UBS increases bonus pool by 28 per cent in wake of bumper profits February 4, 2014 Swiss financial services company UBS has announced profit before tax for the fourth quarter of 356m Swiss francs (£242m) after being boosted by a tax benefit and bumper revenues from its investment bank. In good news for UBS staff, the bank has decided to increase its total bonus pool by whopping 28 per cent. The [...]
China sends warning to corruption-concealing officials February 4, 2014 Chinese authorities have cautioned officials who cover up corruption, saying they will seek them out. The move, reported by state media, is the latest in the government's push to check extortion. It's been working to quash widespread corruption in the country – from bribery, to costly entertainment and gift-giving. But the news comes after the ruling [...]
Construction growth leaps to August 2007 high February 4, 2014 Survey data is getting too hot to handle. The construction purchasing managers' index (PMI) has jumped from 62.1 to 64.6 in January, according to data compiled by Markit. So we're back to pre-crisis construction growth. Bad news for those worried that we're seeing overheating as the latest expansion in the housing sector is the steepest [...]
Banks double payouts for swaps claims February 4, 2014 Banks are making progress when it comes to getting compensation to customers who were allegedly mis-sold interest rate hedging products (IRHP). Payouts have now reached £306.3m from £158.6m in December. In January, the number of offers accepted now stands at 2,092 – over double the number in December (1,040), according to figures from the Financial [...]
Snapshot Guide: How to navigate this week’s tube strike chaos February 4, 2014 With unions RMT and TSSA threatening to halt transport across the City this week, we've got a handy snapshot guide to getting yourself through the disruption. Strikes that London mayor Boris Johnson says are tantamount to holding London to ransom will begin on Tuesday, if no progress is made. Tubes will start running at 7am [...]
Co-founder of Ocado steps down as the company reports £12.5m loss February 4, 2014 Online grocer Ocado has suffered a pre-tax loss of £12.5m for the year ended 1 December, despite increasing sales growth and the company’s deal with Morrison's last year to supply a new online service. Gross sales rose by 15 per cent to £843m, with new customer acquisitions up over 40 per cent on 2012. Analysts [...]
What you need to know before the open – 03/02 February 4, 2014 Another downbeat day anticipated after US and Asian markets plummeted, following surprisingly poor manufacturing data from the US. European stocks are expected to mirror counterparts this morning, opening lower: ETX Capital #morningcall: #FTSE100 down 43 points, the #DAX to slide 94 points and the #CAC40 to drop 38 points — ETX Capital (@ETXCapital) [...]
BP 2013 profits plummet on selloff programme February 4, 2014 Following rival oil company Shell’s predictably disappointing results last week, BP has confirmed market expectations that its profits took a hit in 2013. The oil giant saw underlying replacement cost profit – a measurement that excludes gains or losses on the value of inventories – fall to $2.8bn (£1.7bn) in the fourth quarter from the [...]
Global hunger for smartphones sees ARM profits boom February 4, 2014 Chip designer ARM Holdings has announced a rise in normalised profit before tax of 19 per cent to £95.5m for the fourth quarter ended 31 December. Normalised Profit before tax for the full year rose to £364m – a 32 per cent increase on the previous year. ARM cited 26 processor licences signed for a [...]
Asian markets continue to sink after poor US data February 4, 2014 Asian shares struggled on Tuesday in the wake of poor US data and continued instability in emerging markets. Japan's Nikkei lost four per cent, breaking below the key technical 200-day moving average for the first time since November 2012 and bringing losses for 2014 to around 13 per cent. Signs of slower growth in China [...]