Swiss central bank down €7.5bn July 8, 2010 The Swiss National Bank has possibly suffered paper losses of up to SFr10bn (€7.5bn or £6.28bn) after interventions in the currency markets to restrain the value of the country’s currency. The central bank is expected to report a big loss in its second-quarter accounts, which come out in mid-August.
UKFI executive to step down July 8, 2010 Sam Woods, the chief operating officer at UK Financial Investments, which oversees the government’s bank stakes, is to step down, making him the fourth person to leave the organisation in the past seven months. Woods is now working as secretary to the government- appointed commission into whether retail and investment banking should be separated in [...]
Hamleys is back in the black July 8, 2010 Hamleys has announced its first annual profit in six years. The famous toy store reported a £100,000 pre-tax profit in the year to 27 March, compared with a £4.1m loss a year ago.
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING July 8, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES MOD UNDER FIRE ON £20BN PROPERTY ESTATE The Ministry of Defence has failed to make the most efficient use of its £20bn property estate and should consider selling more land to help reduce costs in the current economic climate, a report by the National Audit Office will say on Friday. The department raised [...]
Government cuts private pension costs July 8, 2010 THE government yesterday outlined plans that will shave billions of pounds off the private sector’s pension bill, by reducing the amount that pension payments must rise in line with inflation. In future, payments for those on final salary schemes will rise in line with inflation as measured by the consumer price index (CPI), as opposed [...]
Coalition tells top suppliers to cut the cost of services July 8, 2010 FRANCIS Maude, the minister for the Cabinet Office, yesterday hauled in the bosses of blue-chip companies and asked them to cut the cost of the services they provide to the government. Nineteen chief executives, from the likes of Serco, BT, Logica and Vodafone, were summoned to the meeting and told to do their bit to [...]
Office For Budget Responsibility must be reformed, warns CEBR July 8, 2010 LEADING think-tank the Centre for Economic and Business Research (CEBR) has today called for urgent reform of the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), saying it needs to establish its independence from George Osborne’s Treasury. Doug McWilliams, chief executive of the CEBR, said “drastic change” was necessary after the “chequered beginnings” of the OBR. The government’s [...]
BP is given a day to meet US demands July 8, 2010 THE OBAMA administration ratcheted up the pressure on BP yesterday after Admiral Thad Allen sent a letter to the embattled oil giant demanding that he be notified of every move it makes in responding to the Gulf of Mexico spill disaster. Allen, who is leading the Gulf operations for the US government, told BP that [...]
Obama’s bid to restore ban on deepwater drilling is rejected July 8, 2010 AN APPEALS court in the US has maintained a ruling made by a lower court to lift a six-month moratorium on deepwater drilling imposed by the Obama administration. The US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit made the decision only an hour after the arguments were made yesterday. The move comes as the Obama [...]
BMW revs up first half sales July 8, 2010 BMW, the world’s largest luxury carmaker, sold 13.7 per cent more BMW vehicles last month, outpacing more tepid growth at its Mini brand. The company sold 119,663 BMWs in June, bringing its first-half tally to 585,755 vehicles for a gain of 14.1 per cent. Mini only managed to sell 23,202 cars, or nearly 110,000 in [...]