ONS tells firms to cease unfair calls May 25, 2009 The Office of National Statistics has warned six debt management firms and four cold-calling groups to stop making misleading calls or face legal action. The organisation couldn’t name the groups for legal reasons, but deputy director of consumer credit Nigel Cates said the firms were taking advantage of those “suffering distress through debt problems”. He [...]
Nokia rolls out new app store May 25, 2009 Nokia yesterday began rolling out its much-anticipated online software and content store, Ovi, as it aims to follow the success of Apple’s App Store. Nokia said it had started moving Ovi Store to production servers, preparing for the global commercial launch, and the store was opened to users of a few of its phone models [...]
Pension threat to firms must be eased, says CBI May 25, 2009 THE government must lengthen the period over which it assesses the health of company pension schemes, according to the CBI. The employers’ organisation is today pushing for “urgent action” to extend the rule forcing the Pensions Regulator to investigate firms’ funding plans where deficit repayments will take more than ten years to 15 years. It [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS May 25, 2009 LLOYDS BANKING GROUPExane BNP Paribas upgrades Lloyds Banking Group to “neutral”, saying the shares have fallen too far in reaction to the threat that the European Commission could force it to exit core businesses. But continues to believes the outlook for 2009-10 is “dire” and warns that the impact of higher liquidity and capital ratios [...]
The worst may be over, but the UK’s return to growth could be painful May 25, 2009 THE WORST is now over for the UK economy, but the path back to growth will be slow and painful, according to an increasing number of economists. While last week’s GDP figures confirmed the UK economy shrank 1.9 per cent in the first quarter of this year compared with the previous quarter – its sharpest [...]
ANALYST VIEWS: DO YOU EXPECT THE UK ECONOMY TO STEADILY IMPROVE FROM HERE? May 25, 2009 AMIT KARA UBSWe expect economic activity in the UK to expand by 1.1 per cent in 2010 instead of our earlier above-consensus forecast of 0.6 per cent. The UK will see an export-led recovery, which should benefit sectors such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, aircraft manufacture and financial services. PHILIP SHAW INVESTECWe have revised up our GDP [...]
THE OPTIMIST May 25, 2009 THE recession is close to an end, in our view. Markets, commentators and, for that matter, central banks, are too pessimistic about how soon recovery might start and how strong it might be. The continued improvement in the cyclical indicators, the more recognisable nature of the recession and the proportionate, or more than proportionate, policy [...]
THE PESSIMIST May 25, 2009 WHILE the UK economy may have passed the absolute low point of this recession, any recovery is likely to be built on pretty fragile foundations. The key message from previous cycles is that, whatever their shape, full recoveries from UK recessions tend to take a long time. Even in the V-shaped downturn of the late [...]
AN ABUNDANCE OF GLITTER FOR THE ASIAN WOMEN OF ACHIEVEMENT May 21, 2009 LONDON’s most successful Asian ladies were out in force on Wednesday night for perhaps the sparkliest evening of the year, the Asian Women of Achievement Awards, in association with Lloyds TSB. The star-studded guest list included Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, as well as BBC Dragon James Caan, MP Tessa Jowell, Lib Dem [...]
OUT THIS WEEKEND PREVIEWS May 21, 2009 FILMTORMENTED Britain’s answer to the current vogue for teen slasher flicks. EVERLASTING MOMENTS Acclaimed Swedish period drama about a female photographer. THE GIRL CUT IN TWO The latest quirky film from French auteur director Claude Chabrol. DVDTHE READER Kate Winslet on Oscar-winning form as a former Nazi prison guard. SEVEN POUNDS Apallingly mawkish melodrama with [...]