Interest-only loans are going out of fashion, as number of current loans drop 16 per cent September 22, 2015 Repeated warnings that interest-only mortgages are a "ticking time bomb" appear to be filtering through to the market, with figures out this morning showing a 16 per cent drop in the number of such loans outstanding. A quarter of the reduction is the result of loans reaching maturity and being redeemed while a further 40 [...]
Sainsbury’s beats Tesco, Asda and Morrisons as only top supermarket in growth while Kantar warns of impact Amazon Fresh will have on sector September 22, 2015 Yet more bad data for the Big Four was released today – plus a hint that there could be a fresh problem facing the UK's supermarket sector, in the form of Amazon Fresh. Sainsbury was the only supermarket among the Big Four to keep pace with the sector's growth over the last quarter, with Asda's [...]
Volkswagen’s emissions scandal spreads to South Korea as experts warn “millions” of European cars could be affected September 22, 2015 There was no let up from the scandal engulfing the world's largest car manufacturer Volkswagen this morning as it emerged that the emissions-rigged cars could have been sold around the world. Experts have warned that "millions" of cars on British roads could be recalled on the back of the claims that it had installed a [...]
AA share price falls as company reports pre-tax loss and warns of future bumps in the road September 22, 2015 AA's share price tumbled this morning after the car group revealed a £63.6m loss following its refinancing. The figures The so-called fourth emergency service, which in March raised £935m to cut down its debt mountain, has had a difficult first half, with revenues down 1.4 per cent to £484.6m in the six months to the end [...]
RSA Insurance Group’s share price plunges as Zurich tells RSA: It’s not you, it’s us September 22, 2015 RSA Insurance Group’s share price plunged yesterday after rival firm Zurich revealed it was walking away from a £5.6bn takeover bid. RSA’s share price closed down 20.84 per cent as investors digested the shock news. Zurich’s share price was also down, albeit a less remarkable 2.79 per cent. Zurich said it was abandoning [...]
Lifetime earnings point to much greater level of equality in Britain September 22, 2015 Income inequality in the UK is significantly less than previous research has suggested, an influential think tank said today. A common measure of income inequality known as the Gini coefficient is 0.49 when looking at peoples’ annual earnings, the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) said. A Gini coefficient closer to zero represents a more equal [...]
George Osborne puts all economic bets on China and plans to bring the London and Shanghai Stock Exchanges closer together September 22, 2015 Chancellor George Osborne will today brush off concerns over volatility in Chinese markets and reveal new plans to connect British and Chinese stock exchanges. Unfazed by August’s market shocks, and the authoritarian response from Beijing, Osborne will say at the Shanghai Stock Exchange today: “Whatever the headlines, regardless of the challenges, we shouldn’t be [...]
New UK restaurant openings soar as pubs dwindle September 21, 2015 The number of restaurants across the UK surpassed the number of pubs that are predominantly drinking holes for the first time this year, fuelled by the booming casual dining trend and improving consumer confidence. Research released yesterday by AlixPartners and CGA Peach reveals that a net 1,770 new restaurants opened in the year to 30 [...]
Rail adds £10.1 bn to UK economy September 21, 2015 Britian’s rail industry is adding up to £10.1bn a year to the national economy, according to a new report. Economists at Oxera Consulting carried out the research on behalf of the Rail Delivery Group, an industry lobby group representing train operators. The economists found that rail boosts economic productivity by up to £11.3bn each year [...]
Rollercoaster day for bonds in Portugal, just two weeks before national elections September 21, 2015 Portuguese government bonds went on a rollercoaster ride yesterday as the country gears up for national elections in two weeks. The interest rate on Portugal’s 10-year government bond dropped to a one-month low of 2.46 per cent early in the morning. But later in the day the rate rose as high as 2.56 per cent. [...]