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28 Jun, 2016 13:21

Branson says Brexit wipes third of value from Virgin Group

Branson says Brexit wipes third of value from Virgin Group

British multinational conglomerate Virgin Group lost a third of its value as a result of UK's decision to quit the European Union, according to the company founder, billionaire businessman Richard Branson.

“We're not any worse than anybody else but I suspect we've lost a third of our value,” Branson told the “Good Morning Britain” TV show.

The billionaire stressed that the company had to withdraw from a deal worth 3,000 jobs due to the ambiguity caused by last week's vote to leave the EU.

Branson said he doesn’t believe the public realized what a mess the vote would cause.

“In the last two days, two trillion got wiped off the global stock markets, the pound has collapsed to its lowest level in 30 years,” he said, adding that some bank shares have gone down by as much as 50 percent.

The businessman predicted the country would go into recession. “We can actually send signals to the world very quickly, we are going to do something about it,” he warned.

Richard Branson said he supports the idea of a second referendum and called on people to sign a petition that has already gained more than 3.5 million signatures.

“That’s not fine to just watch Great Britain go down the tubes. If an awful mistake’s been made a bold politician will stand up and find a way out of it,” said the billionaire.

Last week, the people of the UK voted to quit the EU by 52 to 48 percent in a national referendum. The British Parliament has yet to approve the decision.

Earlier on Tuesday, Chancellor George Osborne warned of unavoidable tax rises and brutal austerity cuts once the country leaves the bloc.

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