Joy for shoppers as prices drop for the 25th consecutive month June 2, 2015 UK shop prices dropped by 1.9 per cent in May compared with the same month last year, according to figures released today by the British Retail Consortium. This is the same rate of decline seen in April and marks over two years of shop price deflation. The overall figure was helped by food prices, which fell [...]
LondonMetric embarks on £26m shopping spree at Marks & Spencer June 2, 2015 LondonMetric said yesterday that it has snapped up a portfolio of five M&S Simply Food stores for £26m, as it boosts its exposure to the booming convenience market. The FTSE 250 retail and distribution warehouse speciality said the acquisitions come on top of a recent letting of 11,300 sq ft to M&S for 20 years [...]
HSBC hires two new female non exec directors, Irene Lee and Pauline van der Meer Mohr June 2, 2015 Embattled banking giant HSBC appointed a pair of new experienced business names to its board yesterday, in a move that could bolster its governance, after a series of bruising reputational scandals. Irene Lee is an expert in Asia-Pacific finance, and has served on the boards of finance firms including ING Australia and Hang Seng Bank. [...]
Synergy suffers from unhealthy pre-tax profits June 2, 2015 UK-BASED health outsourcing firm Synergy recorded slowing pre-tax profits for the year ending 29 March. The company recorded revenue growth of 7.5 per cent year-on-year to £408.8m, up from £380.5m a year earlier, although pre-tax profits inched up by just 1.6 per cent during the period. Last week, investors were left disappointed after a planned [...]
Can a currency save an economy? What the UK example teaches us June 2, 2015 Much has been said of global currency wars in the past few years. If there has been such a war, then arguably the UK fired the opening shot with a trade-weighted depreciation in the value of the pound of nearly 30 per cent between the summer of 2007 and the end of 2008. This was [...]
Has Greek brinkmanship in debt negotiations damaged its position in the single currency? June 2, 2015 Konstantinos Venetis, an economist at Lombard Street Research, says Yes Taking negotiations down to the wire in the hope of preventing a “Gr-accident” has actually brought one closer. Greece’s state coffers dried up, the banking system suffered severe strain, and the economy relapsed into recession. Confidence is low and elevated uncertainty has increased the risk [...]
Now American Apparel has taken out a restraining order against Dov Charney June 2, 2015 It's a special case when the company you founded takes out a restraining order against you – but then again, American Apparel's relationship with founder and former boss Dov Charney is a special case. The company confirmed in a regulatory filing today that it had been granted a restraining order against Charney, who was dramatically [...]
Dijsselbloem: Greece deal is not theoretically possible this week June 2, 2015 Dutch finance minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem has poured cold water on optimism over a deal on Greece, saying it's "not theoretically possible this week". Read more: Greek crisis complacency has big risks Greece must be "honest with voters", he added. Earlier, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras sent the euro to a three-week high , saying he [...]
Fed Fischer says he’s a fan of the BoE’s policy set-up June 2, 2015 Federal Reserve vice chairman Stanley Fischer has revealed he's a fan of the Bank of England approach to financial stability policy – with the creation of a separate committee devoted solely to it. "The British approach of setting up nearly parallel committees for monetary policy and for macroprudential financial supervision and regulation appears to be a [...]
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras offers a “realistic” agreement to creditors June 2, 2015 After months of unpromising talks between Greece and its international creditors, could a bailout agreement finally be in view? Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tspiras said today he had submitted a “realistic plan” for Greece to exit its current economic crisis, which includes a number of concessions, although the details are not yet known. Read [...]