Jobs outlook improving for UKeconomy December 7, 2009 EMPLOYERS expect to hire rather than fire staff for the first time in a year in the first quarter of 2010, driven by the positive outlook for the finance and business sector, according to the Manpower Employment Outlook Survey published today. For the UK as a whole, the survey reports that the balance of employers [...]
BRC: solid start to Christmas despite weaker sales growth December 7, 2009 BRITISH retailers saw weaker growth in sales values last month after experiencing their best October since 2002, the latest survey from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) will show today. Retail sales rose 1.8 per cent on a like-for-like basis in November compared to the same period last year when sales volumes fell 2.6 per cent [...]
Iceland’s GDP shrinks sharply as the island is pummelled by crisis December 7, 2009 ICELAND’S gross domestic product shrank 5.7 per cent in the third quarter from the second for an annual contraction of 7.2 per cent as the island’s financial crisis pummelled the economy, data showed yesterday. The North Atlantic island nation was plunged into its worst ever economic crisis last year as its main banks, heavily indebted [...]
AIGexecs threaten to quit if pay is cut December 7, 2009 FIVE senior executives at bailed-out bank AIG said that they are prepared to quit if their pay is cut significantly by the US pay tsar Kenneth Feinberg. The five senior AIG executives indicated last week in written notices that they were prepared to leave by the end of the year, according to sources. However, two [...]
Offices raided as prosecutors probe Landesbank heads December 7, 2009 GERMAN state prosecutors yesterday searched the offices of the country’s biggest state-owned bank, Landesbank, as well as board members’ private residences, over suspected breach of trust. The probe is targeting six current management board members as well as former chief executive Siegfried Jaschinski for severe breach of trust in connection with risky investments in US [...]
Insurer MetLife says 2010 earnings will beat forecasts due to cost cutting December 7, 2009 METLIFE, the largest publicly-traded US life insurer, yesterday forecast fourth-quarter and 2010 earnings that could beat average Wall Street expectations, helped by cost cuts, improved investment returns and higher revenue. But it said it did not see a return to historical growth levels until 2011 or 2012. In a statement issued just before the start [...]
MORE DELAYS FOR DERIPASKA December 7, 2009 RUSAL, the world’s leading aluminium producer that is controlled by Russian tycoon Oleg Deripaska, will delay its long-awaited $3bn (£1.8bn) IPO until next year, after the Hong Kong Stock Exchange asked it to meet certain undisclosed conditions. The delay is another blow to Deripaska’s long-held aim of floating the business.
Scrappage drives China car sales December 7, 2009 Car sales and production in China both exceeded the 12m mark between January and November, its state media said yesterday. The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said it expects sales and output of cars to top 13m for the full year. The move indicates growing wealth in the country, which has never produced more than [...]
Citi appoints EMEA equities boss December 7, 2009 Citi has appointed Mike Pringle as its new head of equities for Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), according to a memo leaked yesterday. Pringle, currently head of EMEA equities trading, joined the US bank in July 2008 from Merrill Lynch where he was in charge of EMEA equity trading for the group’s business in [...]
NIB to shut branches as pain goes on December 7, 2009 LOSS-making National Irish Bank (NIB), owned by Denmark’s Danske Bank, yesterday said it is to shut 25 of its 58 branches and eliminate 150 jobs to cut costs. Irish banking has proved a headache for Danske Bank, piling up losses before tax of 3.7bn Danish crowns (£449.3m) in the first nine months of 2009 on [...]