Thai army takes control in coup May 22, 2014 THAILAND’S army chief announced a military coup d’etat yesterday, following the introduction of martial law on Wednesday, the 12th armed overthrow of the country’s government since the 1930s. Thailand’s army chief, General Prayuth Chan-ocha, announced the upheaval on the country’s television, along with the heads of the nation’s other armed services. The country has now [...]
Blow to Cameron as net migration jumps to 212,000 May 22, 2014 NET MIGRATION to the UK rose last year to 212,000 compared to 177,000 the previous year, new figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show. The figures will come as a blow to David Cameron, who has pledged to reduce net migration to tens of thousands before next year’s general election. Despite the rise [...]
Investment firms hit by a raft of fresh red tape on transparency May 22, 2014 INVESTMENT firms were yesterday faced with 300 pages of detailed regulation on transparency and investor protection, which lawyers warned would be tough to digest. The proposals cover the implementation of the EU’s markets in financial instruments directive (MiFID2), due to be introduced in 2016. High frequency trading is one area that will be affected, with [...]
French economy dips even as Europe grows May 22, 2014 THE FRENCH economy slipped back into contraction after two months of growth, according to a major business survey released yesterday morning, despite the Eurozone heading towards its best quarter in three years. According to Markit’s flash purchasing managers’ index (PMI) for the currency bloc in May, growth this quarter so far is at the strongest [...]
Banks praised for cutting trading units May 22, 2014 CUTTING back risky trading operations has made the world’s biggest banks safer, ratings agency Standard and Poor’s said yesterday. By reducing the number of illiquid assets on their books, banks have also made it easier for analysts to price their assets and judge risks in the business. Standard and Poor’s also argued that trading revenues [...]
Chinese factory decline slows May 22, 2014 CHINA’S powerful industrial base slowed only slightly this month, according to HSBC’s index of the country’s manufacturers – which revealed the best performance since September. The purchasing managers’ index (PMI) reading for Chinese factories rose to 49.7 yesterday, very narrowly below the neutral 50 mark, indicating a slight contraction for the fifth month. Analysts had [...]
Investec profits as economy’s resurgence cuts bad loan levels May 22, 2014 BRITISH and South African bank Investec has posted surging profits for the last year, yesterday revealing bad loans had fallen sharply. The lender is recovering from the financial crisis, winding down its back book of loans and building up its wealth management business. Pre-tax operating profits came in at £452m in the year to March, [...]
Shares jump at Mothercare but baby shop’s revenue still poorly May 22, 2014 MOTHERCARE shares jumped almost 17 per cent yesterday after the struggling baby products retailer posted slightly better than expected full-year profits. The company reported underlying profits before tax of £9.5m in the year to 29 March compared with £5.9m the previous year. However, this is still dramatically lower than the £17m that was previously forecast [...]
Halford biking sales deliver Tour de Force May 22, 2014 HALFORDS said yesterday that a stronger than expected surge in bicycle sales had propelled the retailer a year ahead of where it expected to be in its three-year plan. Shares in the bike-to-car parts retailer jumped 10.6 per cent yesterday as it reported an eight per cent rise in sales to £939.7m in the year [...]
United Utilities now seeking to splash out May 22, 2014 WATER company United Utilities yesterday said that it was still embroiled in talks with the regulator Ofwat over the next price cycle, as it unveiled a 10.8 per cent rise in full-year profits. The FTSE 100-listed firm said it was “well progressed” with its revised business plan and was on track to submit it to [...]