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GlaxoSmithKline's Witty to retire in early 2017
Bowing to pressure from institutional shareholders, GlaxoSmithKline chief executive Andrew Witty has decided to retire from the company at the end of March next year.
Eurozone confirms deflation though core CPI increases
Eurozone inflation remained in negative territory on an annual basis in February but rose more than expected compared to the previous month, while core consumer prices also rose slowly.
UK's Osborne has 50% chance of hitting £10bn surplus target, says IFS
UK Finance Minister George Osborne came under fire on Thursday as a leading financial think tank said he had only a 50% change of delivering a £10bn surplus by 2020 and may have to raise taxes or slash spending to get there.
HSBC starts 10 UK housebuilders at 'buy'
HSBC initiated coverage of UK housebuilders saying the sector offers exposure to an area of real undersupply, with the UK government “largely pulling out all the stops to help”.
Asia report: Markets, currencies rally on dovish Fed
Most markets in Asia rallied on Thursday, after some clarity from the US Federal Reserve on the pace of its planned interest rate increases came out overnight.
Mortgage lending in February hits eight year high, CML data shows
Gross mortgage lending in the UK rose 29. 6% year-on-year to £17. 6bn last month but was down 5% than the month before.
Sirius Minerals expects up to $3bn annual earnings from York project
Sirius Minerals released the eagerly-awaited results of its feasibility study on the potash project in North Yorkshire on Thursday, saying its net present value is $15bn at a 10% discount rate.
Anglo American, Aquarius get South African approval for platinum disposals
Anglo American's platinum subsidiary and Aquarius Platinum have received regulatory approval to sell certain mining assets.
InterContinental Hotels drops on Morgan Stanley downgrade
InterContinental Hotels Group was under pressure after Morgan Stanley downgraded its rating on the stock to ‘equalweight’ from ‘overweight’ as the shares approach its 3,050p price target with a more balanced risk-reward.
Pub and restaurant sales fall flat in February, Peach Tracker finds
Pub and restaurant sales were flat last month and the industry expects to endure a tougher year than last, according to a respected industry survey.
London open: Stocks rally ahead of BoE policy announcement
London stocks rallied on Thursday as investors continued to digest the previous day’s UK Budget and UK jobs data and looked towards the Bank of England’s policy announcement.
Softcat profit slips but full year expectations reaffirmed
IT infrastructure company Softcat, which listed on the London stock Exchange last year, posted a drop in full year operating profit despite an uptick in revenue.
Europe open: Stocks in the black as Fed signals slower pace of rate hikes
European stocks rose in early trade as investors welcomed the Federal Reserve’s decision to move more slowly on interest-rate hikes.
GSK's Advair Diskus proves non-inferior in paediatric safety study
A study to determine the safety GlaxoSmithKline's combined asthma treatment in children has hit its primary end point.
Expanded Kier Group lifts revenue, underlying profit
Kier Group saw revenue and underlying profit rise sizeably in the last six months of 2015, with its interim results on Thursday showing a 32% increase in revenue to £2. 1bn. Like-for-like revenue rose 9%.
Crest Nicholson forward sales up 16%
In a brief statement to be given at the annual general meeting, Crest Nicholson said the trading environment remains positive, with sales up to 11 March “correspondingly strong”.
Spire Healthcare swings to profit in 2015
FSTE 250 hospital group Spire Healthcare swung to a profit in 2015 as revenue edged higher.
New stores put Ted Baker FY profits in fashion
Full year pre-tax profits at fashion retailer Ted Baker rose 20. 3% to £58. 7m on the back of a 17% jump in revenue to £456. 2m from store expansions and a solid performance in retail and wholesale operations.
LondonMetric adds three new warehouses
LondonMetric Property added three distribution warehouses to its estate on Thursday, spending £21. 8m on the 212,600 square feet of space. The net initial yield on the purchase was 6. 6%, contractually rising to 6. 9% within two years.
OneSavings lifts profit, grows loan book in 2015
OneSavings Bank lifted its profits and grew its loan book in 2015, it reported in its preliminary results on Thursday. Underlying profit before tax was up 52% to £105. 9m, and loans and advances grew 31% to £5. 1bn.