PPF announces plans for survival August 24, 2010 The Pension Protection Fund (PPF) is today expected to unveil plans to generate enough cash to cover all employers’ future benefits by 2030. The PPF’s Long-Term Funding Strategy will use a programme of adjustable employer levies.
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING August 24, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES CIVIL SERVANTS IN PLEA OVER JOBS CULL John Bercow, the Commons Speaker, is being urged to stop ministers from rushing through legislation that will slash redundancy terms for civil servants and clear the way for a cull of up to 100,000 jobs. Francis Maude, cabinet office minister, has asked Mr Bercow to approve [...]
Fears of fresh dip see a race for safe assets August 24, 2010 FEARS of a double-dip recession on both sides of the Atlantic intensified yesterday sending rattled investors rushing into the relative safety of the government debt market. In the UK, yields on 10-year government debt fell to 2.876 per cent – the lowest level on record and below the level of March 2009 when the Bank [...]
Facebook value exceeds $33bn on pre-IPO rush August 24, 2010 FACEBOOK, the privately held social networking website, could be worth as much as $33.7bn (£21.8bn), based on secondary market transactions, pushing it past rivals Yahoo and Ebay. According to reports in the Financial Times, a scramble for common stock in the company, which is trading as high as $76 per share, has given the group [...]
Jupiter chief predicts series of shocks to UK August 24, 2010 JUPITER chief executive Edward Bonham Carter yesterday sounded a warning note on the fragility of the economic recovery, predicting a series of shocks over the coming months which could plunge the UK back into recession at any time. Bonham Carter, who pulled off a coup in June by floating Jupiter successfully on the LSE in [...]
WPP profits surge as US bounces back August 24, 2010 WPP saw its pre-tax profit surge a staggering 36 per cent, with its US operations staging a far stronger than expected recovery. The advertising giant, usually keen to talk up the performance of its digital advertising operations, saw traditional media race ahead of expectations, growing by more than six per cent in the second quarter [...]
Sorrell: I am a Luvvy for the Brics August 24, 2010 WPP yesterday upgraded its expectations for the global economy from a“Luv” to a “Luvvy”. The firm split its expectations for the pace of the global recovery into three sections: Western Europe, the US and the Bric nations (Brazil, Russia, India and China). It predicted the recovery in Western Europe would be formed by a sharp [...]
Bank lending to individuals stays weak August 24, 2010 MORTGAGE lending dropped to a five-month low in July with just 33,700 home loans approved, taking the annual percentage decline to 18.5 per cent, the British Bankers’ Association (BBA) said yesterday. Tighter lending conditions combined with subdued demand for home loans pushed mortgage approvals down last month. This is despite recent calls for the banks, [...]
ECB?seeks bids to sterilise bond buys August 24, 2010 THE European Central Bank called for bids yesterday to drain €60.5bn (£50bn) from Eurozone money markets to offset recent bond purchases. The operation will be a variable rate tender with a maximum payout of one per cent interest. Banks are limited to just two bids in the operation and the deposits they park can be [...]
SOARING YEN SPARKS JAPANESE SELL-OFF August 24, 2010 JAPANESE equities tumbled yesterday as an ever-strengthening yen sparked a heavy sell-off of exporters such as Sony and Nikon. The Nikkei Stock Average closed at a 15-month low below 9,000. Japan’s finance minister, Yoshihiko Noda, vowed to “act appropriately” with the currency.