LONDON BARGAIN CITY August 19, 2009 LONDON has dropped 19 places in a ranking of the world’s most expensive cities due to the sterling’s devaluation, according to research out yesterday by UBS. London now ranks 21st both in the comparison of living costs in 73 cities around the world and in its international wage level comparison.
FULL CIRCLE IN SPORT RETAILERS’ WILY WORLD August 19, 2009 IS THERE no end to the incestuous intricacies to the colourful sports retail sector? The current hot potato in the industry is the tide of bad feeling towards JJB chairman Sir David Jones, whose past emails criticising the firm’s directors were recently leaked by former chief executive Chris Ronnie, the man widely blamed for bringing [...]
CITY EYE August 19, 2009 A City worker basks in the lunchtime sun yesterday at Finsbury Circus, enjoying temperatures of up to 30 degrees Celsius. Pity our poor cousins up North, who were enduring clouds, cooler temperatures and rain showers while we were sweltering…
CITY ALARMED BY BANK SPLIT August 19, 2009 CITY economists expressed concern yesterday about the fragility of the UK economy after it emerged that Bank of England governor Mervyn King had pushed to extend quantitative easing (QE) by £75bn earlier this month. Economists were shocked to learn that the Bank’s policymakers had been divided over how much to extend QE. Minutes from the [...]
BAT under fire over chairman August 19, 2009 INVESTORS last night expressed disquiet at the appointment of Richard Burrows as the next chair of British American Tobacco (BAT) less than two months after he stood down as governor of the Bank of Ireland following massive losses. Burrows will be stepping into the role on 1 November following the retirement of Jan du Plessis, [...]
Buffett warns US on deficit August 19, 2009 INVESTMENT guru Warren Buffett has warned the US government over its $1.8 trillion (£1.1 trillion) budget deficit, which he said could lead to inflation and damage the dollar’s purchasing power. Buffett has raised fears politicians will shirk from cutting government spending or raising taxes. He suspects they will instead quietly let inflation creep up, turning [...]
Splits and drama are back at the Bank August 19, 2009 MEETINGS of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee have become interesting again. After months of near perfect harmony on the committee – not even Danny Blanchflower could argue with holding interest rates at 0.5 per cent, for heaven’s sake – at last there is tension. In the biggest split since April last year, three [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING August 19, 2009 FINANCIAL TIMES INVESTCORP REPORTS FIRST LOSSInvestcorp reported its first annual loss in its history after the London and Bahrain-listed investment group suffered big falls on its hedge fund investments and heavy writedowns at its private equity and real estate arms. The company, which made its name investing in retailers Gucci, Tiffany and Saks Fifth Avenue, [...]
AIG faces Madoff action August 19, 2009 BATTERED insurer AIG has been hit with a class action lawsuit in connection with Bernard Madoff’s $60bn (£36bn) Ponzi fraud. A wealthy couple who lost out in the scandal are accusing AIG of “calculated efforts” to redefine the terms of insurance contracts to get out of coughing up to cover their losses. The couple, Robert [...]
Qantas sees profits plunge August 19, 2009 Qantas Airways, the Australian flag carrier, posted an 88 per cent fall in its annual profit to A$117m (£58.5m) yesterday, as it continues to struggle in the economic downturn. The airline said it would not pay a dividend, and added it would not offer any guidance on its profit for the year “given the high [...]