CBI: Plain cigarette packaging vote is bad for the UK March 10, 2015 Britain’s top business group has urged parliamentarians to strike down government plans that would see cigarettes sold in plain, unbranded packaging from May 2016. The intervention by CBI director general John Cridland is a significant step for a major business figure to take so near to a General Election, and may damage the Conservatives’ claim [...]
Mark Carney says talk of cut to interest rate is overblown March 10, 2015 Bank of England governor Mark Carney yesterday implied that talks of a cut in interest rates nearer to zero were overblown. He also ruled out cancelling government debt held by the Bank to reduce the headline figure. Policy makers will “look through” falls in energy and food prices that would keep inflation below target this [...]
Euro plunges to near-parity with US dollar March 10, 2015 THE EURO came within touching distance of parity with the dollar yesterday as monetary policies on either side of the Atlantic diverge. The Eurozone began using new money to buy government debt this week, which is impacting the currency, despite being outlined in advance. The euro fell by 1.45 per cent against the dollar yesterday to [...]
UK numbers up despite challenges March 10, 2015 INSURANCE group Prudential posted pre-tax profit of £2.6bn for 2014, up 71 per cent on last year’s £1.5bn, despite significant changes in the UK market. New business sales were up by 12 per cent, from £4.2bn to £4.7bn, while in the UK sales grew by 18 per cent, from £725m to £857m. The company increased its [...]
Randy Work joins Roman Abramovich and Sir Chris Hohn with multi-million pound divorce settlement March 10, 2015 London cemented its reputation as the divorce capital of the world after a businessman was ordered to pay his ex-wife £72.3m, amounting to half his wealth. Randy Work, a former private equity executive at Lone Star, argued that his £150m fortune should be protected from ex-wife Mandy Gray as he was the “breadwinner” and because [...]
Business group ups UK growth forecasts for the next two years March 10, 2015 The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) has upgraded its growth forecast for British GDP for the next two years, based on better-than-expected growth in household consumption and services. It now predicts that GDP growth will be 2.7 per cent this year, and 2.6 per cent next year. The BCC also expects that GDP growth in [...]
Slump in home loans expected to be temporary March 10, 2015 Agents and brokers are expecting a pick up in mortgage lending this year after a sluggish end to 2014. Meanwhile, one of the UK’s most-watched house price indicators has changed hands. Gross mortgage lending was 8.1 per cent lower in the final three months of 2014 than in the three months to September, according to [...]
Euro loses one per cent against the dollar as markets feel the impact of quantitative easing March 10, 2015 The euro has fallen further against the dollar today, after the European Central Bank (ECB) launched its much-anticipated quantitative easing programme. The single currency briefly fell below the $1.07 mark in late afternoon trading, or down more than one per cent, taking it to its lowest level since 2003. It wasn't helped by the [...]
FCA says payday lenders are failing customers after 12 month review March 10, 2015 Many of Britain's payday lenders are failing to treat their customers fairly, according to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). After a twelve-month review of the sector's regulation that covered 60 per cent of the market, the FCA was left unsatisfied. The regulator said the payday loan industry was still playing host to "unacceptable practices". A [...]
The US dollar has just hit an 11 year high March 10, 2015 The US dollar hit an 11-and-a-half year high after it gained half a per cent on the dollar index, rising past the 98 mark. The measure pits the dollar against a selection of other currencies and it shows the dollar has risen by 34 per cent since September 2003. The latest bump came during the [...]