Businesses ‘face power shortages’ February 2, 2010 BUSINESSES and homes across the UK could face power shortages in the years ahead, energy regulator Ofgem has warned. The regulator also warns that a proportion of consumers may not be able to afford the higher energy prices they will have to face. Ofgem says there is “reasonable doubt” about whether the UK’s energy market [...]
Jobless rises not over yet February 2, 2010 BRITAIN will have to endure a further deterioration in the unemployment rate over the next two years while net debt will rise for longer than the Treasury currently expects, a leading think-tank will say today. In its quarterly forecasts, the National Institute for Economic and Social Research (NIESR) predicts that the jobless rate will only [...]
Tory economic plan is a damp squib February 2, 2010 IT should have been an important moment, the day the Tories unveiled their masterplan to sort out the economy. So it was with some trepidation that I turned to George Osborne’s 23-page document, tantalisingly entitled “A new economic model”. I shouldn’t have bothered: the report is a damp squib. A few of the proposals are [...]
Car sales fall in Germany again February 2, 2010 New car registrations in Germany, Europe’s largest auto market, fell in January for the second month in a row, bucking the trend in other major European markets that are growing thanks to government incentives. The VDIK foreign carmakers association said registrations fell 4.2 per cent versus January 2009 to around 181,500 vehicles, the weakest monthly [...]
US home sales edge upwards February 2, 2010 Pending sales of previously owned US homes edged up as expected in December, a survey showed yesterday, which should help to calm fears of renewed weakness in the troubled housing sector. But the housing recovery remains slow and painful, with other data showing the percentage of empty privately owned homes rose to 2.7 per cent [...]
Gulf Finance House hit by S&P February 2, 2010 Gulf Finance House (GFH) said yesterday it is seeking to defer payment of a third of a $300m loan due next week as credit rating agency Standard & Poor’s slapped it with its third downgrade in 10 weeks. “Gulf Finance House … confirms that it has been in discussions with members of the WestLB syndicate [...]
SEC charges ex hedge fund boss February 2, 2010 Former Wall Street hedge fund manager David Slaine made more than $500,000 from insider trading tips in 2002 by a former UBS Securities executive who is now in prison, the US Securities and Exchange Commission said yesterday. Slaine, 50, formerly of DSJ International Resources, or Chelsey Capital of New York, used the confidential information to [...]
Credit Suisse bosses escape levy February 2, 2010 Senior Credit Suisse executives in London including chief executive officer James Leigh-Pemberton are set for multi-million pound payouts not subject to the UK bonus tax. A small number of bankers will receive windfalls under the bank’s performance incentive plan, put in place to retain key staff in 2004, which vests in March. Credit Suisse will [...]
SHANKS LOWERS PROFIT GUIDANCE February 2, 2010 Waste management firm Shanks said talks over a possible cash offer for the company, thought to be from US private equity firm Carlyle Group, were continuing as it warned its full-year profit would be slightly below previous expectations yesterday. Shanks said trading had been satisfactory but the outcome for the full-year would be impacted by [...]
GILT DEMAND AT AN EIGHT-YEAR HIGH February 2, 2010 The government’s first bond auction since its £200bn quantitative easing programme began to wind down drew the highest bid-to-cover ratio in eight years yesterday. The Debt Management Office said the 2012 bond sale experienced the highest demand at a gilt auction since March 2002, an appetite that surpassed analysts’ expectations. Observers said the take-up was [...]