Greece stymied as S&P downgrades credit worthiness December 16, 2009 GREECE took another hammering yesterday after Standard & Poor’s downgraded the troubled country’s long-term credit rating, after its prime minister warned more cuts were likely to reduce its huge fiscal deficit. The credit rating agency notched down the Hellenic Republic’s sovereign grade to BBB+ from its previous A-, matching Fitch Ratings’ cut, with Moody’s Investors [...]
ITALIANS BUY SMYTHSON December 16, 2009 TORY party leader David Cameron’s wife Samantha is understood to have a new employer this morning, after Smythson, the luxury leather goods company for which she is creative director, was sold to Italian group Greenwill. Samantha, a minority shareholder who is credited with turning the company around, may have received a small payout following the [...]
NEWS | IN BRIEF December 16, 2009 Drax boosted by positive outlook British power station operator Drax Group said yesterday it expected full-year earnings to be modestly ahead of market expectations, boosted by a strong forward contracted position. Drax, whose coal-fired power station in Selby, North Yorkshire supplies about seven per cent of the UK’s electricity, also said yesterday it was benefiting [...]
Shock fall in UK claimant count figures December 16, 2009 UK UNEMPLOYMENT unexpectedly fell in November for the first time since February 2008, raising hopes that the economy emerged from recession in the fourth quarter. Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed that the number of Britons claiming jobless benefits fell by 6,300 in November, confounding analyst expectations of a rise of 13,300. [...]
Natural for reserve rate to be reviewed December 16, 2009 IT IS natural for policymakers to consider changing the rate charged on commercial bank deposits held at the central bank, Bank of England policymaker David Miles said yesterday. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) member said he was open-minded about the policy but said it was natural it should be considered. The MPC had considered changing [...]
US sees return of inflation December 16, 2009 US CONSUMER prices rose 0.4 per cent in November on the previous month, taking the annual inflation rate to 1.8 per cent. This was the first year-on-year gain recorded in the index since February and was in line with analysts’ expectations. The surge last month was fuelled by a 4.1 per cent surge in energy [...]
Eurozone set for further growth December 16, 2009 THE Eurozone is on track for another quarter of growth in the last three months of the year after December’s flash purchasing managers’ indices posted a new high. The composite index – which accounts for both the manufacturing and services sectors – reached a 26-month high of 54.2 in December and is well above the [...]
T-Mobile and Orange to file EC paper by January December 16, 2009 ORANGE and T-Mobile are expected to submit a formal merger proposal to the EU competition watchdog in the next couple of weeks amid speculation the telecoms players may be forced to sell off bandwidth. The European Commission was expected to get the document at the end of November. Industry insiders speculated yesterday that it was [...]
Globespan latest airline to go under December 16, 2009 HUNDREDS of staff at Scottish airline Globespan are to lose their jobs after the carrier went into administration. PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), the administrators, said they would make most of the firm’s 800 staff redundant after the airline fell victim to a lack of cash. The administration is likely to cause chaos for about 5,000 people due [...]
NEWS | IN BRIEF December 16, 2009 Playboy slumps in US trading Playboy Enterprises, the group which owns the iconic men’s magazine, slumped yesterday in New York trading as fears grew that talks on a sale to Iconix Brand Group are falling apart. The company is thought to be breaking off talks because the divestment would be too complicated. A sale of [...]