European markets rise as Fed loses patience March 19, 2015 European markets rose this morning, despite last night's indication from the US Federal Reserve that it could begin to raise interest rates over the coming months. In a statement following a meeting of the Federal Open Markets Committee last night, Fed chief Janet Yellen dropped the word "patience" from the wording of her statement, indicating [...]
One chart showing how much the finance sector dominates the FTSE 100 March 19, 2015 The FTSE 100 is dominated by companies in the financial and retail sectors, with these making up 43 per cent of the UK’s top companies. There are 23 FTSE 100 companies in the financials sector – which includes 10 in insurance and five in banking. The largest of these companies is HSBC, with a market [...]
Ted Baker sales and profits driven up by strong performance in Europe and the US March 19, 2015 Ted Baker grew in its established markets last year, and expanded to new areas. The figures During the 53 weeks to 31 January, Ted Baker's retail sales rose 18.4 per cent to £306.9m, while pre-tax profits jumped to £49.5m – 20.4 per cent higher than in 2013. This exceeded the British fashion brand's expected profit [...]
Next share price falls after it cautions over year ahead March 19, 2015 The figures Next said that total sales for the year to the end of January rose seven per cent to £4bn, up from £3.7bn a year earlier. Pre-tax profit jumped 12.5 per cent to £782.2m, up from £695.2m a year earlier. This was at the upper end of expectations set in December which forecast full-year pre-tax [...]
Record results for Savills as market conditions improve across Europe and the US March 19, 2015 Savills has reported “record results” for 2014, with better market conditions aiding a return to profitability. The figures International expansion helped drive Savills' pre-tax profit up by 34 per cent to £104.3m in 2014, compared with £75.2m the year before. During the 12 months to 31 December, revenue for the London-listed property firm revenue [...]
Budget 2015: Renton Osborne goes Toryspotting March 19, 2015 Choose life. Choose a job. Choose a career. Choose a family. Choose the Tories. That was George “Renton” Osborne’s message to electorate, as he used the final Budget of this coalition to go Toryspotting. “We choose the future,” the chancellor said, in a sequence reminiscent of the opening of Ewan Macgregor’s 1996 film. ”We choose [...]
Budget 2015: A quick guide to all the key measures March 18, 2015 Chancellor delivers good news for savers and first-time buyers as he turns up heat on banks in play for votes ahead of election. UK ECONOMIC OUTLOOK ● The UK was the fastest growing economy in the G7 last year. However, the economy grew by just 0.5 per cent in the final three months of 2014, [...]
Budget 2015: Young first-time home buyers given a helping hand with Help to Buy Isa March 18, 2015 With fewer young people able to afford to buy a home, the Budget aims to help them out. Tim Wallace asks: Will it work? Can you imagine paying £22,000 for a flat? It sounds like a joke now, but it was the average price of a first-time buyer’s home in Britain in 1984. It was [...]
Recovery takes UK employment to all-time high with 30.94m people in work March 18, 2015 A record proportion of Britons are in work, providing a timely boost to chancellor George Osborne ahead of May’s General Election. There were 30.94m people in work in the three months ending January – 617,000 more than the same period last year, according to figures released yesterday by the Office for National Statistics. The employment [...]
Graduates urged to choose bank jobs over consultancies to earn more long-term March 18, 2015 Consultancies and investment banks might look the same at graduate recruitment fairs, but the long-term pay prospects are better at the banks, salary data firm Emolument.com said yesterday. The average new recruit at a consultancy will receive £49,000, just under the £54,000 that a new M&A banker will be paid. But top consultancies in fact [...]