45,000 jobs to go in North Sea: Britain’s oil industry is set to lose a further

45,000 jobs this year as it grapples with a downturn that threatens to destroy

its long-term ability to recover, one of its most senior figures has said.

Scots Skype rival trebles staff to take on the world: A small Scottish

technology company intends to more than treble staff as it seeks to take on

the likes of Skype and Cisco with its video conferencing software.

Sacked Co-op Chief loses £5.2 million dismissal claim: The Co-operative

Group has emerged victorious from a bitter legal battle with a former

employee who claimed she was sacked because she was about to blow the

whistle on a “feral institution where malpractice was rife”.

Pension shortfalls double in ten years: Shortfalls in private sector defined

benefit pension schemes have doubled since 2006, according to JLT Employee

Benefits.

North Sea gas pipeline faces threat of closure: ConocoPhillips is drawing

up plans to shut down one of the North Sea’s biggest gas pipeline systems in a

move that threatens to knock out 10% of the UK’s gas capacity and a string

of active fields.

German Sekt eyes €500 million takeover of top Spanish sparkler:

Freixenet, one of the world leaders in cava, the Spanish sparkling wine, is

facing a €500 million takeover bid from its German rivals Henkell & Co.

HMRC’s £6 million campaign used agency linked to tax haven: A

multimillion-pound Revenue & Customs publicity campaign to stamp out tax

evasion and avoidance used an advertising agency ultimately controlled in an

offshore haven.

Rough seas endanger jobs in ageing gasfields: Industry is being forced to

cut and cut again in face of a glut of cheap foreign supplies in the last of our

series focusing on the North Sea

Frugal shoppers put brake on US interest rates: Lower than expected

spending by American consumers in February has dampened expectations of a

swifter pace of interest rate rises by the Federal Reserve.

Craft ale pioneer seeks to expand on ‘ballistic’ sales: The entrepreneur

who pioneered the craft ale movement in the 1980s has launched a £1.5

million fundraising campaign to expand the West Berkshire Brewery with an

eye on flotation.

Osborne dropped business rate tax relief in last-minute budget change:

George Osborne pulled plans to give Britain’s struggling factories tax relief on

business rates from the budget at the last minute as he aimed for a £10 billion

surplus in the final year of parliament.

Current

Value (%)

Change* 1W% Change

FTSE 100 6,130.1 0.4%

DAX 30 9,898.6 0.5%

CAC 40 4,368.8 0.9%

DJIA** 17,535.4 -

S&P 500** 2,037.1 -

NASDAQ Comp.** 4,766.8 -

Nikkei 225*** 17,103.5 -0.2%

Hang Seng 40 20,366.3 0.1%

Shanghai Comp*** 2,919.8 -1.3%

Kospi*** 1,994.9 0.6%

BSE Sensex*** 25,077.8 0.4%

S&P/ASX 200 5,004.5 -1.6%

Current Values as at 11:15 BST, *%Chg from Thursday's Close, **As on Monday Close, ***%Chg from Monday Close

-1.9%

0.1%

-0.5%

0.1%

-1.6%

2.4%

-0.6%

-0.6%

-0.4%

-3.0%

-1.0%

-1.3%

IPOs down on 2015 as Brexit fear takes hold: Big flotations in London are being put on hold because of fears over Brexit as City

confidence falls at its fastest rate in five years.

Accor checks itself into sharing economy: AccorHotels, one of the world’s largest hotel operators, has taken a 30% stake in

Oasis Collection, an online platform for private rental accommodation, in the latest sign of interest from the traditional hospitality

industry in the sharing economy.

Playboy poised for $500 million sale after cleaning up its act: Playboy Enterprises is exploring the sale of its businesses, only

weeks after dropping full frontal nudity from its magazine as it strives to regain its cultural relevance in an age where internet

pornography is but a click away.

Tata poised to seal fate of steel in Port Talbot and Scunthorpe: The steel industry faces a double D-Day next week as Tata, the

Indian multinational, decides the fate of the UK’s largest steelworks at Port Talbot and races to sign a deal with London financiers

and the government to save the sprawling Scunthorpe plant.

Burma stock exchange opens with a single listing: Stock markets were closed today across much of the world for the Easter

break but the wheels of mainstream capitalism started to turn in that most unlikely of places, Burma, where shares were traded for

the first time in 50 years.

Keep a lid on it, CPP Boss urges investors: The Boss of CPP has called on the card protection specialist’s largest investors to bring

a quick end to a public spat over the business that led to calls for the company to oust its management team.

Pension fund to spend £15 billion on infrastructure projects: Hopes that British pension funds will provide the billions of

pounds the country needs for transport and energy infrastructure have been boosted with a significant deal at the London Gateway

port on the Thames in Essex.

Wall Street pays the price as mega-deals grind to a halt: After a frenzy of deal-making in 2015 Wall Street has seen a sharp

drop-off in activity during the first quarter with investment banks experiencing a 36% fall in fees, the lowest since the financial

crisis.

‘Prickly peer’ Baroness McGregor-Smith smoothes over Mitie’s problems: Shares in Mitie have fallen to a four-year low after

the cleaning, maintenance and careworkers company warned that an expected boom in outsourced services wasn’t happening.

Tesco’s fake farm brands ‘mislead’ shoppers: Tesco has been accused of misleading shoppers by using fictitious farm names that

sound British to sell imported food.

Developers ‘must meet homes target or lose land’: Local councils should be able to give housebuilders a “use it or lose it”

ultimatum over developments on their land to boost the delivery of new homes, a think tank has argued.

Peppa Pig group goes on £16 million blind date with US deal: Britain’s love of low-grade American reality TV shows will be

tested after the owner of Peppa Pig snapped up the producer of Naked and Afraid and Celebrity Crashers.

US companies warn tax avoidance crackdown will hit earnings: A global crackdown on tax avoidance has forced a surge of

warnings by multinational companies that higher payments are set to hit their earnings.

To Read More Click Here

Foreigners at the helm of one in five UK tech groups: The number of foreign entrepreneurs founding or leading technology

businesses in the UK has reached its highest level since the start of the decade, highlighting how international talent is helping to

develop the British tech sector.

To Read More Click Here

Abengoa restructuring plan receives boost from creditors: Abengoa has won approval from 75% of creditors it needs to push

through a restructuring plan that it hopes will help it avoid the biggest corporate bankruptcy in Spanish history.

To Read More Click Here

Miners buy back own bonds to soothe debt fears: Global miners have bought back billions of dollars of their debt in a display

of financial strength designed to address investor concerns over their leverage as they try to deal with the after-effects of the

commodities slump.

To Read More Click Here

Daniel Loeb presses Japan’s Seven & i on succession plans: Daniel Loeb, the US activist investor, has urged the board of Seven

& i Holdings to select its new Chief Executive based on competency rather than nepotism, amid rumours that the incumbent is

looking to name his son as eventual successor.

To Read More Click Here

US drops Apple case after cracking iPhone: The FBI has abandoned its attempt to force Apple to help it break into the San

Bernardino shooter’s iPhone, after it found another way to access the device’s contents without the company’s help.

To Read More Click Here

I Squared targets UK after Viridian deal: A US infrastructure fund is buying Viridian, the Irish power company, in a €1 billion deal

that will serve as a springboard to enter the turbulent UK energy market.

To Read More Click Here

Anbang lifts offer for Starwood to $14 billion: Anbang has fired a new shot in the fiercest bidding war dealmakers have seen in

recent years, after the Chinese insurer raised its bid for Starwood Hotels & Resorts to $14 billion in its latest effort to trump a rival

offer from Marriott International.

To Read More Click Here

Network Rail’s fibre optic network attracts telecoms interest: Telecoms groups worldwide are eyeing up the potential sale of

Network Rail’s fibre optic and telecoms infrastructure as they look to use the national network to extend broadband services around

the UK.

To Read More Click Here

China’s oil majors slash costs: Chinese oil companies are closing unprofitable fields and cutting payrolls as sustained low prices

force the industry to take the politically difficult step of cutting spending at home.

To Read More Click Here

VW faces tough month ahead as deadlines loom: Volkswagen faces its most testing period since the emissions scandal broke in

September as the troubled carmaker races to meet a series of crucial deadlines.

To Read More Click Here

Co-op head urges businesses to resist ‘unfounded’ legal claims: Businesses should take a stand against “unfounded” legal

claims, the Co-operative Group said after defeating a former senior executive seeking £5 million for unfair dismissal.

To Read More Click Here

Uber takes flight with Blade in helicopter shuttle service: Uber has teamed up with Blade, an app-based aviation group backed

by some of the biggest names in media, to offer helicopter flights from Los Angeles to Palm Springs.

To Read More Click Here

Travel groups hit by terror attacks as holidaygoers delay plans: After another series of terrorist attacks hit Brussels, Ankara

and Istanbul this month, UK travel companies are facing a tough holiday season.

To Read More Click Here

China industrial profits grow fastest since 2014: Profits at Chinese industrial companies rose at their fastest pace in 18 months

in early 2016, official data showed on Sunday, a sign stimulus measures helped cushion the slowdown in China’s manufacturing

sector.

To Read More Click Here

Lex:

Dell/EMC: track changes: Owning a piece of paper tied to that battered equity which trades at a real, but unclear, discount. In

October, technology heavyweight EMC Corp announced it was to be acquired by another titan, privately-held Dell, at an overall

value of $67 billion. EMC’s crown jewel asset was thought to be its 81% stake in software high-flyer, VMware.

To Read More Click Here

Drug royalty deals: back to school: Earlier this month, the University of California at Los Angeles — represented by the frat boys

of Goldman Sachs — announced it would sell its portion of the royalties from a cancer treatment, Xtandi, to the investment group

Royalty Pharma, which paid $1.1 billion for the Xtandi royalties due to UCLA and researchers. For that, it gets a percentage of

Xtandi’s sales until its patent expires in 2027.

To Read More Click Here

India telecoms: calling party: Billionaires throw good parties. In late December, India’s Mukesh Ambani held a particularly lavish

affair to launch his mobile telecom network Reliance Jio. About time. With more than 75,000 base stations and (theoretically)

enough radio spectrum to offer 4G coverage throughout India, Jio has for some time been all dressed up with nowhere to go.

To Read More Click Here

Founders of Fever-Tree Drinks cash in on company’s sparkling success by selling £17.7 million of shares: The two Founders

of Fever-Tree Drinks have cashed in on the company’s success by selling millions of pounds worth of shares.

MoD awards Rolls-Royce, BAE and Babcock contracts worth £372 million to maintain Hawk training aircraft: Britain’s

biggest engineering firms have been awarded contracts worth £372 million by the Ministry of Defence for maintaining its fleet of

Hawk aircraft.

Chemicals giant Ineos heading home to UK in tax U-turn after falling out with Gordon Brown six years ago: Ineos is to

move its international headquarters back to the UK six years after the chemicals giant fell out with the then prime Minister Gordon

Brown and relocated to Switzerland.

Chinese increase offer to £10.5 billion as they battle with Marriott for Sheraton Hotels: The bidding war for the Owner of

Sheraton and W Hotels intensified after the Chinese came back with a higher offer.

Irn-Bru and Tizer-maker AG Barr demands urgent meeting with the Treasury over sugar tax: The soft drinks group behind

Irn-Bru and Tizer is seeking an urgent meeting with the Treasury in response to the surprise sugar tax unveiled in the Budget.

Three promises to get mobile coverage to rural areas with no reception if £10.5 billion O2 merger gets the go-ahead:

Three has promised to get mobile coverage into rural areas with no reception and reach 99% of customers if its £10.5billion merger

with O2 gets the thumbs-up.

Germans claim LSE ‘merger of equals’ is ‘lopsided’ and basing group in London would undermine Frankfurt: German

politicians and businessmen are trying to wrestle more concessions from the ‘merger of equals’ between the London Stock

Exchange and the Deutsche Borse.

Bank of England set to fire starting gun on buy-to-let crackdown amid fears of a new property crash: The Bank of

England could launch a crackdown on buy-to-let lending as soon as Tuesday amid fears that future rises in interest rates could

trigger a property crash.

Formula 1 is revving up for a sale as two bidders 'have agreed the price', says Ecclestone: Formula 1 motor racing could be

about to get new owners after US private equity firm CVC was understood to have agreed a price for the sale of its controlling stake

in the $8.5 billion (£6 billion) business.

Sotheby’s warn of falling prices in the art world due to a drop in demand and increase in costs: The Directors of auction

house Sotheby’s in the UK have warned of declining prices in the art world due to falling demand, and an increase in costs.

Leather firm Aspinal of London to sell stake and back plans for international expansion: Luxury handbag maker Aspinal of

London has appointed new corporate financiers to find an investor to back international expansion plans.

‘Hair-brained’ idea snubbed by BBC's Dragons' Den set to make founder £100 million: A hairdresser snubbed on BBC’s

Dragons’ Den is poised to make a £100 million fortune from the sale of his hairbrush business.

UK employees work longer hours with no gain in productivity, study finds: UK employees are spending longer at work for

little or no gain in productivity. That’s the findings of a study by UK think tank the Smith Institute, which found that two-thirds of

employees say they are working longer than two years ago, but only 10% believe they are more productive.

Winchester tops list of 10 UK cities with the highest house price growth: Winchester has had the highest house price growth

of any UK city in the last 10 years.

Chinese industry returns to profit as stimulus plan delivers: Industrial firms in the world’s second-largest economy returned to

profit in the first two months of the year, lending some support to the idea that China’s stimulus measures are helping to stabilise its

troubled manufacturing sector.

EU exit backed by 250 business leaders: Brexit campaigners have hit back in the battle of the endorsements - unveiling a group

of 250 business leaders and entrepreneurs who have signed up as backers of the campaign to leave the European Union.

Richard Branson invests in ‘affordable’ supersonic flights with ‘mini-Concorde’: Sir Richard Branson has staked a claim on 10

supersonic jets that could offer “affordable” 3.5 hour flights between London and New York.

Aldi scraps name of ‘rape yellow’ paint after complaints from sexual assault victim: Aldi has changed the name of one of its

paint colours after a sexual assault victim said it made her choke.

Don’t exploit end of tampon tax, firms told: Retailers and manufacturers are under pressure to reduce the prices of feminine

hygiene products following the EU deal to scrap the “tampon tax”.

Nuclear watchdog warns of terrorist threat to UK reactors: Britain’s nuclear industry is under threat from cyber-attacks,

terrorism and state-sponsored espionage, regulators have warned.

Most UK manufacturers are struggling to recruit skilled workers – report: Britain’s manufacturers are struggling to recruit

skilled workers and keep pace with global technology, according to an industry report that criticises the government for lack of

support.

Savers withdraw £6 billion from retirement funds after pension reforms: Savers have withdrawn almost £6 billion from their

retirement funds after the introduction of pension reforms last year.

Financial sector confidence about UK economy drops sharply: Fears over the UK’s faltering economic outlook have been

underlined by a survey showing a sharp drop in confidence among financial services firms, against the backdrop of the Chinese

slowdown and the EU referendum.

China sees industrial profits grow at start of 2016: China’s industrial profits returned to growth in the first two months of

2016, partly due to a recovery in the property market despite an otherwise struggling economy.

Royal Mail raises first class stamp price to 64p: The cost of a first class stamp will rise to 64p this week, taking the price increase

to 100% over the past decade.

Weak US consumer spending expected to delay interest rate rise: Fresh evidence of subdued consumer spending and soft

inflation in the US has bolstered expectations that the Federal Reserve will hold back from raising interest rates over the coming

months.

Athens close to deal over lease of former international airport: Greece is aiming to conclude a deal to lease a prime seaside

property at the site of the former Athens International airport, as the country pushes on with state sell-offs as part of its bailout

programme.

Volkswagen recalls e-Golfs sold in US since 2014: Volkswagen is recalling nearly 5,600 electric e-Golf cars in the United States

to address a battery problem that can cause stalling.

Affordable housing crisis has engulfed all cities in southern England, says Lloyds: There is no longer a city in the south of

England where house prices are less than seven and a half times average local incomes, according to analysis by Lloyds Bank that

reveals how the home affordability crisis now stretches far beyond London.

Pension Protection Fund may take stake of at least 33% in BHS: The state-backed Pension Protection Fund (PPF) is poised to

take a stake of at least 33% in BHS as the struggling department store chain faces a complex battle to restructure its retirement

scheme and secure its survival.

US economic slowdown not as sharp as feared: US economic growth slowed in the fourth quarter, but not as sharply as

Monday,

28 March 2016

US: Personal Income (MoM), Personal Spending,

Personal Consumption Expenditure Core (MoM),

Personal Consumption Expenditure Core (YoY),

Personal Consumption Expenditure Deflator

(MoM), Personal Consumption Expenditure

Deflator (YoY), Pending Home Sales (MoM),

Pending Home Sales (YoY), Dallas Fed

Manufacturing Business Index, US Pending home

sales

-

Tuesday,

29 March 2016

US: Fed's Williams Speaks in Singapore, Redbook

Index (YoY), Redbook Index s.a. (MoM), S&P/

Case-Shiller 20 City s.a. (MoM), S&P/Case-Shiller

Composite-20 (YoY), S&P/Case-Shiller Home

Price Index, Consumer Confidence

EU: M3 Money Supply (YoY), ECB Publishes

Weekly QE Data

Final Results: Barr (A.G.), Faroe Petroleum, Public

Power GDR SA (Reg S), SpaceandPeople

Interim Results: Artilium

Wednesday,

30 March 2016

UK: Lloyds Business Barometer, Gfk Consumer

Confidence

US: MBA Mortgage Applications, ADP

Employment Change, DOE Cushing OK Crude

Inventory (Barrels), DOE Distillate Inventory, DOE

Gasoline Inventories, EIA Crude Oil Stocks

Change (Barrels)

EU: Business Climate Indicator, Consumer

Confidence, Economic Sentiment Indicator,

Industrial Confidence, Services Sentiment

Indicator, ECB Balance Sheet

Final Results: Akers Biosciences, Inc., Biome

Technologies, Cathay International Holdings Ltd.,

Circle Holdings, Learning Technologies Group,

London Capital Group Holdings, Manx Telecom,

Personal Group Holdings, XLMedia

Interim Results: CAP-XX Limited, Diurnal Group

Thursday,

31 March 2016

UK: Index of Services (3M/3M), Index of Services

(MoM), M4 Ex IOFCs 3M Annualised, M4 Money

Supply (MoM), M4 Money Supply (YoY), Net

Consumer Credit, Net Lending Sec. on Dwellings,

Mortgage Approvals, Gross Domestic Product

(QoQ), Gross Domestic Product (YoY), Total

Business Investment (QoQ), Total Business

Investment (YoY), Current Account

US: Challenger Job Cuts (YoY), Continuing

Jobless Claims, Initial Jobless Claims, NAPM-

Milwaukee, Chicago PMI, EIA Natural Gas

Storage Change, Fed Balance Sheet – Total Fed

Assets, Fed Balance Sheet – Treasuries, Fed

Balance Sheet – MBS

EU: Consumer Price Index - Core (YoY),

Consumer Price Index (YoY)

Final Results: Globaltrans Investment GDR (Reg S),

Hilton Food Group, Publishing Technology, Scisys,

Sierra Rutile Ltd, Wireless Group

Interim Results: James Halstead

Trading Announcements: Booker Group, CMC

Markets, TUI AG Reg Shs (DI)

Friday,

01 April 2016

UK: Nationwide House Prices n.s.a. (YoY),

Nationwide House Prices s.a. (MoM), Markit

Manufacturing PMI, Unit Labour Costs (YoY),

Unit Labour Costs (QoQ)

US: Average Hourly Earnings All Employees

(MoM), Average Hourly Earnings All Employees

(YoY), Average Weekly Hours All Employees,

Change in Household Employment, Change in

Manufacturing Payrolls, Change in Non-farm

Payrolls, Change in Private Payrolls,

Unemployment Rate, Underemployment Rate,

Markit Manufacturing PMI, ISM New Orders,

Construction Spending (MoM), ISM

Manufacturing PMI, ISM Prices Paid, Reuters/

Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index, Univ. of

Michigan Current Economic Conditions, Univ. of

Michigan Index of Consumer Expectations, Baker

Hughes US Rig Count, Domestic Vehicle Sales,

Total Vehicle Sales

EU: Markit Manufacturing PMI, Unemployment

Rate

-