Government to receive £1.3bn from Royal Mail sale – but warns of coming strike action September 27, 2013 The government prospectus for the sale of 497-year old Royal Mail reveals that the state will take £1.3bn to £1.7bn from the sale. Fees will exceed £50m, with the government paying £28.5m and the Royal Mail itself a further £23m. Investors should … assume national strike action will take place during the period immediately after [...]
Chinese giant puffer fish tower causes angst September 27, 2013 In China, a 90-metre long sculpture-come-viewing tower that is shaped like a giant puffer fish has come under fire online. Encrusted in almost 9,000 copper scales, the 70m yuan (£7.1m) brass arrangement has prompted wrangling over government decadence. The fish is on an island in Yangzhong county, eastern Jiangsu province, and stands 15 storeys above [...]
JC Penney to end year with £830m cash before 84m share sell off September 27, 2013 JC Penney is to end the year with £830m cash, excluding the profits from the retailers 84m share sell off. The news was disclosed in a regulatory filing on Friday after a turbulent week for the troubled company. Last night JC Penney shares fell by 4.5 per cent in after-hours trading from previous [...]
British expansion is priority for Grafton September 27, 2013 Irish building supplies group Grafton has announced plans to prioritise its expansion in the UK. In an interview with Reuters, the chief executive Gavin Slark said that, once it switches its listings to London in October, the recovering British market will be the company's focal point for expansion. Last week, Grafton announced its move to [...]
Fed’s Evans says forward guidance has helped to boost growth September 27, 2013 The Fed's Charles Evans has said that forward guidance has helped to boost GDP growth while the central bank was unable to to cut short term interest rates. Evans believes that unemployment remains unacceptably high while headwinds continue to contribute to a weak economy. He said that the use of monetary policy to combat financial [...]
Eurozone economic confidence rises in September September 27, 2013 Confidence in the Eurozone economy is up overall, with the economic sentiment indicator at 96.9, up from 95.2 and the expectation of 96.0. But the European survey has had a mixed bag of results for September: Business climate missed the mark coming in at -0.2, following expectations it would be -0.1, which would have been [...]
UK productivity improves significantly in second quarter September 27, 2013 The graph shows whole economy output per worker in terms of percentage changes on theprevious quarter and on the previous year. Based on output per hour, UK labour productivity went up 0.5 per cent in the second quarter of 2013, having been flat in the first quarter. This was the first quarter on quarter increase [...]
Sunny weather not enough to boost service sector as growth disappoints September 27, 2013 UK services output has risen by just 0.2 per in July, from no change in the month before. Analysts had been expecting an increase of 0.5 per cent. That's a 1.8 per cent increase on July 2012, and the Office for National Statistics says that that "three of the four components of the services industries [...]
Merrill Lynch and Citi bearish on gold prices and equities as US monetary policy normalisation approaches September 27, 2013 Gold will fall by 18 per cent to $1,291/oz in real terms in 2015, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch. That's a downgrade to their outlook for gold prices, and is based on the view that while US fiscal squabbles will stabilise prices, the focus of investors will still be the "gradual normalisaiton of [...]
Italian business confidence stronger in September September 27, 2013 Italian business confidence beating estimates in September, up from 93.4 (revised from 92.9) to 96.6. That's a nice upwards revision to the previous period, and September's figure beats economists forecasts of a rise to 93.4. Statisticians Istat said that the index in construction rose to 78.6 from 76.4, and that market services confidence was up [...]