MtGox operator set to sell Bitcoin trademarks May 28, 2014 The holding company of the stricken Bitcoin exchange MtGox is hoping to sell the trademarked word Bitcoin, according to the Wall Street Journal. Tibanne is looking to raise around $1m from the sale, which would include the Bitcoin trademarks in Japan, the European Union and the Bitcoins.com domain name. The company's chief executive said they [...]
Value of London mortgages rockets 37pc May 28, 2014 Another sign of the surging housing market: the value of mortgages to home buyers in Greater London jumped 37 per cent from a year earlier in the first quarter of this year – to £5.6bn. The figure was actually down 10 per cent from the fourth quarter of 2013 – a seasonal dip impacting lending, [...]
Francis Maude brings Investec boss and angel investor onto Big Lottery Fund board May 28, 2014 Cabinet Officer minister Francis Maude has appointed three new board members to the Big Lottery Fund, the body that distributes money raised by the National Lottery. Managing director of Investec Asset Management, Elizabeth Passey, Perdita Fraser, an angel investor and partner at consultancy firm SJ Fraser & Co, and David Isaac CBE, a partner at [...]
Eurozone consumer confidence rises in May May 28, 2014 Confidence in the Eurozone economy is on the rise. The European Commission's consumer confidence index rose to -7.1 in May, from -8.6 last month. Consumer confidence is now at its highest point since October 2007. Analysts had expected the improvement to -7.1. Eurozone business confidence was also up, to 0.37 from 0.30 in April. The [...]
Full steam ahead at Nationwide as chief issues warning on housing market May 28, 2014 Nationwide has reported its best ever annual results, but has warned that the housing market may well start seeing a “natural correction”. “At some point buyers just start saying no”, said the mutual's chief executive, Graham Beale, to the BBC’s business editor Kamal Ahmed. The prognosis came as Nationwide reported that it opened 430,000 new [...]
What you need to know before the open May 28, 2014 With the S&P 500 and Dax posting record highs yesterday, today's expected to see a positive open for European markets. With no significant US data, focus will be on German unemployment, which could push the Dax towards to 10,000 level if it continues to come down. Market expectations that the European Central Bank will instigate [...]
Serco awarded Caledonian Sleeper franchise May 28, 2014 International service company Serco, has been chosen to manage a 15-year franchise for the Caledonian Sleeper service, which is set to be run separately from the ScotRail franchise. Serco was selected by Transport for Scotland which aims to transform the service with over £100m being invested in new rolling stock. It is hoped that the [...]
Banknote printer De La Rue reports £90m profit, despite currency and pricing strains May 28, 2014 De La Rue, the world’s largest commercial banknote printer, has reported a 43 per cent increase in underlying operating profit, to £90.5m. Chairman Philip Rogerson said that trading’s remained strong, despite “a more challenging currency market”. Over the full year to 29 March, revenue rose six per cent to £513.3m. Banknote print volumes were similar [...]
Balfour Beatty lands £188m Heathrow contract May 28, 2014 Infrastructure company Balfour Beatty has won a £188m contract to deliver infrastructure works for Heathrow Airport Limited. The company will work with Heathrow over the next three years to maintain and upgrade terminals 1, 2 and 4. The deal announced today is the first of four new-style framework contracts that have been awarded by Heathrow [...]
Any Other Business – 28/05 May 28, 2014 IT SEEMS Harvard academic Kenneth Rogoff has distanced himself from not-so-pernickety Thomas Piketty. Much of the reportage into the calculation snafus in Piketty’s tome, “Capital in the Twenty-First Century”, has included a reference to Rogoff because of a similar spreadsheet mistake on his part back in 2010. But just when you might think the French economist [...]