Not good enough: That’s our panel’s verdict on Alistair Darling’s last Budget before the election March 25, 2010 WEDNESDAY’S?Budget was almost certainly Alistair Darling’s last. Even if Labour does hang on to power,?Gordon Brown is unlikely to keep him on as chancellor. For that reason, Darling was acutely aware of his own reputation, and managed to resist pressure to announce a raft of gimmicky pre-election giveaways. But our panel was still distinctly unimpressed, [...]
ICBC seeks to raise £2.5bn new cash in a bid to bolster its balance sheet March 25, 2010 INDUSTRIAL & Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), the world’s biggest bank by market capitalisation, unexpectedly unveiled plans yesterday to raise £2.5bn in new capital to bolster its balance sheet. The plan was announced just after ICBC reported a 58 per cent rise in fourth-quarter profit, broadly meeting expectations. ICBC will sell up to 25bn yuan [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS March 25, 2010 MEDIASET Standard & Poor’s has upgraded its rating on Mediaset to “buy” from “hold” citing the Italian media company’s recent full-year results. Despite the 41 per cent drop in 2009 profits, S&P belives the fact that February revenues at Telecinco were up by as much as 40 per cent, will result in revenue growth in [...]
Lebedev buys Independent for £1 March 25, 2010 THE Independent and Independent on Sunday newspapers have been sold to Russian billionaire Alexander Lebedev. Oligarch Lebedev, owner of the Evening Standard, bought the loss-making papers from Irish company Independent News & Media (INM) for £1. As part of the deal, INM agreed to pay Lebedev’s Independent Print Limited (IPL) £9.25m over the next ten [...]
UK retail sales rebound March 25, 2010 UK retail sales rose strongly between January and February, official figures have shown. Data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed a 2.1 per cent hike. In January, volumes fell by three per cent. Vicky Redwood of Capital Economics said: “February’s official retail sales figures confirm that high street spending bounced back after the [...]
Jarvis plunges into administration March 25, 2010 RAIL contractor Jarvis has plunged into administration after its banks pulled the plug. In a statement to the Stock Exchange the firm said it no longer had the support of its banks and could not “continue trading as a going concern.” Jarvis employs 2000 people mainly on rail and freight maintenance projects. Trading in its [...]
Next profits in 18pc surge March 25, 2010 NEXT saw profits jump by 18 per cent last year as it reacted more quickly to changes in fashion. Pre-tax profits rose to £505.3m with sales totalling £3,406m. The company said spending drop on the high street in the recession had not been as bad as feared. Next, which runs over 500 shops in the [...]
Kingfisher raises dividend after profits boost March 25, 2010 B&Q owner Kingfisher beat profit forecasts and raised its dividend – helped by a rise in sales of eco-friendly products. Pre- tax profit excluding and one-off items jumped 49 per cent to £547m in the year ended January, above the average forecast of £543m. As well as raising its dividend for the first time in [...]
Darling stamps on City workers March 24, 2010 ALISTAIR Darling stepped up his war on banks and the wealthy yesterday, but he refused to announce a raft of gimmicky pre-election giveaways. Delivering what is likely to be his last Budget, he continued to clobber the better-off by unveiling a new top rate of stamp duty. Amid cheers from the Labour backbenches, Darling said [...]
At a glance: All of Alistair Darling’s 2010 Budget tax and spend policies March 24, 2010 THE ECONOMY/ PUBLIC FINANCES l Confirmed pre-Budget report (PBR) 2010 growth forecast of 1-1.5 per cent. But the chancellor revised downwards the 2011 forecast to 3-3.5 per cent to bring forecasts in line with those of the Bank of England. Growth forecast of 3.5 per cent in 2012 maintained. l Inflation spike expected to be [...]