Facebook and Apple defy the tech critics April 23, 2014 TECHNOLOGY giants Facebook and Apple silenced talk of a tech bubble last night as they trumped all expectations, both delivering record earnings for the first quarter of 2014. Facebook’s booming mobile advertising business led the social network to revenues of $2.5bn (£1.5bn) in the quarter, above the expected $2.36bn, and profit of $642m, up more [...]
Shale gas revolution set to provide over a third of the UK’s energy needs April 23, 2014 OVER one third of the UK’s energy will come from shale gas in the next decade, with 4,000 wells set to be drilled across the country by 2032, a new report claims today. An astonishing 20m homes could be powered by shale gas, according to the government-backed study commissioned by the UK Onshore Operators Group [...]
UK deficit comes down as tax revenues creep higher April 23, 2014 THE UK’S public deficit in 2013-14 dropped further than expected at the start of the fiscal year, according to yesterday’s official figures, but the improvement is being driven by increased tax revenues. The public sector’s net borrowing in the last financial year was £107.7bn, down £7.5bn from the previous year, and just over £12bn lower [...]
What the other papers say this morning – 24 April 2014 April 23, 2014 FINANCIAL TIMES Deutsche Bank under pressure Deutsche Bank is facing pressure from investors to raise capital amid fears the bank is still not robust enough to cope with a tougher regulatory environment and a slump in global debt markets. Insiders at Germany’s largest lender are understood to accept as a real threat that the European [...]
Professional services jobs boom in London April 23, 2014 THE FINANCIAL services sector could lose its title as the dominant player in London, as a new study predicts a boom in professional services over the next decade. An extra 28,000 workers could be employed in areas like management consulting and law by 2023, according to a study by the City of London Corporation and [...]
Quindell short sellers hang on April 23, 2014 Quindell – the insurance outsourcer that saw its shares tumble 40 per cent on Tuesday following a critical blog post by a group shorting the firm – started to recover yesterday despite short sellers holding onto large positions. “Short sellers have not yet closed positions, and are in fact still betting on the downside,” SunGard [...]
London spending growing slowly April 23, 2014 Household spending is rising in every part of the country, but the high cost of living is holding down growth in spending power for London, according to research by Asda. The supermarket’s income tracker shows discretionary incomes are rising fastest in the north east of England, up by 5.5 per cent during the 12 months [...]
Retail investors drive Saga float towards £3bn April 23, 2014 INSURER Saga is set to put retail investors at the heart of the largest UK stock market float since Royal Mail, as it gears up to publish plans to list the firm in London as early as next week. Saga’s owner Acromas, which also owns the AA, is preparing to offload as much as £1.5bn [...]
Barclays braced for battle as investors protest pay report April 23, 2014 A LARGE minority of shareholders are set to vote against Barclays’ remuneration report at today’s AGM – but a resounding majority are expected to back its future pay plans. Just 65 per cent of investors are set to back the report in the non-binding vote. However, more than 90 per cent are expected to back its future [...]
S&P fears Scots banks are too like Iceland’s April 23, 2014 AN INDEPENDENT Scotland would join Iceland as the only European governments which could not afford to support their banking systems, analysts at ratings agency Standard and Poor’s warned yesterday. If giant banks like Lloyds and RBS kept their legal registration in Edinburgh, the sector’s assets would amount to more than 1,000 per cent of Scotland’s [...]