HSBC’s UK head wants more out gay bosses November 10, 2014 GAY BOSSES have a responsibility to come out and be counted, HSBC’s UK chief said yesterday. The City watchdog’s chairman urged banks to monitor lesbian, gay bisexual and trans (LGBT) progress more rigorously within their businesses to make sure the demographic was not left behind. “There is a huge personal responsibility to come out and [...]
Halloween heatwave gives retailers a scary outlook November 10, 2014 Retailers suffered another month of lacklustre sales in October as the mild weather and supermarket price wars continued to weigh on the sector, despite a slight bounce back on the previous month. Like-for-like retail sales were flat in October, an improvement on the 2.1 per cent reported in September but a slowdown on the same [...]
Sotheby’s figures beat forecasts as auction house prepares for Andy Warhol and Mark Rothko sales November 10, 2014 Art lovers expectantly awaiting the auction of works by Andy Warhol and Mark Rothko this week have already had an eye-opening surprise from Sotheby’s, the auction house selling the pieces. The auction house’s quarterly figures beat Wall Street forecasts in what is traditionally a quiet quarter for sales. Sales fell 12.7 per cent [...]
Tesco wins court battle against Sainsbury’s over Price Promise November 10, 2014 SAINSBURY’S claim that Tesco’s Price Promise campaign was unlawful and like comparing “apples with pears” has been thrown out by a High Court judge. Sainsbury’s complained that, when applied to Tesco’s own label products and fresh food, the price comparisons were misleading, unfair and unlawful. The promise involves a pledge to match Sainsbury’s, Asda and [...]
Discovery pays £155m for remaining stake in Prudential’s UK subsidiaries November 10, 2014 SOUTH African health insurance firm Discovery has purchased PruHealth and PruProtect from parent company Prudential Assurance, the UK subsidiary of Prudential. Discovery paid £155m for the remaining 25 per cent equity stake in the joint venture, which was initially established as an equally owned venture between Discovery and Prudential. In 2010, Discovery upped its shareholding [...]
Aviva closes IPO of Turkish arm November 10, 2014 INSURANCE company Aviva yesterday confirmed the closing of its Turkish arm’s IPO, following its announcement in September that it was offering to the public market a minority stake in the shares of its joint venture with Sabanci Group, AvivaSA. The company, which will be listed as Avisa on Borsa Istanbul, the Turkish stock exchange, from [...]
Rouble jumps after months of steep drop November 10, 2014 THE RUSSIAN rouble strengthened against the dollar yesterday despite the Central Bank of Russia (CBR) announcing the abandonment of its exchange rate controls. A press release from the CBR said foreign exchange intervention might still be considered in the case of renewed “financial stability threats”, which may have reassured foreign exchange markets. Markets may also have [...]
Wage growth could be sluggish due to increasing labour supply November 10, 2014 Employment intentions remain high but wages may not pick up due to an increasing supply of labour, an industry body has said. Near-term employment expectations are at a seven-year high, according to survey results published yesterday by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), a human resources industry body. This is reflected in the [...]
Inflation dips to four-year low in China as economy slows down November 10, 2014 Inflation in China remained low in October, signalling the economy was still cooling. The consumer price index – the headline inflation figure – was 1.6 per cent higher in October than it was last year, according to figures yesterday released by the National Bureau of Statistics. Annual CPI is at its lowest since December 2009. [...]
Italy industrial production in new downturn November 10, 2014 ITALY’s industrial production fell by 0.9 per cent month-on-month in September, according to official figures released by Istat yesterday. To add insult to injury, August’s figure was revised down to 0.2 per cent from 0.3 per cent. The troubled nation fell into a triple dip recession in the first half of the year. This Friday [...]