What the City wants from a new government January 12, 2010 THIS afternoon, I will be setting out the City of London’s vision for 2010 at an event at the London Chamber of Commerce discussing what a Conservative government could mean for the Square Mile. The City’s agenda is in no way contingent on the political orientation of the incoming government – our message will remain [...]
Bank of Ireland is committed to avoiding full state ownership January 12, 2010 BANK of Ireland said yesterday it was committed to averting full state ownership though it could not predict how big a stake the government would have in it after a “bad bank” scheme was implemented. The bank said the discount to the book value of loans destined for the bad bank should not be greater [...]
House prices still on the up January 12, 2010 FURTHER evidence that property prices continued to rise at the end of last year emerged yesterday but the outlook for 2010 looks less rosy. The government’s housing survey, compiled by the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG), reported that house prices rose by 0.6 per cent in November compared to 12 months ago. Average [...]
Weak sterling of little help to Britain’s huge trade deficit January 12, 2010 BRITAIN’S trade deficit narrowed slightly in November but the small improvement was not enough to claw back the sharp deterioration seen over the preceding months and provided little evidence that a weak sterling was having any beneficial effect. Figures from the Office for National Statistics, published yesterday, revealed that the trade deficit in goods fell [...]
CITY VIEWS: WHAT DO YOU EXPECT TO HAPPEN TO HOUSE PRICES THIS YEAR? January 12, 2010 GILLIAN PHILLIPS | M&G INVESTMENTS “I hope property prices do go up but I really doubt we will see anything like the prices pre-crash. I own my own property and have seen it slide into negative equity. I am planning a move but will have to put it off until the market picks up and [...]
HEINZ TESTS OUT ITS NEW CAFE IN THE CITY January 12, 2010 FOR those City workers already missing their comfort foods after the Christmas break, food group Heinz has come up with the ideal solution. Just three minutes walk from Liverpool Street station, Heinz is trialling a cafe this week whose power lunch is the well-known staple of baked beans on toast. This is the first restaurant [...]
Tesco tills ring for Christmas with 4.9 per cent sales hike January 12, 2010 TESCO has had its best Christmas in three years after slashing prices and offering double Clubcard points to get customers through the door. Britain’s biggest supermarket chain said yesterday that like-for-like sales at its UK stores jumped by 4.9 per cent during December and early January. Tesco reported a 35 per cent surge in sales [...]
Barbie back in fashion at 50 January 12, 2010 FASHIONISTA Barbie has wowed a new generation of doll lovers, helping Mattel find a return to strong sales for the 50-year-old iconic toy. Mattel, the world’s leading toymaker, said yesterday it sold “more than hundreds of thousands” of the doll over the Christmas season after her fashion makeover. The sales surge follows a reported decline [...]
Retail reporting bonanza set to reveal festive cheer January 12, 2010 TOMORROW promises a reporting bonanza, with Christmas updates expected to reveal robust trading over the festive season. Home Retail Group, owner of Argos and Homebase, is expected to reveal an increase in their 2009/2010 profit forecast after sales growth last year. Meanwhile Halfords, HMV, Mothercare, Premier Oil and Premier Foods, the UK’s largest food producer, [...]
Debenhams caught in icy blast from shareholders January 12, 2010 THE cold snap wasn’t quite over for high street stalwart Debenhams at its annual general meeting yesterday as the board came under fire from beleaguered shareholders keen to know when their pockets would be padded with dividends once again. At the company’s London-based meeting, chairman John Lovering worked hard to reassure investors that the company [...]