Government turns down G4S’s £24m offer for lag tag errors November 19, 2013 G4S HAS apologised and offered to give the government a credit note for £24.1m after mistakenly charging for electronic tags on criminals who were released years before, or already in jail, or dead. However, the Ministry of Justice has so far spurned the offer, and is taking advice from lawyers and auditors to try and [...]
Payday lenders lobby banks to ease off on credit punishment November 19, 2013 PAYDAY lenders are pushing for banks to treat their borrowers more fairly when they apply for mortgages, City A.M. has learned, arguing some users of the short term loans are unfairly treated. Some lenders will not give mortgages to anyone who has recently used a payday loan as they fear the borrower is often short [...]
Revenues up at Allen & Overy November 19, 2013 TURNOVER at magic circle law firm Allen & Overy rose by 7.5 per cent year-on-year in the first half of 2013, as strong performances in its London and Asia offices led growth. Revenues were £608m from 1 May to 31 October 2013, up from £566m in the same period last year. In the past six months [...]
EasyJet gives investors £175m as profits surge November 19, 2013 EASYJET shareholders welcomed a £175m special dividend yesterday after the budget airline’s move into allocated seating helped push profits up a whopping 51 per cent. The FTSE 100 firm said revenues per seat were up seven per cent, surpassing a four per cent rise in passengers, as reserved seats and other add-ons proved popular. Boss [...]
Brand Index: Allocated seating pays off for mild-mannered McCall November 19, 2013 EASYJET was the one of the big stories in business yesterday, with the budget airline reporting higher profits than arch rival Ryanair for the first time in its history. It saw a 51 per cent rise in yearly pre-tax profits to £478m, and its shares also rose significantly, boosted by the company’s plans to hand [...]
Analyst Views: Are you pleased with Easyjet’s results? November 19, 2013 TREVOR GREEN AVIVA INVESTORS As shareholders in EasyJet, the final results and outlook statement provided us with further evidence that the strategy being implemented by Carolyn McCall is succeeding. She is also proving to be adept at balancing shareholder returns via a special dividend announcement along with a long term growth strategy. GERT ZONNEVELD PANMURE [...]
Bank of England analysts back sovereign cocos November 19, 2013 GOVERNMENTS should copy banks and issue contingent convertible bonds (cocos) – debt instruments which ease the burden on borrowers if the sovereigns get into financial difficulty – a Bank of England paper proposed yesterday. The maturity dates on the bonds would automatically be extended when the government takes a bailout, easing the immediate pressure on [...]
EU budget to 2020 confirmed as legal contest on pay concludes November 19, 2013 THE BUDGET of the European Union for 2014-2020 was finally approved yesterday, after two years of horse-trading and a legal battle over whether EU officials should be entitled to a pay rise. The EU’s court of justice yesterday determined that the EU Council of ministers from member states was within its rights to reject a [...]
Spanish ambassador called over Gibraltar November 19, 2013 THE SPANISH ambassador to the United Kingdom has been summoned to the Foreign Office over a “serious incursion” into British territorial waters around Gibraltar, adding to a list of recent tensions. Europe minister David Lidington said that a research vessel, the RV Ramon Margalef, had undertaken surveying activity for over 20 hours in the UK’s [...]
Euro central bank official coy over QE November 19, 2013 EUROPEAN Central Bank (ECB) vice president Vitor Constancio teased markets yesterday with inconclusive comments on the possibility of the ECB conducting quantitative easing. Constancio said that QE “was only referred to as a possibility, nothing else,” confirming that it was discussed, but in little detail. Markets did not take the comments as a sign that any [...]