even further, by 76.6%, from ¥70.36 recorded in the same quarter in 2015 to ¥16.44 in this quarter.
Kumamoto earthquake weighed heavy on revenues from camera sensor production
Earlier this year the earthquake in Kumamoto strongly affected the corporation’s production of cameras, which weighed heavily on quarterly earnings. The earthquake of a magnitude of 7.0 on the Richter scale shocked the city in the early hours of the 16th April. Sony had to shut down its predominant factory for the production of CMSO sensors, security cameras and micro-display devices for close to four weeks to investigate damages and complete repairs. The halt in production caused major delays and losses in deliveries of products to a multitude of camera manufacturers including Nikon and Leica.
In its’ latest earnings report Sony estimated the total impact of the earthquake at a loss of ¥34.2bn. ¥26.1bn are attributed to opportunity losses, ¥6.8bn to physical damage and ¥1.3bn to recovery expenses and miscellaneous costs.
Strong Japanese Yen depresses income from exports
Income of the multinational corporation was also negatively impacted by the continuous strength in the Japanese Yen which weighs heavy on income from exported goods. The Yen has been rising in value against the USD and other major currencies such as the GBP over the past year. The UK’s vote to leave the European Union last month reinforced this movement.
In addition, it looks as if the Yen is set to continue its’ rally further as this morning’s release of the BoJ’s decision to leave interest rates unchanged sparked a new rise in the strength of the JPY today.
While sales from semiconductors, the segment most largely affected by the earthquake in Kumamoto recorded losses of 22.9%, sales revenues from Imaging Products and Solutions fell as much as 25.8% compared to the same quarter the prior year, 8% of which were attributed to the impact of foreign exchange. Earnings from components fell as much as 22.7% with the impact of foreign exchange being estimated at 9%.
Highest decrease in sales revenues was recorded for the mobile communications segment which saw a 33.7% decrease from ¥280.5bn the same quarter in 2015 to ¥185.9bn in the three-month period ending the 30th June 2016. However, the company could for the first time record green figures in operating income for this segment.
Operating income now stands at ¥400million, up ¥23.3bn from – ¥22.9bn in the same period last year. This reflects the successful heavy reductions Sony has previously undertaken in this sector to make it a profitable competitor.
In the corporations most profitable segment, Game & Network Services the company documented increases in income from sales of 14%, to stand at ¥330.4bn. Operating profits were up ¥24.6bn to stand at ¥44.0bn.
Share prices rise on forward guidance
In the forecast on full year results for 2016, Sony signalled to mostly be on track to deliver expected results predicted in May. It adjusted sales & operating revenues down 5.1% to a total of 7,400bn but kept operating income as well as net income to shareholders flat at 300 and 80 respectively.
Sony Corporation’s share prices responded with by opening 1.82% up from previous market close at ¥3,250. Over the day the share price yo-yoed but finished up 2.82% at ¥3,282 by market close in Japan.
