Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial newsLatest: Brent crude over $69 on supply worriesIntroduction: Saudi attack drove oil price upWeWork IPO shelved 9.56am BST US energy secretary Rick Perry is trying to calm the markets again.“With regard to energy markets, the president has directed me to release oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve if that is needed to offset any potential disruptions.But looking at the supply numbers we are confident that the markets remain well-supplied.” BRENT front-month futures prices surged +14.6% on Sep 16 following the attack on Abqaiq, an inc[...]
Office-sharing company’s value has been slashed since January but it says flotation will still take place this year WeWork, the US office-sharing company, has postponed its stock market flotation after receiving a lukewarm response from investors.WeWork’s parent, the We Company, had planned to launch an investor roadshow this week to drum up interest in its $20bn (£16bn) share sale, slashed from an initial valuation of $47bn. It hoped to price and list its shares next week, but has put the plans on ice amid operating losses and corporate governance issues. Continue reading...
UK firm, which provides electric commercial vehicles, claims to be enjoying significant successAs the British automotive industry endures its worst period in almost two decades, it might not seem like a good time to open a new van factory. Investment has come to a virtual standstill as the prospect of a no-deal Brexit looms and commercial vehicle production has plunged by a third in response to waning demand.But Arrival begs to differ and has put its money where its mouth is with a new factory in Banbury, Oxfordshire. So far it appears to be paying off, with delivery firms Royal Mail, DHL and [...]
Tour operator struggling with debt puts off creditors’ vote over terms of finance packageThomas Cook has delayed a crunch creditors’ vote until next week, giving the stricken tour operator more time to smooth obstacles to a £1.1bn rescue package aimed at saving it from collapse.Fears for the future of the the 178-year-old tour operator have been mounting, as it threatens to buckle under the weight of high debt, intense competition and one-off factors including last summer’s heatwave and Brexit uncertainty. Continue reading...
National Pawnbrokers Association says industry is ‘not impressed’ with A&BPawnbroker Albemarle & Bond has been criticised for “woefully inadequate” communication with customers hoping to retrieve belongings after the company shut its shops and website last week.The National Pawnbrokers Association (NPA), the UK trade body of which Albemarle & Bond is a member, said it was receiving hundreds of calls a day from worried customers who had been unable to get through to a helpline set up by the pawnbroker. Continue reading...
United Auto Workers called a strike on Sunday for the first time in over a decade as contract negotiations reached an impasseUncertainty, apprehension and stress were the words people picketing General Motors workers at the car company’s sprawling Detroit-Hamtramck assembly plant used to describe day one of their strike.If the strike by United Auto Workers (UAW) members drags on, they could soon end up earning just $250 per week, and there’s fear about what that could mean for their families. But picketers who spoke with the Guardian say they’re also certain about their mission, and accept the[...]
Partners at firm will get average £765,000 this year in biggest payday for a decadePartners at the accountancy and consulting firm PwC will be paid an average of £765,000 this year after profits soared to more than £1bn, partly due to increased demand for advice on how to handle the Brexit crisis.A total of 913 partners at the firm, which used to be called PricewaterhouseCoopers, are to collect an average of £765,000 – the accountants’ biggest annual payday in a decade, and 7.4% more than they got in 2018. Continue reading...
ONS says rise is result of growing traffic as campaigners say car use must be curbedBritain’s greenhouse gas emissions from road transport have continued to grow since 1990 despite more efficient cars because traffic has increased by almost a third, according to government figures.Cutting emissions on Britain’s roads remains a significant challenge, according to the report from the Office for National Statistics, citing a 6% rise in greenhouse gases in the past three decades. Continue reading...
Creditors will decide if they’ll accept 11p in the pound they invested in care home projectInvestors in an aborted Gavin Woodhouse care home project are to vote on whether the embattled entrepreneur’s former business partner is attempting to “buy them off at a pittance” via a new settlement offer.The October vote will give investors the chance of accepting 11p for every pound they ploughed into a single off-plan development in Yorkshire, where the advertised care home never materialised. Continue reading...
Insolvencies in year to the end of June 2019 increased by 25% – the highest since at least 2014More than 1,400 UK restaurants collapsed in the year since June 2018 – underlining the scale of the so-called “casual dining crunch”, which has led to customers turning their backs on chains such as Byron, Strada, Gourmet Burger Kitchen and Jamie Oliver’s restaurant empire.The number of restaurants falling into insolvency in the year to the end of June 2019 increased by 25% to 1,412 compared to 2018, according to research by the accountancy firm UHY Hacker Young. It is the highest number of insolvenc[...]
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Apple TV+ losses, MoviePass passes, Qualcomm $3.1bn deal, tech week ahead, Sonos Move
Telecoms group should easily manage a $2bn valuation for its London listing
Report of UK’s GCHQ shows difficulty in auditing the Chinese telecom group’s systems
Sometimes, monopolies are good.
Africa-focused telecoms infrastructure group plans second attempt at IPO
A shake-up of US telecoms group is long overdue
US tech group and manufacturing partner admit using too many temporary workers
Collapse of talks comes after Malaysian prime minister aired fears over potential job losses
Struggling French telecoms group faces investor scrutiny over how payouts calculated
WeWork’s staggering new valuation, Facebook Dating launched in US, Android 10
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Daniel Loeb’s Third Point has pressured group hone focus as an entertainment company
Ride-hailing app sets sights on becoming one-stop shop with expansion into deliveries
Ignoring Silicon Valley ‘myths’ key to success in region undeserving of hefty risk premium
WeWork is struggling to launch IPO, while valuations for Uber and Slack have fallen
San Francisco-based non-profit is archiving billions of web pages in a bid to preserve web history
Cambridge-based start-up raises £195m as it prepares to launch in Europe and India
Apple TV+ losses, MoviePass passes, Qualcomm $3.1bn deal, tech week ahead, Sonos Move
Elon Musk’s vision of a merging of man and machine is startling, if not downright scary
Geely investment in Volocopter signals rising demand
UK report warns that algorithms might judge disadvantaged people as ‘a greater risk’
© Copyright The Financial Times Ltd 2019. "FT" and "Financial Times" are trademarks of the Financial Times. See http://www.ft.com/servicestools/help/terms#legal1 for the terms and conditions of reuse.