Standard & Poor’s downgrades rating on Greek bank Piraeus’ debt October 19, 2015 It's not nice to start the week on a downer, but that's what's happened at Greek bank Piraeus, which has had its debt and credit ratings downgraded to a "D" default rating by Standard & Poor's. Last Thursday the Greek-based bank announced it was offering to exchange around €16.2m (£11.8m) of Tier One debt, €211.2m of Tier [...]
London mayor Boris Johnson joins battle to save the capital’s night-time economy October 19, 2015 London mayor Boris Johnson has joined the battle to save the city's night-time economy. Johnson has announced a host of new measures in the wake of a new report, entitled London's Grassroots Music Venues Rescue Plan, which found the number of grassroots music venues has fallen 35 per cent since 2007. This ramps up fears [...]
China’s third quarter GDP beats expectations, but it’s the weakest economic growth since 2009 October 19, 2015 China's economy grew by more than expected in the third quarter of this year, easing fears that it is slowing at a greater pace than previously thought. China's statistics bureau said this morning that the country's gross domestic product increased 6.9 per cent between July and September from a year ago, beating analysts' estimates for 6.8 [...]
London house prices up by 10 per cent in October and first-time buyers bear the brunt – Rightmove October 19, 2015 There's just no end to it. London house prices are 9.8 per cent higher than they were in October 2014, data released today by online property market Rightmove reveals. Nationally, house prices rose 5.6 per cent year-on-year with first-time buyer properties leading the way at 9.6 per cent. The number of properties coming to the London [...]
UK infrastructure is lagging behind on global value rankings October 19, 2015 The UK is falling behind in global rankings on its infrastructure, according to research published today. The value of Britain’s built environment – its buildings and infrastructure – is currently £3.1 trillion, the research from Arcadis, a consultancy, and the Centre for Economics and Business Research said. The UK ranks 13th against a host of other [...]
Eurozone geared up for lending recovery as Draghi weighs up further stimulus October 19, 2015 Financial conditions in the Eurozone are in line for a buoyant 2016 with economists at a major consultancy forecasting a long-awaited revival in credit growth. Meanwhile, the currency-bloc’s policy makers could be tempted into expanding their €1.1 trillion (£810bn) money-printing programme as early as this Thursday after dropping numerous hints over recent weeks. Private sector borrowing [...]
Shoppers unfazed by market headwinds as confidence rises – Deloitte October 19, 2015 Optimism in the economy reached a four-year high in the third quarter, according to the latest consumer tracker from accountancy giant Deloitte. Consumer confidence rose by two percentage points to -7 per cent, from -5 per cent in the second quarter. Consumers were apparently unperturbed by the recent volatility global financial markets that saw the FTSE [...]
Deutsche Bank’s investment arm is split in two as new boss John Cryan tries to reinvigorate the firm October 18, 2015 Germany's biggest lender Deutsche Bank is overhauling its management and investment bank structure as new boss John Cryan tries to reinvigorate the company’s performance following a number of fines and shareholder dissatisfaction. Long-term management board member Stefan Krause is leaving his post along with Colin Fan, co-head of the firm's investment banking and trading unit. Asset [...]
UK Steelmaker Tata Steel expected to axe 1,200 jobs October 17, 2015 Britain's biggest steelmaker, Tata Steel, is expected to cut around 1,200 jobs in what will be a huge blow to the industry, a union source told City A.M. Reports suggest the bulk of the cuts will be at Tata Steel's Scunthorpe site, which employs 4,000 people. However, the axe could also fall at sites in Clydebridge, Cambuslang, Dalzell and Motherwell. The news broke as [...]
HSBC chief executive Stuart Gulliver says China’s economy is unlikely to suffer a “hard landing” despite slowdown fears October 16, 2015 HSBC chief executive Stuart Gulliver has said China is unlikely to have a "hard landing", despite mounting concern over the strength of its economy. "The fears for China's economy are overplayed. I do not believe China will have a hard landing," Gulliver said in a speech today. "The last few months have obviously been difficult… (But) the [...]