Underground workers vote to strike August 11, 2010 LONDON?could be plunged into transport chaos after rail union RMT’s members voted overwhelmingly in favour of strike action. The underground workers are furious the government is pushing ahead with tough cost cuts they say could total more than £4bn over three years. It is thought station and ticket staff are likely to bear the brunt [...]
Cisco misses estimates August 11, 2010 CISCO Systems quarterly revenue fell slightly short of Wall Street’s expectations, disappointing investors who thought an improving economy and growing internet traffic would have spurred even stronger sales of routers and switches. Cisco, the world’s biggest network equipment maker, said yesterday that revenue in the quarter ended 31 July rose 27 per cent from a [...]
Standard?Life reports 10pc profits boost August 11, 2010 STANDARD LIFE delivered a higher operating profit and cranked up its dividend yesterday, but investors were underwhelmed by weaker UK performance and shrinking margins. The Scottish life and pensions group hailed “the progress we have made as a business” as David Nish announced his first interim results as chief executive. Strong sales in Canada and [...]
Investors should stick with this stock August 11, 2010 YOU could forgive Standard Life’s management for being more than a little disgruntled yesterday. The life insurer delivered a robust set of results, with embedded enterprise value (EEV) operating profit up 11 per cent to £364m, and International Financial Reporting Standards operating profit up 10 per cent to £182m. New business growth was reassuringly strong [...]
Inflation forecasts stretch credibility August 11, 2010 ANALYSTS reacted with incredulity yesterday as Bank of England governor Mervyn King claimed that “temporary shocks” were to blame for persistent above-target inflation and that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) would return to the Bank’s two per cent target before the end of 2011. This means the Bank once again pushed out the deadline by [...]
CITY VIEWS: ARE YOU WORRIED THAT THE BANK GOT ITS FORECASTS SO BADLY WRONG? August 11, 2010 MATTHEW KING | LLOYD’S BROKER “I think it would be much worse if the situation changed and the Bank carried on being bullish regardless ?– it’s much better that it is prepared to revise these estimates. Also, they are just forecasts, the Bank does not say this is what will definitely happen.” JAMES COLERIDGE | [...]
Mortgage lending jumps in June but volumes stay below pre-crisis levels August 11, 2010 HOME loan volumes picked up in June but still languished at about a third of their pre-financial crisis levels, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML). Banks and building societies extended £13.1bn of credit to housebuyers in June, an increase of 15 per cent on May’s figure and seven per cent up on the [...]
King ups the ante on bank lending to small firms August 11, 2010 MERVYN King again waded into the row over bank lending rates at the Bank of England’s inflation report meeting yesterday, accusing banks of profiting off struggling small businesses. “The spread that banks are making on loans is much, much higher than it was before and compared with the decade’s average,” he said. Unlike large businesses, [...]
Thomas Cook hit as Brits shun holidays August 11, 2010 TOUR operator Thomas Cook yesterday warned full-year operating profit would be at the lower end of forecasts after a slowdown in bookings as Britain’s emergency Budget forced holidaymakers into ditching their plans to go abroad. Europe’s second-biggest tour operator also said the impact from disruption caused by a volcanic ash cloud closing airspace in April [...]
Nestle ups outlook as business booms in emerging markets August 11, 2010 SWISS food giant Nestle raised its full-year outlook yesterday after buoyant demand for its strong brands in emerging markets boosted sales in the first half. The world’s biggest food group said its food and beverages business should show underlying sales growth of around five per cent. So far the group – whose brands include Nescafe [...]