13th Jun 2016 10:19
LONDON (Alliance News) - The following is a summary of top news stories Monday.
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COMPANIES
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Inmarsat said it has entered a strategic partnership with Australia-based satellite services provider SpeedCast International Ltd to deliver Inmarsat's Fleet Xpress maritime broadband service. Under the partnership SpeedCast will integrate the Fleet Xpress service within its own maritime services portfolio, and over the next five years will roll out Fleet Xpress to around 2,000 vessels. Inmarsat said the two-way partnership will enable Inmarsat to use SpeedCast's "unrivalled" global Ku-band satellite network for its Xpress link customers.
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British budget airline easyJet may set up a separate European business if the UK votes to leave the European Union in next week's referendum, The Telegraph reported. EasyJet has considered a contingency plan in the event of a Brexit, considering options including obtaining an air operators certificate in an EU country, which would require it to establish a local holding company, the newspaper said. easyJet also has examined making better use of its Swiss air operators certificate and easyJet Switzerland subsidiary if Britain votes to leave.
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BT Group's chairman and chief executive, along with union leaders, are sending a joint letter to staff saying they want the UK to stay in a reformed European Union, the BBC reported. The leaders of the CWU and Prospect unions, which have members among BT's 81,400 staff, will join the BT bosses to say the vote will have a big impact on the company. Whilst they will urge staff to vote, they will say it is up to them how they vote at the upcoming referendum.
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Security services company G4S said Omar Mateen, the man who perpetrated a mass killing in a nightclub in Florida early Sunday, had been employed by the company since September 2007. G4S said that Mateen was off-duty at the time of the incident. "Mateen underwent company screening and background checks when he was recruited in 2007, and the check revealed nothing of concern. His screening was repeated in 2013 with no findings," the company said in a statement. G4S said that it is "cooperating fully" with law enforcement authorities, including the FBI. It said that in 2013 it learned that Mateen had been questioned by the FBI, but that enquiries were subsequently closed.
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UBM said the US Department of Justice has filed for the clearance of its sale of PR Newswire, a step towards UBM completing the sale. The company agreed the sale of PR Newswire business towards the end of 2015 for USD841.0 million to Cision, a PR software company owned by Chicago-based private equity house GTCR Canyon Holdings. The sale is still under review in the UK. In May the UK's antitrust regulator, the Competition & Markets Authority, said it was probing the sale to see whether it would result in a substantial lessening of competition. However, PR Newswire and Cision both have a much larger presence in the US.
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MARKETS
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London stock indices were starting the week lower amid growing market concern that the UK will vote next week to leave the European Union. The uncertainty ahead of the EU referendum on June 23 and doubts about the state of the global economy prompted a general risk-off sentiment among investors. The pound fell to a two-month low against the dollar. Wall Street was pointed to a lower open.
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FTSE 100: down 0.5% at 6,086.32
FTSE 250: down 0.7% at 16,703.38
AIM ALL-SHARE: down 0.6% at 735.17
GBP: down at USD1.4128 (USD1.4336)
EUR: flat at USD1.1261 (USD1.1274)
GOLD: up at USD1,283.91 per ounce (USD1,268.40)
OIL (Brent): flat at USD50.12 a barrel (USD50.88)
(changes since previous London equities close)
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ECONOMICS AND GENERAL
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Labour has increased its efforts to win voters over to the Remain camp as the UK's referendum on whether or not to remain in the EU draws near, with former prime minister Gordon Brown leading the charge. With only ten days left before the vote, and an increasing number of polls showing Leave in the lead, Brown has launched a campaign backing the campaign to stay in the EU. In a speech Monday, Brown will pledge: "From now until 10pm on June 23, we will not rest and I will not stop explaining why nine million Labour voters have most to gain from remaining in the EU." Meanwhile, Prime Minister David Cameron has defended himself against accusations he was trying to frighten voters, after warning that the state pension could be squeezed in the event of a Brexit, notable as pensioners are seen as a key voting block for the Leave campaign.
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US President Barack Obama on Sunday called the mass shooting at a gay nightclub in Florida earlier in the day an "act of terror" and "act of hate". At least 50 people were killed and 53 others wounded, including a police officer, early Sunday in the shooting at the popular gay nightclub Pulse in Orlando, Florida. It is the deadliest shooting incident in the US history. The gunman, identified by authorities as Omar Mateen of Port St. Lucie, Florida, was found dead inside the nightclub after a shootout with the police. The latest media reports also said the terror group the Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the nightclub attack.
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England and Russia were warned Sunday they could be disqualified from Euro 2016 if there is further violence involving their fans at the tournament. UEFA's executive committee said both federations could be disqualified irrespective of any disciplinary measures taken if there is a repeat of the scenes in Marseille around Saturday's match between the two nations. Disciplinary proceedings were earlier opened by European football's organizing body against the Russian Football Union after fans appeared to charge England supporters at the end of the match.
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Fitch Ratings affirmed the sovereign ratings of the UK at 'AA+' with stable outlook as it benefits from a high income, diversified and flexible economy. The credible macroeconomic policy framework and sterling's international reserve currency status also underpins the ratings. Fitch assessed that a vote to leave the EU after the referendum on June 23 would be a moderate credit negative for the UK, affecting its medium-term growth and investment prospects and its external position. "In the event of a 'Leave' vote, and as we have guided previously, we would review the UK's ratings shortly after the referendum result," Fitch said.
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A decision by Britain to exit the EU would have a major effect on the entire continent's economy, German business and financial experts have told dpa. "Thirteen per cent of Europe's citizens reside in Britain, and Britain accounts for 17% of the bloc's economic power," said Achim Wambach, head of the Mannheim-based Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW). Not only would there be huge consequences for Britain if its citizens decide in a referendum on June 23 that it should leave the EU, but the bloc would feel the after-effects of the decision too, he added.
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Industrial output in China was up 6.0% on year in May, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Monday - in line with expectations and unchanged from the previous month. Year to date, output was up 5.9%. The bureau also said that retail sales were up 10.0% on year - shy of forecasts for 10.1%, which would have been unchanged. Year to date, sales were up 10.2%. Also, fixed asset investment gained an annual 9.6%. That was well shy of expectations for 10.5%, which would have been the same as the April reading.
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A court session was due to open in South Africa on Monday to sentence Olympic sprinter Oscar Pistorius for the murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp after an appeals court overturned his initial conviction of manslaughter. A murder conviction carries a minimum sentence of 15 years in South Africa, though the sentence of the 29-year-old could be reduced to take into account time already served. Pistorius fired four shots at Steenkamp through a locked toilet door at his home in Pretoria in the early hours of February 14 - Valentine's Day - 2013. The 29-year-old model died at the scene.
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By Arvind Bhunjun; [email protected]; @ArvindBhunjun
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