US says Islamic State must be defeated soon August 21, 2014 ISLAMIC State militants represent a major threat to the US that may surpass that once posed by al-Qaeda, US military leaders said yesterday. “This is an organisation that has an apocalyptic, end-of-days strategic vision and which will eventually have to be defeated,” said chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Martin Dempsey speaking [...]
Borrowing blues adds to concern on fiscal targets August 21, 2014 Government borrowing fell during July, according to figures released yesterday, but questions about whether the government would meet its current fiscal targets still remained. Public borrowing fell to £0.8m in July this year, cut from £1.6bn in the same month last year, when one-off interventions were removed. However, in the first four months of the [...]
Fastest growth since 2010 seen by US factories August 21, 2014 US MANUFACTURING is currently enjoying a growth spurt, with the fastest expansion in four years this month, according to a private survey released yesterday. Markit’s purchasing managers’ index (PMI) figures for August came in at 58, the highest reading since 2010. Any score about 50 indicates growth, and higher readings suggest particularly rapid expansions. Some [...]
Food spending falls for first time in 25 years as supermarkets wage price wars August 21, 2014 Spending on groceries has fallen for the first time since records began 25 years ago, laying bare the challenges facing Britain’s supermarkets in winning over cash-strapped shoppers. The amount spent in food stores fell 1.3 per cent in July compared with the same time last year, according to the Office for National Statistics, which put [...]
Quindell suffers – despite profits quadrupling August 21, 2014 Quindell, the Aim-listed insurance firm whose shares plummeted 60 per cent in April following a scathing blog post by US short seller Gotham City Research, came out fighting yesterday when it reported an 119 per cent increase in half-year revenue. Despite the bullish results, Quindell’s shares still fell 12.4 per cent following the update to [...]
Quindell bosses may have delivered but trust is lost – Bottom Line August 21, 2014 Lots of reasons were bandied about yesterday as to why, despite an overwhelmingly positive set of results, Quindell’s shares were still hurting. One explanation put out by chairman Rob Terry was that short sellers were at work once again – indeed the City regulator currently records around 7.3 per cent of Quindell’s stock being shorted [...]
Carillion and Balfour Beatty deal off as deadline passes ending mega-merger – for now August 21, 2014 The 5pm deadline for Carillion to make an offer for Balfour Beatty passed yesterday not with a bang and barely a whisper. However, while the £3bn deal is dead for now, some analysts say it may not be buried. Commenting on BBC Radio Five Live’s Wake up to Money programme yesterday, Colin McLean of SVM Asset [...]
London City lands third place in airport poll August 21, 2014 London City airport has been voted Britain’s third best airport, sharing the position with Blackpool Airport in comparison website Which’s 2014 airport passenger survey. For the second consecutive year, London Southend topped the pile, despite having to share this year’s gong with Robin Hood Doncaster Sheffield. As in 2013, London Luton was labelled Britain’s worst.
House building rises, but more homes needed August 21, 2014 Even after the past year’s spike in house building, England is still far short of an adequate level of construction, exacerbating the country’s enormous supply shortfall. Building firms started construction work on 137,000 residential properties during the year to June, an increase of 22 per cent on the same period last year, according to the [...]
Highest number of first-time homebuyers since before the crash August 21, 2014 The numbers of first-time buyers jumped by 25 per cent in the year to July, according to data out today from LSL Property Services. A total of 30,000 first-time buyers snapped up a property last month, the highest number since August 2007. They paid an average of £151,844, a price which has risen eight per [...]