HMRC under fire for backlog of tax cases July 21, 2010 HM REVENUE & Customs (HMRC) has been criticised by the National Audit Office (NAO) for failing to deal with its huge backlog of more than 18m unresolved income tax cases. The NAO said about half the 18.2m cases might involve underpayment or overpayment of tax. It warned that as much as £4.4bn was at stake. [...]
Inflation expectations ease in July July 21, 2010 BRITONS’ expectations for inflation in the coming year eased to 2.7 per cent in July from three per cent in June, their lowest since April, a survey by Citi/YouGov showed yesterday. That is still well above the Bank of England’s two per cent inflation target, but the survey showed that 30 per cent of respondents [...]
GET PRACTISING YOUR POKER FACE: A NEW CLUB IS COMING TO TOWN July 21, 2010 WOULD you believe it, but I hear London’s very first official poker club is only just preparing to open its doors to the public. The venture is the brainchild of Chris North, a former captain of the Harlequins under-21 rugby team before he joined the world of online gaming 12 years ago. It was while [...]
Qualcomm posts higher than expected revenue July 21, 2010 CELLPHONE chip supplier Qualcomm’s fiscal third-quarter earnings and revenue beat Wall Street estimates on strong smartphone demand, sending its shares up 3.4 per cent after hours yesterday. Qualcomm said earnings rose to $767m, or 47 cents per share, for the quarter ended 27 June, from $737m, or 44 cents per share, in the year-ago quarter. [...]
Blacks Leisure prays for rain as sales take tumble July 21, 2010 CAMPING and hiking specialist Black Leisure saw sales fall as the good weather took its toll. In the 17 weeks to the end of June, sales fell by a worse-than-expected 7.5 per cent – a result that seems sure to hit year-end profits. The 313-store company, which runs the Blacks Outdoor and Milletts chains, came [...]
Calls for Voda chair’s head July 21, 2010 A powerful investor group has called for the head of veteran Vodafone chairman Sir John Bond. The Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan (OTTP), which has a 0.42 per cent stake in the telecoms giant, has demanded a radical shake-up at board level and says it will vote against his re-election. Though the OTTP stopped short of [...]
Farnborough show business hits $37bn July 21, 2010 MORE THAN $37bn (£24bn) in business has been agreed during the first three days of the Farnborough trade show with military spending news overshadowed by a raft of commercial aviation deals. Organisers of the show said yesterday that $37.5bn in new deals had already been signed by the midweek point. “We’ve seen buoyant activity in [...]
Motivation is more than a bulging pay packet July 21, 2010 MORALE among employees is reported to be at an all time low in Britain as we drag ourselves out of one of the worst recessions on record. Job cuts, lack of pay rises and bonuses and the snail’s pace of the recovery have left many workers demotivated and disengaged – giving their employers a headache [...]
US officials give BA the go ahead to fly alongside AA July 21, 2010 BRITISH AIRWAYS’ (BA) shares took off yesterday on news that US officials have given its transatlantic partnership with American Airlines (AA) the green light. A nod from the US Department of Transport (DOT) was the last hurdle for the airline after receiving approval from European regulators last week. The approval means the two airlines, along [...]
Analysts warn over easyJet dispute July 21, 2010 ANALYSTS have warned that the bitter dispute between easyJet owner Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou and the budget airline could “undermine the value of the company’s shares”. A note issued by stockbroking group Numis yesterday said that the ongoing argument over the use of the “easy” brand makes it “difficult to see marginal new investors being enticed [...]