Tui Travel bookings beat the slowdown August 15, 2008 Tui Travel, Europe’s largest travel operator, said holiday booking continued to be robust as customers were not prepared to forgo their summer holiday despite the credit crunch. Chief executive Peter Long said the group’s “power brands” – Thomson in the UK and Tui in Germany – were holding up well in the economic climate. “It [...]
Never mind the credit crunch. What time’s the match? August 15, 2008 With the Premiership football season due to kick off tomorrow, London’s top-flight clubs appear to be immune to the ravages of the credit crunch, with some hopeful of attracting more fans than ever before. The stars of Chelsea, Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur, West Ham and Fulham take to the pitch in the knowledge that fans are [...]
Public spend boosts Logica August 15, 2008 IT group Logica yesterday upped its forecast for sales growth after an increase in IT spending in the public sector boosted first-half revenues by 6 per cent. Chief executive Andy Green admitted that the group was seeing a slowdown in financial services and consumer-driven sectors, but said other areas were holding up. Logica said that [...]
Eurozone fall raises global slump fears August 15, 2008 Fears of a global recession heightened yesterday as the eurozone economy recorded its first contraction since the single currency was introduced ten years ago. In the three months to June, gross domestic product (GDP) in the 15-country region fell by 0.2 per cent, according to Eurostat, the European Union’s statistical office. The contraction marks a [...]
Falling rents delay plans at Cheesegrater August 15, 2008 Analysts yesterday said they were not surprised by British Land’s decision to postpone the development of its flagship City skyscraper, the “Cheesegrater”. The developer, which saw the value of its portfolio slide by 5 per cent to £6.3bn in the three months to June, said it now expects the 225 metre tower in the heart [...]
Publishers Beware: The bookworm’s iPod has arrived August 14, 2008 As as free publicity goes, you can’t do much better than getting your product compared to the iPod. That’s why Amazon will have been delighted earlier this week, when Citi analyst Michael Mahaney likened its e-book reader, the Kindle, to the world’s favourite gadget. Digital books have been around since the 1990s, but poor technology [...]
Pressure piles on EDF to hike offer for BE August 14, 2008 Sources close to British Energy said yesterday rival French firm EDF would have to raise its offer for the electricity giant to above 800p per share, if it is to have any hope of buying the group. Earlier this month shareholders of British Energy, which holds the key to Britain’s next generation of nuclear power [...]
Britannia hit by bad debts on mortgages August 14, 2008 Mutual building society Britannia yesterday posted a 40 per cent drop in interim profits, after the cost of bad debts hammered its mortgage book. Britannia said the percentage of its home loans that were three or more months in arrears rose by just over 1.7 per cent in the first six months of the year [...]
It’s chilly in the summer air August 14, 2008 It could just be the weather, but it was a decidedly grumpy Bank of England governor who chaired the central bank’s quarterly inflation report yesterday. Looking thin-lipped and put-upon, Mervyn King gave an impassioned explanation of why it was not his or the Bank’s fault that inflation is high, and rising. Not since Pontius Pilot [...]
US assets are back in vogue August 14, 2008 Investors are seeking safety in US assets as the economic downturn spreads to Europe, research revealed yesterday. A majority, 53 per cent of fund managers, expect the dollar to appreciate and 38 per cent plan to overweight US equities during the next 12 months, according to Merrill Lynch’s monthly fund manager survey. Both readings are [...]