Aldi aims to double its UK stores to 1,000 June 16, 2014 Aldi aims to double the number of UK stores to more than 1,000 by 2021, as the cut-price supermarket looks to build more momentum among British shoppers. “For the foreseeable future, 65 new stores a year is not out of the question. We are opening 55 this year. We think 1,000 stores is an absolute [...]
Another 3.2m GMs recalled June 16, 2014 GENERAL Motors is recalling another 3.2m cars over ignition problems, the troubled US car giant announced last night. If the cars are jarred by a bump in the road the keys can slip and lock the steering wheel. The fault can also lead to airbags failing to deploy in a crash, the company said. It follows [...]
Medtronic signs £25bn deal for Irish Covidien June 16, 2014 THE WORLDWIDE drug deal frenzy continued yesterday after Medtronic’s clinched its $49.2bn (£25.3bn) acquisition of Covidien, one of the world’s largest medical device makers. Medtronic will pay a 29 per cent per share premium based on Friday’s close for the company, consisting of cash and stock at $93.22 per share. New York-listed shares in Covidien [...]
Watchdog fines two banks for unclear marketing of products June 16, 2014 CREDIT Suisse and the Yorkshire Building Society have been fined around £2.4m and £1.4m respectively by the City watchdog, for marketing products unclearly. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) penalties, announced yesterday, are related to Credit Suisse’s Cliquet Product. Cliquet was designed to provide capital protection and increasing returns if the FTSE 100 performed well. The FCA [...]
BNP Paribas in oil data probe June 16, 2014 US REGULATORS are combing through several years’ worth of oil trading documents as part of their investigations into BNP Paribas, it emerged yesterday. The French bank is being probed over claims it has broken US sanctions against countries like Iran and Cuba, and this is the first sign of the type of transactions which may [...]
Pat Burke to head HSBC in the United States June 16, 2014 HSBC’S US arm will be run by Pat Burke from November, the bank said yesterday. The 52-year-old is taking over from Irene Dorner, who has spent 32 years at HSBC. Incoming chief executive Burke has spent the last four years in charge of the US consumer finance division, a position he took in 2010 from Niall [...]
Hawkish Mark Carney sends pound to five-year peak against US dollar June 16, 2014 The pound pushed above $1.70 during trading yesterday, hitting this level for the first time in five years, following Bank of England governor Mark Carney’s hawkish comments last week. On Thursday night, Carney told diners at Mansion House that the Bank’s first post-crisis rate hike could come “sooner than markets currently expect”, a clear departure [...]
German minister signals support for weaker Eurozone deficit rules June 16, 2014 SIGMAR Gabriel, Germany’s economy minister and one of the social democrats in the country’s coalition, yesterday expressed support for extensions on the Eurozone’s strict deficit targets. Gabriel suggested that countries passing significant reform programmes could be given more time to reach the three per cent of GDP deficit target that euro area governments must work [...]
Bundesbank says Germany’s GDP has lost some of its pace June 16, 2014 GROWTH in the German economy has slowed since a strong run in the first quarter of the year, according to the country’s central bank. The Bundesbank’s latest update suggests GDP will rise at a less rapid pace in the second quarter after a 0.8 per cent boost in the first three months of the year. [...]
IMF lowers its American growth forecast June 16, 2014 The International Monetary Fund yesterday cut its growth forecast for the United States and said the economy would not reach full employment until the end of 2017, allowing interest rates to be held near zero for longer than expected. The IMF, led by Christine Lagarde, cut its 2014 forecast to two per cent from 2.8 [...]