More saving for old age despite the recession June 29, 2009 PENSION savings have bucked the downturn this year so far, with more people putting money aside for retirement despite the fact consumers are facing tighter finances and increased redundancies. The Scottish Widows Pension index, which tracks the number of people saving adequately for retirement, has risen from 51 per cent in 2008 to 54 per [...]
Hargreaves to top forecasts June 29, 2009 FINANCIAL advisory firm Hargreaves Lansdown said yesterday it expects its full-year results to come in ahead of expectations, driven by high stockbroking dealing volumes and the recent market recovery. The firm said revenues for the 11 months to 31 May were 10 per cent ahead of the same period last year and that full-year pre-tax [...]
GOLD RUSH AT CENTAMIN June 29, 2009 JOSEF El-Raghy, chief executive of Aim’s largest mining company Centamin Egypt, was celebrating at the weekend after the company poured the first gold bar from its vast Sukari gold project in the Egyptian Eastern Desert. Sukari is the largest gold mine in the world to come on stream this year, with almost 15m ounces of [...]
Porsche told to end row over its future June 29, 2009 LOWER Saxony, Volkswagen’s second-largest shareholder, again pushed Volkswagen (VW) and Porsche to break a deadlock in merger talks yesterday as the two German carmakers squabbled over a deal. Disagreements among Porsche’s owning families and questions about preconditions for an investment by Middle Eastern Kingdom Qatar have held up progress toward creating a combined company, people [...]
CITY MOVES WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS June 29, 2009 ExecutionMarcus Ashworth has joined the agency broker to help drive Asian equity sales in its London office. Ashworth joins from Mitsubishi UFJ Securities, where he was a director in the equity derivative and equity research sales team with responsibility for Asia. Prior to that, he held a number of positions at National Australia Bank, Bridport, [...]
Capital’s hotels attract visitors June 29, 2009 London hoteliers saw occupancy rates increase again in May, but regional hotels continued to struggle, according to monthly figures released today by PKF Hotel Consultancy Services. Occupancy across London’s hotels increased 1.3 per cent year on year in May, from 81.0 per cent last year to 82.1 per cent this year. Room rate did not [...]
Rank’s bingo appointment June 29, 2009 Gaming group Rank has appointed Mark Jones as managing director of Mecca Bingo, its British bingo clubs business. Jones, 48, has held a number of senior management posts in the leisure industry, including chief executive of Pizza Hut UK (while at Whitbread), chief executive of Yates Group and most recently as executive chairman of Premium [...]
Relationships before business June 29, 2009 Maintaining face-to-face relationships remains of vital importance to businesses in the face of the recession, according to the findings of a report for Barclays Commercial Business Travel. The survey found 75 per cent of business people expect to travel more, or the same amount, this year compared with 2008. And 50 per cent said they [...]
Home lending still difficult, warns Bank June 29, 2009 MORTGAGE lending saw its weakest rise on record last month, according to the Bank of England, signalling the squeeze on home lending is far from over, despite recent signs that the property slump could be levelling out. The number of home loan approvals rose for the fourth consecutive month in May, climbing from 43,191 in [...]
Asos sales double as the website defies downturn June 29, 2009 ONLINE fashion store Asos yesterday said it had defied the retail recession, announcing that sales doubled last year thanks to the trend towards shopping for clothes online. Chief executive Nick Robertson – who owns 14 per cent of the business – hailed the “phenomenal” results, but warned that the group is anticipating more conservative growth [...]