Toyota sales fall by a quarter May 28, 2009 Toyota’s sales in Japan fell by around 25 per cent compared to last year the firm said yesterday. Katsuaki Watanabe, Toyota’s president, said domestic vehicle production would exceed 11,000 units a day in June and July. Toyota’s Prius Hybrid, unveiled last week, received record orders exceeding 80,000 before sales started. Japan’s top three car makers [...]
FSA reveals stress model May 28, 2009 THE stress tests used by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) to determine the health of UK banks envisaged a grim scenario in which unemployment hits 3.7m, house prices are cut by half and the recession continues for another 18 months. The City watchdog used the nightmare scenario to judge how a deep and lengthy recession [...]
CITY VIEWS: DO YOU AGREE WITH THE FSA’S DIRE ECONOMIC ASSUMPTIONS? May 28, 2009 MO MAYET INGRAM MAYET“I think their predictions are very gloomy – and that scaremongering like that isn’t going to help matters. I think the economy will remain stable for the next 12 months or so and then recover steadily, but I’m shocked by the FSA’s predictions.” MICHAEL PERISSINOTTO MIZUHO“I think these figures sound a lot [...]
STRESSED OUT May 28, 2009 STRESS TEST MODEL:Peak to trough fall in GDP of 6%REALITY:GDP has now declined 4.1% from its peak in the first quarter of 2008 STRESS TEST MODEL: Unemployment will rise to just over 12%REALITY:Unemployment is currently 7.1% for the three months to March 2009 STRESS TEST MODEL: House prices will fall 50% to peak to troughREALITY:According [...]
Credit Suisse to sell London offices May 28, 2009 Credit Suisse has kicked off a sale of its London property portfolio to raise as much as £500m. The investment bank has asked property firm CB Richard Ellis to start marketing the smaller of its two buildings in Canary Wharf, 20 Columbus Court, and it is believed that its tower at 1 Cabot Square may [...]
Time Warner disconnects AOL May 28, 2009 Time Warner said yesterday it’s board has approved plans to separate out its AOL division, in a widely expected move that will rid the media giant of one of its weakest divisions.Due to be completed at the end of this year, the deal would once again make AOL an independent, publicly traded company, and close [...]
OPEC members stay the course May 28, 2009 OPEC ministers yesterday decided to “stay the course” and keep output steady as they bet on a strengthening economy and tentative signs of increased demand to boost oil prices. “Stay the course, this is the decision,” Saudi oil minister Ali al-Naimi said following just under two hours of talks, which had been widely expected to [...]
HP slashes 710 Scottish jobs May 28, 2009 Hewlett Packard confirmed yesterday the computer hardware company will cut 710 jobs at its Erskine manufacturing plant over the next two years. The cuts form part of a Europe, Middle East and Africa-wide cull of 5,700 jobs. Of the 710 jobs to be lost, 80 are HP employees and the remainder are temporary or contracting [...]
Fortress to enter retail banking after US deal May 28, 2009 FORTRESS Investment Group, the US listed private equity and hedge fund firm, is to become the latest company from the “shadow” banking system to move into retail banking. The group, which has $26.5bn (£16.6bn) in assets, is to tie-up with private equity houses Crestview Partners and Lightyear Capital to pump $800m into First Southern, a [...]
STICKY SITUATION May 28, 2009 FOOD producer Tate & Lyle said yesterday that it has seen a 38 per cent drop in full year pre-tax profit, adding that it is difficult to predict with confidence the outlook for 2010 given the global recession and its uncertain impact on customer demand. The Golden Syrup maker, which had issued two profit warnings [...]