NatWest and Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) suffer online outage as MPs attack banks for IT failures. NatWest has joined the litany of lenders hit by online banking failures, prompting MPs to criticise banks for failing to protect customers from IT crashes. NatWest and its parent company Royal Bank of Scotland’s online banking services went down on Friday morning, less than 24 hours after rival Barclays’ systems went down for several hours.
Troubled Telit severs ties with second chief exec in just over a year. Scandal-hit tech firm Telit Communications (TCM) has severed ties with its second chief executive in just over a year. In a statement to investors Telit said Yosi Fait – who stepped up from the role of finance director only last August – will “cease to be a director and CEO with immediate effect”. Telit’s previous chief executive Oozi Cats left the company last August over his alleged links to a 25-year-old property fraud perpetrated in the US by a man named Uzi Katz.
Moss Bros swings to loss and shares plummet after ‘distraction of World Cup’ hits trading. Moss Bros Group (MOSB) shares lost nearly a third of their value after the company swung into a loss and warned profits this year would fall short of market expectations, thanks in part to the “distraction of England’s success at the World Cup”. The suit hire company said profits in its current financial year would be “materially lower” than expectations, after like-for-like sales in the first half, which ran to the end of July, fell 7%, leaving it with a £1.74m pre-tax loss. Stock shortages led to supply chain issues in the first quarter, while the retailer blamed the hot summer weather and focus on the football World Cup for keeping customers away. Footfall in its stores was 7% lower on average, with some shops reporting a 14% drop in customer numbers. It is the second profit warning Moss Bros has issued in less than a year.
Smiths Group (SMIN) tumbles as medical unit’s health fails to improve. Profits at engineering company Smiths Group have plunged after the company’s medical unit lost two major contracts and was stung by new regulation, which curtailed sales. The struggling medical business, which Smiths unsuccessfully tried to spin off this summer, suffered a 7% fall in sales to £885m in the company’s last financial year, which ended in July, while its profit margins fell by 4.4%. Some of the medical unit’s products were suspended over the year because of new EU regulation, while it lost two major contracts in the US. Changes in the value of the pound and US dollar also hurt profits.
Sky auction brings fees bonanza for City advisers. More than half a billion pounds in fees for bankers, lawyers, accountants and public relations firms are at stake in the next 24 hours as Comcast takes on with 21st Century Fox and Disney in the final battle for Sky (SKY). The bonanza ranks the dramatic auction of the pay-TV giant among the most lucrative takeovers ever for City advisers. According to offer documents already published by Comcast and Fox, which is backed in the auction by Disney, the two sides and Sky have agreed to pay a total of more than £580m between them, excluding VAT and other taxes. Not all the fees will be paid, however. A proportion of the payouts to financial advisers, lawyers and public relations firms depends on who emerges as the new owner of Sky or on the discretion of the bidders.
Questor: Dairy Crest Group (DCG) share price may have disappointed but the dividend looks safe, so hold on
