US service sector defies analysts as growth ramps up November 5, 2013 One measure of US service sector growth – the ISM non-manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) – just showed an increase in October. Analysts had forecast a fall from 54.4 to 54.0, but instead the headline PMI number rose to 55.4. Any number above 50 implies an expansion in non-manufacturing activity, so this higher number suggests [...]
Premier Foods on search for new bread investor November 5, 2013 Hovis owner Premier Foods has begun a secret hunt for an outside investor to help reverse the fortunes of its floundering bread division, reports Sky News' City editor Mark Kleinman. Premier Foods has approached a number of private equity groups over the sale of a stake in its bread unit. Sky understands that the chief [...]
RSA shares fall in wake of post storm profit warning November 5, 2013 Shares in insurance group RSA have fallen by nearly six per cent after warning of lower profits in the wake of the St Jude storm, as well as flooding in Canada. The group now expects return on equity for 2013 to be below 10 per cent and payouts to be "materially above assumption." Simon Lee, [...]
EU regulators to fine HSBC, RBS and JP Morgan in Euribor probe November 5, 2013 The European Commission is near to fining several banks hundreds of millions for Euribor rigging – fixing the rate at which banks lend to each other in euros, reports Reuters. JP Morgan, RBS, Deutsche Bank, HSBC, Soc Gen and Credit Agricole will all face fines, with Barclays avoiding one as it was the lender which [...]
Man arrested for throwing coins at IMF’s Poul Thomsen November 5, 2013 A man has been remanded in custody after hurling coins at the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) deputy director of the European department, Paul Thomsen. The IMF inspector managed to avoid the hail of coins as he arrived at the Greek finance ministry on Tuesday. Thomsen was accompanied by officials from the European Commission and the [...]
Acer CEO resigns as profits fall November 5, 2013 Acer chief executive J.T Wang has resigned in the wake of the company posting a £292m loss in the third quarter of 2013. Wang became chief executive in 2005 and has worked at Acer for 23 years. The company announced that president Jim Wong well be taking on the role of CEO. The company, which [...]
EU Commission warns against regulating energy prices and subsidies for renewables November 5, 2013 The European Commission has said that member states should remove distortions from the energy market, such as regulated prices and high subsidies for renewables. The Commission said that such measures may prevent the market form delivering the correct incentives for generation capacity and therefore lead to higher prices for consumers. The approach was one of [...]
Regulator toughens up on listing rules November 5, 2013 The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has beefed up its listing rules to provide greater protection for minority shareholders. The regulator confirmed shareholders in premium listed companies are to be given additional voting rights and greater influence over decisions. David Lawton, the FCA’s director of markets, said: Active engagement by all shareholders is essential to make [...]
The end is near for Norway’s housing boom November 5, 2013 Norway's prolonged housing boom may be coming to an end according to Capital Economics. The London-based consultancy believes that a total collapse in house prices is unlikely, but the slowdown in the housing market suggests the economy may deteriorate more than had been expected. Annual Norwegian house price inflation fell from 8.4 per cent to [...]
Fraud squad launches criminal probe into G4S and Serco billing November 5, 2013 THE UK’s fraud squad yesterday said it has opened a criminal investigation into G4S and Serco, which experts say could leave individuals facing prison sentences of up to 10 years if convicted. The Serious Fraud Office’s (SFO) probe centres around the electronic prisoner-monitoring contracts awarded to the two FTSE 100 outsourcing firms by the government, [...]