FTSE closes up but US uncertainty weighs on Wall Street December 9, 2010 LONDON’S FTSE 100 closed above 5,800 today for only the second time in almost a month, pushed up by financial services firms. Barclays, RBS and the Prudential were among the biggest gainers, while energy firm BG also rose more than three per cent and services firms Serco and BT also made the top ten. HSBC [...]
Positive US data points to recovery December 9, 2010 Fresh US data has shown more signs of economic recovery, with claims for jobless benefits falling and wholesalers stocking up in anticipation of strong holiday demand. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped 17,000 to a seasonally adjusted 421,000 last week, the Labour Department said, easing doubts about the jobs market after a surprisingly weak [...]
Mastercard pays £290m for Travelex division December 9, 2010 MASTERCARD is buying the prepaid cash card business of foreign exchange group Travelex for £290m, boosting its presence in a fast-growing financial services segment. Mastercard said the transaction would be $0.04 (£0.025) dilutive to its 2011 earnings per share as a result of amortisation and integration costs. It added it could pay an extra £35m [...]
Private equity firms to sell a third of Denmark’s TDC December 9, 2010 THE FIVE private equity owners of Danish telecoms player TDC will bank up to £2.35bn from the sale of a third of the group through a share buyback and public offering. The partial exit of Apax Partners, Blackstone Group, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, Permira Advisers and Providence Equity Partners effectively relaunches TDC on the Copenhagen bourse [...]
Interest rates to stay at 0.5 per cent December 9, 2010 THE Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee has voted to keep interest rates unchanged and make no new quantitative easing purchases in its December monthly meeting. The decision is in line with market expectations. None of more than 60 economists polled by Reuters last week expected a change to the 0.5 per cent interest rate [...]
UK trade gap widens December 9, 2010 Britain’s goods trade deficit with the rest of the world unexpectedly widened in October after imports rose to their highest on record, raising questions about trade’s contribution to future UK growth. Exports also rose strongly to their highest since May 2006 helped by oil sales, but were outpaced by the rise in imports which the [...]
House prices fall in November December 9, 2010 UK house prices have continued to slip, falling by 0.1 per cent in November compared with the same month last year, according to figures from the Halifax. The lender said that the average property was now £164,708 – 0.7 per cent down on a year ago. Low demand and a higher number of properties for [...]
BAE Systems to cut up to 1,350 posts December 9, 2010 BAE Systems is to announce cuts of up to 1,350 posts after the Government’s defence review and its decision to scrap the Nimrod and Harrier jets. The job losses are believed to be hitting several sites, including BAE’s Woodford plant outside Stockport, where the Nimrod was built. About 700 jobs will go from Woodford, with [...]
HMV cuts dividend as losses widen December 9, 2010 Music, DVD, games and books retailer HMV posted a worse than expected widening in first-half losses, blaming a sharp fall in sales on weak entertainment markets. The group said it was cutting its dividend and cautioned that despite more encouraging trading at the beginning of its second half, the start to Christmas trading had been [...]
IG Group revenue on the rise December 9, 2010 British spread-betting company IG Group said it expected higher first-half revenue and had won market share amid ongoing economic uncertainty which has led to subdued trading volumes. IG, which says it is the world’s biggest spread-better by revenue, forecast first-half turnover of £157m ($249m), up nine per cent. It said costs were in line with [...]