German exports on recovery trail August 9, 2010 GERMANY’S exports rose a faster-than-expected 3.8 per cent in June. Exports were up 29 per cent on the year, according to Germany’s federal statistics office. The figures are evidence that Europe’s largest economy is seeing an upturn. Strong demand from Asia and other emerging economies has helped Europe’s exporters.
Quintain sells GreEnwich property for £97m August 9, 2010 QUINTAIN Estates and Development has sold Pier Walk in its Greenwich Peninsula development near Canary Wharf to a unit of Germany’s largest fund manager DekaBank. Deka Immobilien GmbH paid £97.1m in cash for the property, representing a six per cent uplift on the last independent valuation on 31 March and an investment yield of 5.9 [...]
Dragon Oil profit up 31 per cent August 9, 2010 OIL and gas company Dragon posted a 31 per cent rise in profits in the first half of the year – lifted by a higher oil price and oil production which jumped eight per cent. The company, which focuses on Turkmenistan, posted profit of $137.6m (£86.2m) for the first six months of the year, compared [...]
BP oil spill bill hits £3.8bn as leak plugged August 9, 2010 BP has so far paid out a total of $6.1bn (£3.8bn) in the Gulf of Mexico crisis, the company has said. The bill includes the cost of stopping the flow of oil into the ocean and earlier containment measures. Payouts to the Gulf states hit by the spill are also on the bill. Meanwhile a [...]
AstraZeneca pays out $198m over drug claims August 9, 2010 AstraZeneca has agreed to pay $198m to settle 17,500 US personal injury claims related to its schizophrenia and bipolar disorder drug Seroquel. A further 2,900 additional cases have been dismissed. The Anglo-Swedish drugmaker said the payouts would not affect its recently raised forecast for 2010 “core” earnings per share of $6.35 to $6.65, since any [...]
Property developers hit by new downturn August 9, 2010 THE outlook for UK commercial development activity over the next three months turned negative for the first time since July 2009, hit by a lack of funding and concern over public sector demand, a report said. Developers surveyed last month feel most pessimistic about new building activity for offices, followed by retail and leisure properties, [...]
BANKS TO FIGHT LENDING CRITICS August 8, 2010 BANKS are clubbing together in a bid to end claims they are starving small businesses of credit. The banking taskforce comprises chief executives from the major UK financial institutions and the British Bankers’ Association (BBA). The BBA has drafted a letter to chancellor George Osborne setting out a raft of proposals it says will ensure [...]
BlackBerry gets boost in Bahrain August 8, 2010 BAHRAIN yesterday ruled out banning BlackBerry mobile phones just hours before a crunch decision is expected by nearby Saudi Arabia. The Persian Gulf island says it maintains concerns over the security risk posed by the device, made by Canadian firm Research In Motion (RIM), but would not make sharing information using the phone illegal. Last [...]
City: Bank looks too bullish on forecasts August 8, 2010 THE Bank of England needs to revise down its optimistic growth forecasts and hike its expectations for the path of inflation to bring them into line with other forecasters, City economists have warned ahead of the quarterly Inflation Report on Wednesday. In its May Inflation Report, the central bank forecast that real economic growth would [...]
US Fed predicted to unveil more easing August 8, 2010 WEAK US employment figures have spurred speculation the Federal Reserve will announce a return to “unconventional” quantitative easing (QE) at tomorrow’s policy meeting. After figures on Friday showed 131,000 Americans lost their jobs in July, more than double the number expected, analysts at Goldman Sachs said the Fed could begin using the proceeds from maturing [...]