FTSE ends the day firmer after US jobs report June 6, 2014 UK SHARES advanced yesterday after a solid US jobs report came on the heels of fresh stimulus measures from the European Central Bank that underpinned European markets. Cyclical stocks, so-called because they are highly geared to the economic cycle, were in demand, with money managers St. James’s Place and Aberdeen Asset Management among the top [...]
Government gives green light to redevelopment of Shell Centre June 6, 2014 COMMUNITIES secretary Eric Pickles yesterday signed off on the planned £1.2bn redevelopment of the Shell Centre on the Southbank. The plans for the 1.45m square foot scheme – a joint venture between the Canary Wharf Group and Qatari Diar – have been masterplanned by architecture firm Squire and Partners, and comprise a mix of offices, [...]
Dip in profit at telecom firm KCom June 6, 2014 Telecoms company KCom Group reported a marginal fall in full-year pretax profit and said it expected to see a continued decline in some traditional carrier revenue.KCom Group, which provides communications services for customers such as British Airways and Virgin Group, said pretax profit fell to £49.9m for the year ended 31 March, from £50m a [...]
Monte dei Paschi needs more cash June 6, 2014 Bailed-out Italian bank Monte dei Paschi di Siena has warned its €5bn share issue may not be enough to bolster its balance sheet if EU regulators force it to set aside more cash to cover for bad loans. In a 515-page prospectus for the cash call, due to start on Monday, Italy’s third-largest bank said [...]
Sberbank aims for 20pc dividend June 6, 2014 Russia’s biggest lender Sberbank plans to keep its dividends at no less than 20 per cent of net profit for the next five years after forecasting 2014 profit on par with last year’s earnings despite a worsening economy and the Ukraine crisis. The economic decline prompted Sberbank to increase bad loan provisions in the first [...]
How climate change policies are hurting the world’s poor June 6, 2014 Government policies intended to reduce carbon dioxide are directly harming the poor in both the developing and developed world, according to a report released by the Global Warming Policy Foundation (GWPF). Energy sources that are not based on fossil fuels are making both power and food more expensive, the report argues. While the affluent remain [...]
How New York’s using its old food to heat homes June 6, 2014 The Big Apple's upped the ante when it comes to innovative ways to produce energy. New York mayor, Bill de Blasio, is now asking 100,000 households to give up their food waste to heat more than 5,200 homes, reports Bloomberg. The idea is that it’ll be picked up, separate to other household rubbish, and carted [...]
Argentina is the world’s best performing stock market this year and nine other things no-one saw coming June 6, 2014 Deutsche Bank's weekender email contains several nuggets that they doubt anyone really saw coming. They ask recipients to email in if they correctly predicted any of the following at the start of 2014: A narrower trading range in dollar/euro than renminbi spot Irish 10-year bond yields below both UK Gilts and US Treasuries Japan as [...]
AA confirms plans to float at £1.4bn valuation June 6, 2014 Britain's largest car insurer and roadside recovery firm, the AA, has confirmed its intention to list on the London Stock Exchange in the second half of June. The company's current private equity owners want to sell off the stock to a buy-in team, backed by institutional investors, who will then take it public. They'll be [...]
US job additions take total above pre-recession peak June 6, 2014 The labour market appears to have defrosted. According to nonfarm payroll figures released today, the US added a seasonally adjusted 217,000 jobs in May. That's just 1,000 lower than the 218,000 additions that economists had forecast for this month. According to the Bureau for Labour Statistics that takes the total number jobs above their pre-recession [...]