Bank of England’s Kristin Forbes: Pay growth is not high enough for an interest rate hike – but probably will be soon January 25, 2016 Wages are not yet growing fast enough to lift inflation, but are likely to accelerate soon, one of the Bank of England's rate-setters will say tomorrow. "Labour costs are not yet at the levels consistent with inflation meeting the two per cent target sustainably in the UK," Kristin Forbes will tell the Henry Jackson Society in Parliament. [...]
Plans for five-storey office block above Farringdon Crossrail station win approval January 25, 2016 Plans to build a major new office building above Farringdon Crossrail station have been given the go-ahead by City planners today, with construction expected to start next year. Designed by PLP Architecture – the architects behind Lipton Rogers and Axa Real Estate's 22 Bishopsgate skyscraper – the five-storey building will sit above the station's eastern ticket hall on [...]
NYSE-listed Johnson Controls buys Ireland’s Tyco International in £22bn tax inversion deal January 25, 2016 JOHNSON Controls today agreed to acquire Tyco International, creating a merged entity with revenues of more than $32bn (£22.4bn) that will be based in the low-tax haven Ireland. New York Stock Exchange-listed Johnson Controls is an American company that makes heating systems, car batteries and energy-efficiency measures for buildings, while Tyco produces fire protection and [...]
UK factories suffer drop in domestic and foreign orders January 25, 2016 UK factories have started the year in bad shape, suffering weak sales growth at home and abroad, new survey figures reveal today. The Confederation of British Industry's (CB) headline total order books balance dropped to a score of minus 15 in January from minus seven in December. The export order balance dropped to minus 22 from minus [...]
Deutsche Bank could cut bonuses by as much as 30 per cent January 25, 2016 Deutsche Bank is expected to cut staff bonuses for the outgoing financial year, as the lender is braced to post a record loss with write-downs, litigation charges, restructuring costs and a tough trading environment all conspiring to hurt its bottom line. Reuters is reporting that the bank's employees have already been told their bonuses will [...]
How Philip Morris International is trying to make smoking less risky for its customers January 25, 2016 Philip Morris International, the tobacco giant behind Marlboro, is smoking out new ways to make money in a rapidly changing marketplace. The firm has poured $2bn (£1.4bn) into research and development since 2008 and its latest wheeze is developing safer cigarettes that still taste like the real thing. This isn’t for purely altruistic reasons. Smokers [...]
McDonald’s fills up on all day breakfast as fourth quarter sales rise January 25, 2016 McDonald’s has served up a five per cent jump in global like-for-like sales in the fourth quarter as efforts to turnaround its ailing US business showed signs of paying off. The fast food giant, which promoted former UK boss Steve Easterbrook to the top spot a year ago, said US fourth quarter comparable sales increased by 5.7 per cent, thanks in [...]
Oil begins to slide again as HSBC cuts oil price forecasts January 25, 2016 So much for that oil rally. Brent crude slid back down to $31.36 in early afternoon trading – just as HSBC cut its oil price forecast fot he rest of the year. The fall in Brent crude came after oil cartel Opec, which produces 42 per cent of the world's oil, called for all oil-producing [...]
High street retailers steal share of physical entertainment market from Amazon January 25, 2016 Sales of physical DVDs, CDs and video games may be dropping but bricks and mortar stores are still holding their own after taking market share from the likes of Amazon in the quarter. According to Kantar Worldpanel figures, high street retailers took 68 per cent of spend on physical entertainment in the 12 weeks to 20 [...]
UK oil and gas jobs to be slashed as North Sea suffers – but the sector is warning about a short-term approach January 25, 2016 Confusing news from the UK's oil and gas sector, after a report suggested the number of jobs in the industry will plummet this year – but the industry is still worried about a skills shortage… The report, by certification body DNV GL, suggested 58 per cent of UK respondents working in the sector expected jobs to be [...]