London retail sales drop by 5.9 per cent September 13, 2009 LONDON retail sales fell in August, the British Retail Consortium revealed today. Last month’s sales were 5.9 per cent lower on a like-for-like basis than a year ago, when sales were up by 8.6 per cent on the previous year. The figures, which show the lowest sales growth for four years, come ahead of department [...]
US ignites tyre tax row with Chinese September 13, 2009 TENSIONS between the US and China escalated last night, with Beijing slamming Washington for what it called its “rampant protectionism” over a decision to impose extra duty on Chinese-made tyres. Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu criticised the US decision, saying it sent a dangerous protectionist signal before a G20 summit. The commerce ministry also [...]
Royal Bank of Scotland mulls a revival of Williams &Glyn’s brand September 13, 2009 STATE-SUPPORTED Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is considering relaunching the Williams &Glyn’s high-street banking name, with an eye to putting a swathe of its retail bank branches up for sale, it has emerged. The bank could rebrand hundreds of branches to the old name, which was dropped after RBSbought the NatWest chain of high-street banks, [...]
Noble latest oil group to sell its assets September 13, 2009 NOBLE Energy, the US oil group, is pulling out of the North Sea, it is understood, as it auctions off its European arm. The sale, which has a price tag of $350m (£210m), follows a series of firms leaving the area as a slump in production and tax increases at the Treasury hit the sector. [...]
Peak prices for houses far off September 13, 2009 HOUSE prices will not return to the high point they reached in the autumn of 2007 for at least another five years, according to Ernst & Young’s Item Club. Hetal Mehta, Item’s senior economic adviser, said the recent rise in property values is a “false dawn” that will not last beyond the spring. Item predicts [...]
INM days from bank debt deal September 13, 2009 Independent News & Media (INM) could be just days from a refinancing proposal that includes a debt-for-equity swap to pay a long-overdue €200m (£176m) bond. Any deal would dilute the stakes of its shareholders – including founder Sir Anthony O’Reilly and second-largest shareholder Denis O’Brien – but would give management breathing space to steer the [...]
CPAlawyers set for riches September 13, 2009 A GROUP of 230 lawyers who control legal outsourcing firm Computer Patent Annuities (CPA) are all set to be made millionaires, as the firm gears up for a stake sale to private equity. The firm, which offers intellectual property support services, is expected to sell at least a quarter of its equity in a transaction [...]
Retail guru Davies to revive high street with GIVe stores September 13, 2009 RETAIL veteran George Davies is set to open the doors to his new stand alone shopping venture, GIVe, this Autumn. Davies, the founder of high street fashion store Next, Marks and Spencer’s womenswear range Per Una and Asda’s George clothing line has ploughed £20m of his own money into the chain. The much-hyped launch comes [...]
High Court scrutiny for Aviva’s reattribution of 1.2bn estate September 13, 2009 AVIVA is to appear in the High Court today to seek approval for its plans to reattribute a £1.2bn inherited estate, in a case it expects will conclude in its favour in just two or three days. The insurer has offered investors £500m to sign away their rights to the estate – made up of [...]
HESTER:LET’STAKETHINGSSLOW September 13, 2009 STEPHEN Hester, chief executive of part-nationalised Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), has warned a rapid boom after the recession could actually be damaging. In a BBC interview, Hester said a “gradual emergence from recession” that sees the economy “rebalance”is the best possible outcome.