WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING May 19, 2009 FINANCIAL TIMESUS HOUSING OPTIMISM PREMATUREGrowing optimism over the US housing market may be premature, a leading retailer warned yesterday. Frank Blake, chief executive of Home Depot, said housing market signals were still mixed. “We are concerned about the accelerating rates of foreclosures, particularly in the western part of the country,” he said, noting that one [...]
Homeserve exits call-out work May 19, 2009 Home insurance group Homeserve met expectations with a 13 per cent rise in full year profit yesterday, and said it would exit its emergency services division to focus on its core membership business. The group posted a pre-tax profit of £96.1m on revenues 7 per cent lower at £517.4m.
EC supervision plans firming up May 19, 2009 The European Commission is pushing ahead with plans to ramp up financial supervision across the continent, set to be published next week. A leaked draft of a working document last night suggests the EC will push for a European Systemic Risk Council to warn about economic risks. The plans are likely to meet fierce resistence [...]
US Senate passes credit card bill May 19, 2009 The US Senate yesterday voted 90-5 to approve a bill to prevent sudden credit card interest rate increases and hidden fees, with President Barack Obama expected to sign it into law by the end of the month. Experts said the law will affect profits at credit card issuers like American Express.
Pay cuts loom as prices fall to 61-year low May 19, 2009 AN ESTIMATED 80 per cent of workers face the prospect of a pay freeze or cut, after the measure of inflation used for the majority of wage settlements plunged last month. The Retail Prices Index (RPI), which is used for workers’ wage settlements and includes mortgage and rent payments, shrank to -1.2 per cent year-on-year [...]
Fiat, Magna and RHJ set to unveil GM Europe bids May 19, 2009 AT LEAST three bidders are in the running to buy the European operations of stricken US automaker General Motors, it has emerged. Brussels car parts group RHJ International, Italian manufacturer Fiat and Canada’s Magna are likely to reveal formal offers for the Opel-Vauxhall division by today’s deadline. The groups are likely to be asked to [...]
Venture capital plea for fund aid May 19, 2009 Business secretary Lord Mandelson has been urged to use the new £750m strategic investment fund to support the recession-battered venture capital sector. The fund, created in April’s Budget, was not earmarked for investment into specific areas but eight leading venture capital, biotechnology and IT trade bodies last night issued a plea for assitance. The proposal [...]
AIG names board nominees May 19, 2009 Crippled US insurer American International Group (AIG) yesterday named six nominees to sit as independent board members, in a move that was forced by the terms of its government bailout. The group, which has received some $180bn (£116bn) in US taxpayer aid, named Harvey Golub, Laurette Koellner, Christopher Lynch, Arthur Martinez, Robert Miller and Douglas [...]
HP gloomy as demand dives May 19, 2009 US high-tech electronics manufacturer Hewlett Packard (HP) said yesterday the slump in business and consumer spending continued to push down profits, warning it expects to see little growth this year. The group reported a 17 per cent profit fall to $1.7bn (£1bn) in the second quarter, down from a $2.1bn profit in the same period [...]
Job axe falls again at ABN Amro, Lloyds May 19, 2009 ANOTHER slew of redundancies swept the banking world yesterday as Lloyds Banking Group announced 625 new job losses and Dutch bank ABN Amro revealed plans to axe up to 6,500 workers as part of its integration with Fortis Bank Nederland. ABN Amro said between 5,500 and 6,500 would be cut, though the net impact of [...]