Yell revenues stabilise February 3, 2010 PUBLISHING group Yell saw signs of stability in the third quarter as the rate of revenue decline slowed. The FTSE 250-group reported a 13 per cent drop in revenue at constant currency rates for the three months to December – beating the 16 per cent guidance previously given. Revenue for the first nine months of [...]
Glaxo profits up – but cuts looming February 3, 2010 DRUGS giant GlaxoSmithKline has reported a 12 per cent rise in annual profit – but warned that cost-cutting measures would be imposed. Pre-tax profits for 2009 were £8.73bn ($13.81bn) up from £7.78bn in 2008. A £500m programme of cuts will be completed by 2012. Glaxo said its profits had been enhanced by sales of flu [...]
Power shortages loom for UK February 3, 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 [...]
Standard Life beats sales forecasts February 3, 2010 INSURER Standard Life kicked off the sector’s reporting season with forecast-beating sales for 2009 following a pick-up in market conditions in the second half of the year. The UK’s fifth biggest insurer by market value reported total life and pensions sales of £14.7bn on a present value of new business premiums basis – down by [...]
First-time buyers benefit from falling deposits February 2, 2010 FIRST time buyers have been given a boost after new figures showed that the availability of mortgages is on the rise. The number of deals is up 20 per cent compared to the start of the year, according to financial information service Moneyfacts. The increased has been driven by the thawing of the mortgage market [...]
City rents jump on supply crunch February 2, 2010 RENTS in the Square Mile will rocket by 19 per cent this year as a slowdown in the rate of new developments creates a supply crisis, property consultant Knight Frank warned yesterday. Rates are predicted to jump to £52.5 per square foot as international companies expand their City headquarters and the availability of space falls. [...]
Man Utd bond deal slammed February 2, 2010 MANCHESTER United’s controversial £500m bond issue was last night slammed as the worst performing launch of the past two years. The bond, which is part denominated in sterling and partly in US dollars, has seen its price slide to 93p in the pound following worries over the club’s high debts and volatile revenue profile. The [...]
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 [...]