German finance ministry: Second Greek debt cut not on the agenda August 12, 2013 The German finance ministry has responded to better-than-expected Greek GDP data out this morning, saying that a second debt haircut is not on the table. The Greek figures come at a critical time for German politics, as much of the public are against further aid for the stricken country – a key issue on the [...]
Goldman Sachs now expects the Eurozone economy to have grown in the second quarter August 12, 2013 Goldman Sachs has revised up its second quarter GDP forecast for the Eurozone from 0.0 per cent to 0.2 per cent growth. This was primarily due to surprise positive data from Germany, France, Italy and Spain. The Eurozone got another boost this morning with better than expected second quarter GDP results from Greece.
Greek economy contracted by less than expected in second quarter August 12, 2013 The Greek economy contracted at a better-than-expected annual rate of 4.6 per cent in the second quarter of the year, down from the 5.6 per cent contraction in the first quarter. Analysts had expected to see it shrink by five per cent. Earlier today, the Greek government reported it had hit a primary budget surplus [...]
Greek government managed primary budget surplus in January to July period August 12, 2013 The Greek government had a primary budget surplus of €2.6bn (£2.2bn) in the period January to July 2013, significantly beating the interim target of a €3.1bn deficit, deputy finance minister Christos Staikouras reported today. This will be a boost for finance minister Yannis Stournaras, who has said the Greek government is more concerned with producing [...]
Solid results from Prudential bump up share price August 12, 2013 British insurer Prudential was the top climber on the FTSE this morning after it reported a 22 per cent increase in operating profit and basic earnings per share, rising to a respective £1.42bn and 42.2p. However, net income more than halved, falling by 57 per cent to £506m. Chief executive Tidjane Thiam said: Prudential has [...]
Expansion at Heathrow gets a boost from traffic number and backing of air alliances August 12, 2013 Heathrow airport handled 6.9m passengers in July – up 5.5 per cent from the year before. This increase was largely due to lower traffic last year from the timing of the Olympic games in London. East Asia traffic saw the biggest increase, up 18.9 per cent primarily due to increases in capacity. China traffic was [...]
Bloomberg confirms it is internally testing bitcoin ticker August 12, 2013 Bloomberg staff are testing a bitcoin ticker internally, a spokesperson for the service has said. Confirming speculation from various bloggers and enthusiasts, spokesperson Vera Newhouse told CoinDesk: Bloomberg is testing Bitcoin data, but this is only accessible to internal users and not Bloomberg Professional service subscribers. We often prototype new functions and dashboards; some that [...]
American Movil ratchets up pressure on Telefonica again August 12, 2013 American Movil, Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim’s telecoms company, has told Dutch newspaper het Financieele Dagblad that the company wants to “unlock the hidden long-term value” of Dutch group KPN. American Movil already owns around 30 per cent of KPN, and last Friday put in a €7.2bn (£6.2bn) offer to buy the rest. Spanish rival Telefonica, [...]
MITIE announces a good start to the financial year August 12, 2013 Strategic outsourcing company MITIE has said it has had a good start to the financial year with a “growing order book” and a “strong pipeline of sales opportunities” (release). In its interim management statement for the period 1 April 2013 to date, MITIE said it had secured 89 per cent of budgeted revenues for this [...]
French central bank reports reduced net outflow for June August 12, 2013 The Banque de France has reported the net outflow of current transactions into and out of France in June fell to a €1.4bn (£1.2bn) in June from a revised €3.5bn (down from €4.1bn). This was primarily down to a reduction in the trade deficit in goods, which fell to €3.9bn from €5.9bn.