Tesco confirms completion of Fresh & Easy sale November 27, 2013 Tesco has confirmed the completion of the sale of most of its Fresh & Easy grocery business to YFE Holdings. YFE is an affiliate of Yucaipa, which said in a statement that customers can expect to see "many exciting changes in the coming weeks" when it comes to the stores. The sale was initially announced on [...]
Royal Mail profits up in wake of pension reforms November 27, 2013 Royal Mail has reported pre-tax profits of £1.58bn in the six months ended 29 September. A one-off gain of £1.35bn from pension reforms accounted for most of the increase in profits. However even without the pension reform profits rose £94m from last year. The recently-privatised mail service said that the state of industrial relations has [...]
United Utilities discounts prices as profit rises £29m November 27, 2013 United Utilities, the UK's largest water company, saw first-half underlying operating profit rise £29m to £343.2m, from £314.7m last year. The company said it will use a £75m tax rebate to provide a £20m customer discount, offsetting the allowed real price increase for 2014/15. Revenue increased to £853.3m, from £822.9m a year ago. This, said [...]
What you need to know before the open – 27/11 November 27, 2013 Data will be coming in pretty thick and fast for the UK and US today, although we're not expecting any surprises as far as UK GDP goes. US trading is expected to be pretty light today, ahead of the Thanksgiving break tomorrow. Rising military tension between China and Japan prompted mixed reactions on Asian markets, [...]
Merkel seals the deal as Germany prepares for coalition government November 27, 2013 German chancellor Angela Merkel has secured a coalition agreement with the opposition Social Democrats (SPD), putting her on course for a third term as German Chancellor. The deal reached between Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU) and the SPD includes the introduction of a national minimum wage and promises to raise spending on social security without further [...]
Mid cap stocks gain favour as UK economic optimism rises November 26, 2013 But don’t write off the more international FTSE 100 blue chips THE UK recovery has finally taken hold. But not only is growth returning, many are now more optimistic about our economic prospects compared to other advanced nations. Last week, the OECD revised down its 2013 global growth forecasts to 2.7 per cent from 3.1 [...]
Dollar drops on seven month low in US consumer confidence November 26, 2013 US consumers seem less upbeat – perhaps a delayed effect from October's partial government shutdown. That's seen the dollar slip against the pound. Confidence is down from 72.4 (revised from 71.2) to 70.4. Economists had forecast an uptick to 72.9. Amna Asaf of Capital Economics says that the decline "is a little disconcerting", but that [...]
US manufacturing sector strengthens on shipments and new orders November 26, 2013 The US manufacturing industry looked more upbeat in November, with the Richmond Fed manufacturing index coming in at 13, up from 1 in October and sailing past the expectation of 3. Shipments and the volume of new orders both rose over the month, with employment, average workweek and wages also picking up. Capacity utilization [...]
Portugal approves budget for 2014 amidst austerity protests November 26, 2013 On Tuesday Portuguese law makers passed a budget for 2014. Many of the measures contained in the budget have proved controversial such as increasing the time of the working week in the public sector from 35 hours to 40 hours. During the pre-vote debate trade unionists protested in front of the parliament demanding an end [...]
RBS to spin off stake in third-party investment arm November 26, 2013 In a continued effort to consolidate its non-core businesses, RBS is in talks to spin off one of its last-remaining investment arms, reports Sky News' City editor Mark Kleinman. The RBS Special Opportunities Fund (SOF) could be handed over to the lender's management team, with a deal finalised by the end of the year. The [...]