London businesses see costs drop April 19, 2010 PROFIT margins in London are picking up faster than elsewhere in the country after a drop in business costs, a report has said. The latest business price index (BPI) — an analysis of wage costs, borrowing and raw materials — fell to minus 1.1 per cent in the capital in March. The figure compared with [...]
Brown sends in the navy to save stranded Brits April 19, 2010 GORDON Brown has confirmed that the Royal Navy will be dispatched to bring Britons stranded by the volcanic ash crisis back across the English Channel. The Prime minister said plans were underway to send three ships – including the Ark Royal and HMS Ocean – on the rescue mission. Meanwhile the Spanish government has agreed [...]
Philips profits soar after lighting sales boost April 19, 2010 GLOBAL electronics giant Philips has reported a pre-tax profit pf £283m for the first three months of the year. The Dutch company’s performance in the first quarter compared with big losses in 2009. Sales of its televisions and lighting products – which jumped by 18 per cent – helped to boost the latest figures, the [...]
BA in ash cloud compensation bid April 19, 2010 BRITISH Airways has appealed for compensation from the European Union and the UK government over the chaos caused by the volcanic ash cloud which has grounded flights. The company estimates that the crisis is costing it about £15m to £20m a day. Chief executive Willie Walsh called on the government to adopt new policies that [...]
Goldman stands by fraud suspect April 18, 2010 GOLDMAN Sachs has stood firm behind the man at the centre of the storm over the $1bn (£651m) fraud allegations against it, adding that he may even turn up to work in London this morning as normal. Goldman said the status of Fabrice Tourre was unchanged after he was named in two counts of securities [...]
Lib Dems grab shock lead in polls April 18, 2010 THE LIBERAL Democrats last night continued their remarkable polling gains, as a YouGov opinion poll for the Sun said the party had jumped four points to 33 per cent. The poll placed the Tories one point down, on 32 per cent. Meanwhile Labour fell four points to trail on 26 per cent. Lib Dem leader [...]
Item Club in Darling swipe April 18, 2010 A LEADING economist forecasting group has questioned Alistair Darling’s future plans for the UK public finances, saying his projections in the recent Budget lacked both precision and ambition. The Ernst & Young Item Club praised Darling’s Budget for assisting businesses and supporting the labour market but said the Treasury had wrongly based its assumptions for [...]
Black Swans back with a vengeance April 18, 2010 CHAOS theory reigns supreme. That is one of the most powerful lessons in life: unexpected events always tend to derail even the best and most carefully thought out plans. We have seen three major disruptions to the received wisdom in the past few days; all will have severe consequences. The first was the outcome of [...]
Tories seize on IFS report April 18, 2010 THE TORIES yesterday seized on a report from the Institute of Fiscal Studies that criticised Labour’s stewardship of the public finances. The independent economic think-tank noted that the public sector moved from a deficit to a surplus in the early years of the 1997 Labour government, when the party followed tax and spending plans laid [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING April 18, 2010 THE SUNDAYS The Sunday Telegraph BARCAP TO RAID ECM BANKERS Barclays Capital, the investment banking arm of barclays bank, is creating a bold plan to catapult its equity capital markets (ECM) business into a global top-three player in under five years. The ambitious strategy just 18 months after its $1.85bn (£1.2bn) acquisition of Lehman Brothers’ [...]