Sky’s growing customers fail to stop profits falling January 30, 2014 Broadcasting giant Sky has reported a fall in profit before tax from £642m to £527m for the half financial year 2013/14 compared to a year earlier. In the six months to 31 December operating profit fell by a hefty 16 per cent. The company said it was moving through a year of investment, absorbing the [...]
What you need to know before the open – 30/01 January 30, 2014 European markets are expected lower this morning after the Fed’s open market committee made the unanimous decision last night to trim another $10bn off its asset purchase programme. In addition, PMI figures from China showed that manufacturing activity in the country contracted in January. Asian markets slipped on the news, with the Nikkei losing 3.2 [...]
Shell’s got to sharpen up, says chief, as earnings slide January 30, 2014 Shell’s new chief executive Ben van Buerden has laid down a new path for the oil giant, as the company reported its fourth quarter 2013 earnings this morning. The world’s third-largest oil company made $2.2bn, compared with the $7.4bn made a year earlier. That's in line with the $2.9bn guidance Shell issued for fourth quarter [...]
Chinese manufacturing activity dips to six-month low January 30, 2014 In January, in what continues to be a poor start to the year for the world's second biggest economy conditions for the Chinese manufacturing sector worsened. The Markit/HSBC purchasing managers' index (PMI) fell to its lowest level in six months to 49.5 in January from 50.5 in December. The number has slipped below the 50-level [...]
5 things you didn’t know about new Sainsbury’s boss Mike Coupe January 29, 2014 Sainsbury’s CEO Justin King is leaving the supermarket in July – but what do we know about his replacement and current commercial director, Mike Coupe?1. A country boy at heart, Coupe was born in Watford in 1960 but was brought up in West Sussex. His mum was a housewife and his dad was an inventor [...]
How do you solve a problem like PMQs? January 29, 2014 It looks like Ed Miliband’s moderate approach to Prime Minister’s Questions has been chucked firmly out of the window. The Labour leader was on fiery form this lunchtime and chose a more combative style than his previous appearances in the commons, having said he wanted to see a more measured approach to the weekly question [...]
Forget the EM crisis. Fed tapering will leave France without a paddle January 29, 2014 Emerging markets continue to feel the pain of the Federal Reserve’s taper, but trouble could be rapidly approaching for another struggling economy – France. Research by Rabobank, looking at narrowing spreads in the Eurozone periphery, concluded that economic fundamentals are set to be an increasingly important driver of capital markets as the taper progresses. And [...]
Helicopter maker Agusta Westland wins £760m contracts from MoD January 29, 2014 The Ministry of Defence said today that it has awarded two contracts to helicopter maker AgustaWestland worth £760m in total, securing over 1,000 jobs in the UK. A £430m contract will provide maintenance and support for the British Army’s Apache attack helicopter, which is currently used on operations in Afghanistan, for the next five years. [...]
Carney challenge: Canada versus Scotland January 29, 2014 (Image: Canada Dry – Wikipedia, Irn Bru – Flickr) Today Carney donned his well-fitting black suit, fired up the economobile and raced up to Scotland for a breakfast meeting with Alex Salmond and a rather lengthy speech at The George Hotel in Edinburgh, to give his tuppence worth on a currency plan for an independent [...]
Vampire banks versus zombie firms January 29, 2014 RBS is acting like a “vampire,” sucking the cash out of troubled firms as soon as it becomes available, Lawrence Tomlinson told MPs this afternoon. Tomlinson caused a storm last year when he published a report into the treatment of small firms by the bank, arguing it took businesses with strong balance sheets and squeezed [...]