Wages to overtake prices this year as squeeze on Brits eases April 14, 2014 PAY WILL finally rise faster than inflation this year, at last ending the long squeeze on British incomes, an influential group of economists has predicted today. Wages will rise by 1.7 per cent over the year while prices will increase by 1.6 per cent, the EY Item Club forecasts. As a result the UK’s economic [...]
Glencore sells Peruvian copper project Las Bambas for £3.7bn April 14, 2014 GLENCORE Xstrata yesterday confirmed the long-awaited sale of its Peruvian copper mine Las Bambas to a consortium for $6.25bn (£3.73bn), as demanded by the Chinese antitrust regulator last year in return for merger approval. China Minmetals-backed Australian resource company MMG owns a 62.5 per cent stake in the consortium, with Chinese firms Guoxin International Investment [...]
Draghi could print money to prop up Euro April 14, 2014 THE European Central Bank will ease monetary policy further if the euro keeps strengthening, President Mario Draghi said over the weekend as world finance chiefs ramped up pressure on Europe to ward off deflation. “The strengthening of the exchange rate would require further monetary policy accommodation,” he said.
Uniqlo owner in talks to buy out Cath Kidston April 14, 2014 THE OWNER of high street fashion chain Uniqlo is leading a pack of suitors hoping to take control of UK homeware company Cath Kidston. Japanese company Fast Retailing, which is listed in Hong Kong and Tokyo, has approached Cath Kidston’s private equity backers TA Associates about acquiring its 65 per cent controlling stake in the [...]
Bottom Line: Britain is proving ready for Asia’s century April 14, 2014 IT’S a welcome reminder of Britain’s world-class commercial creativity. Two firms whose brands we might think of only as local icons, House of Fraser and Cath Kidston, are attracting fierce interest from Asian buyers. In the case of House of Fraser, the deal is done, China’s San Power now has an 89 per cent stake [...]
City jobseekers out in force as confidence in market booms April 14, 2014 THE NUMBER of City workers looking for a new job has almost doubled since last year, rocketing 92 per cent, new figures show today. Recruiter Morgan McKinley now has 9,373 jobseekers on its books, a huge increase from the 4,884 it had a year ago. However, over the same period the number of vacancies has [...]
Co-op Group braced for new round of losses April 14, 2014 THE CO-OPERATIVE Group is set to follow its bank into multi-billion pound losses when it reports its finances later this week. The troubled retail, pharmacy and funerals group is expected to have lost up to £2.5bn in the last year, during which it has lost its chief executive, Euan Sutherland, who quit over a row [...]
UK art exports hit five-year high as investors opt for trophy assets April 14, 2014 THE value of art exported from the UK has risen to £10.5bn, its highest level in five years, as wealthy buyers increasingly choose to invest. The surge cements London’s status as the leading marketplace for art, according to a report today from Thomson Reuters. Figures show the total value of artworks and cultural items leaving [...]
Advice black hole looms for UK pensioners April 14, 2014 THOSE APPROACHING retirement could face an advice “black hole” according to a new report by PwC. Under changes announced by the chancellor in his Budget last month, people about to retire will no longer be forced to buy an annuity product, opening up a range of other options. But a new study by PwC claims [...]
Institutions get a stronger hand in new issues April 14, 2014 THE PENDULUM of power in the new issues market could swing back to institutional investors this summer after a spate of companies floated so far this year sank underwater. Big name issues in London including Brit Group, Just Eat, AO World and Pets at Home have all fallen below the price they floated at in [...]