New York Report: Wall St hit as mixed results worry investors October 23, 2013 US stocks fell yesterday as shares of heavy-equipment maker Caterpillar and semiconductor companies tumbled after they reported earnings, ending the S&P 500’s four-session streak of record high finishes. Results from Caterpillar and Boeing, two Dow components, illustrated the quarter’s mixed picture of corporate results and outlooks, which have some investors worried. Caterpillar was one of [...]
Falcon business jet contract win for Meggitt October 23, 2013 Meggitt has announced a multi-million dollar contract win for a braking and control system with Dassault. (Release) Dassault, who make Rafale combat planes, has selected the British aerospace engineering business to develop the systems for the all-new Falcon 5X business jet. Meggitt's chief executive officer Stephen Young commented that the award "is a significant milestone [...]
Major stokes row with call for energy tax October 22, 2013 FORMER Prime Minister Sir John Major’s call for a one-off windfall tax on energy firms’ profits was lambasted as “misguided” and unfair yesterday, as analysts and investors warned the levy would discourage investment and raise consumers’ bills. Speaking at a lunch in Westminster, the former Conservative leader said recent price rises were unacceptable and suggested [...]
Activist hedgie buys up five per cent of Royal Mail October 22, 2013 ONE OF THE UK’S most successful hedge fund managers was yesterday revealed as Royal Mail’s single biggest investor after snapping up millions of shares sold by members of the public. Chris Hohn (pictured), who runs The Children’s Investment fund (TCI), has taken a 5.82 per cent stake in the postal service giant worth about £290m, [...]
Osborne warns the deficit remains a major threat October 22, 2013 THE UK’S budget deficit shrank again in September, official figures showed yesterday, but the chancellor warned it will take a sustained policy drive to remove the underlying problems in the government’s finances. In September the deficit came in at £11.1bn, or £1bn smaller than the same month a year earlier. Tax receipts increased seven per [...]
Bank of England hires help for strategic review October 22, 2013 THE BANK of England yesterday revealed it has hired two consultancies to work out how best to run its new, expanded functions. McKinsey will run the strategic review, looking at how resources are allocated across the Bank. Deloitte will look at value for money across the Bank of England. It comes after the Bank gained responsibility [...]
Research shows huge gulf in UK jobs estimates October 22, 2013 THREE well-established surveys of the UK’s job market suggest that official figures may be overestimating UK employment by over a million jobs, according to research released by Markit last night. The huge divergence between estimates made by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and a number of other sources has opened up since 2010. The gauges [...]
What the other papers say this morning – 23 October 2013 October 22, 2013 FINANCIAL TIMES Ebay buys same-day courier service Ebay is acquiring a same-day courier service based in London and overhauling its own website as it seeks to compete against Amazon and Walmart and give itself a social media edge. The Californian ecommerce group is buying Shutl, a four-year-old start-up with operations in the US and the [...]
Co-op chairman quits amid bank recriminations October 22, 2013 THE CO-OPERATIVE Group’s chairman Len Wardle said yesterday he will stand down from the role, shortly after former chief executive Peter Marks claimed the mutual’s governance structure is dangerously out of date. His surprise departure comes as the group finalises months of intense negotiations with hedge funds over the future of the Co-op Bank. The group is [...]
Food unit under pressure from a boom in convenience stores October 22, 2013 THE CO-OP Group’s food retailing business continued to lose market share over the past three months and remains the worse performing grocery retailer in the UK, according to industry data. The Co-operative, which is the UK’s fifth largest food retailer, suffered a 1.2 per cent year-on-year fall in sales in the 12 weeks to 13 [...]