Old populations threaten ratings January 31, 2012 Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s has warned it may downgrade “a number of highly rated” G20 countries from 2015 if their governments fail to enact reforms to curb rising healthcare spending and other costs related to ageing populations. Developed nations in Europe, as well as Japan and the US, are likely to suffer the largest [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS January 31, 2012 WSP Group WSP Environment and Energy, part of the FTSE 250-listed WSP Group, has hired Karen McAllister as director of the environmental planning division in London. McAllister is a former director of RPS, prior to which she was a director at the Town Planning Consultancy, which was acquired by RPS in 2001. Recent projects include [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS January 31, 2012 BARRATT DEVELOPMENTS Investec has initiated coverage of the UK housing market with a generally positive stance, seeing solid fundamentals supporting the sector. It rates housebuilder Barratt Developments as a “buy” with a target price of 180p. Though the broker expects Barratt to remain the most volatile of the group it also offers the greatest upside, [...]
FSA fines former JC Flowers boss £3m January 31, 2012 The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has fined the financier Ravi Shankar Sinha almost £3m for a false invoicing scheme while he was in charge of the UK operations of private equity firm JC Flowers. The financial services watchdog demanded that Sinha, one of JC Flowers’ leading dealmakers who had led attempts to buy Northern Rock [...]
Tesco sales growth slows January 31, 2012 Sales growth at Tesco has slowed to just half that of the broader grocery market as rivals like Wal-Mart’s Asda and J Sainsbury gain share, data showed. Market research by Kantar WorldPanel showed grocery sales in Britian climbed 4.2 per cent year-on-year in the 12 weeks to January 22 compared with 4.8 per cent in [...]
FTSE rises as Greece closes in on deal January 31, 2012 The FTSE 100 rose in early trading on hopes Greece was nearing a debt swap deal required to salvage the nation’s finances while European leaders agreed on stricter budget discipline measures to help prevent further debt disasters in the region. Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos said negotiators had made “significant progress” in talks to strike [...]
UK consumer credit drops January 31, 2012 Unsecured lending to Britain’s consumers posted its sharpest drop since at least 1993 in December, official data showed on Tuesday, highlighting their reluctance to take on more debt. Britons have been reluctant to take on more credit for major purchases, as bank lending conditions are tight and uncertainty over jobs is weighing on sentiment, making [...]
Eurozone unemployment hits new record January 31, 2012 Euro zone unemployment has risen to its highest level since the euro single currency was introduced, data showed, a day after EU leaders promised to focus on creating millions of new jobs to try to kickstart Europe’s floundering economy. Seasonally adjusted unemployment among the 17 countries sharing the euro rose to 10.4 per cent in [...]
Santander profits dive by 35pc January 31, 2012 Spain’s Santander reported on Tuesday 2011 net profit of 5.35bn euros (£4.4bn), down 35 per cent after the group took extra provisions against toxic real estate assets in Spain. Recurring net profit was 7.02bn euros, 14 per cent less than in 2010 and in line with analysts’ expectations.
Ocado sales growth picks up January 31, 2012 Online grocer Ocado posted a 27 per cent rise in underlying earnings, forecast first-quarter sales growth of about 10 per cent and said the rate of growth should improve as the year progresses and capacity improves. The group said Tuesday it made earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of £27.9m in the year [...]