Trade talks end with no agreement July 30, 2008 World Trade talks in Doha collapsed yesterday, after the US, China and India failed to agree a compromise on the kind of import tariffs poorer countries could raise on farm products. According to a spokesman for European trade commissioner Peter Mandleson, the failure of the talks was a “massive blow to confidence in the global [...]
UK recession looms July 30, 2008 The UK is drifting into a recession, leading economists warned yesterday, as approvals for British home loans in June hit their lowest level since records began and retail sales fell at their fastest pace in at least a quarter of a century. Home mortgage approvals, loans that are agreed but not yet made, fell in [...]
BAE in deal to buy UK rival for £531m July 29, 2008 BAE Systems, Europe’s largest defence firm, unveiled an agreed £531m deal to buy British rival Detica yesterday, to boost its presence in the US security market. BAE chief operating officer Ian King, who takes over from Mike Turner as chief executive later this summer, said the purchase “will provide a platform for us to apply [...]
KKR seeks new talent ahead of float July 29, 2008 Top executives at KKR, the US private equity group which is to merge with one of its funds and list in New York, said yesterday it would set aside a stake in the business to attract “new talent”. KKR will hold 79 per cent of the new quoted company, but will allocate 20 per cent [...]
Ryanair cuts ticket prices while earnings plummet July 29, 2008 Shares in low cost airline Ryanair sank 22 per cent yesterday after the company warned it may make a €60m (£47.4m) loss this year, as high oil prices eat into margins. It said it had made profit after tax in the first quarter of €21m- a drop of 85 per cent- but the carrier yesterday [...]
Housing market boost July 29, 2008 Britain’s battered housing market received a boost yesterday after an influential report predicted that house prices would rise 25 per cent by 2013. The data, published yesterday by the National Housing Federation, said that the average price of a home in Britain would increase by a quarter over the next five years to £274,700, with [...]
Recession is certain – City July 28, 2008 Analysts have declared a UK recession inevitable following official data showing that economic growth in the second quarter of this year slumped to its weakest rate in three years. The Office for National Statistics revealed last week that GDP rose by just 0.2 per cent in the three months to June, bringing the annual rate [...]
Why the global economy is taking a turn for the worse July 28, 2008 What a difference a couple of weeks make. One of the best hedge fund trades of the year had been to go long on oil and short the banks and it paid off handsomely. Buying Nymex oil from 1 January until 11 July would have produced returns of 50 per cent and simply selling the [...]
Credit crisis worsens July 28, 2008 Credit quality “declined rapidly” throughout Western Europe in the second quarter of this year as the credit crunch exacerbated inflation and slowing growth, according to a report published by ratings agency Moody’s today. The agency, which downgraded 41 debt issuers in the quarter, believes conditions are worsening thanks to rising inflation and slowing economic growth, [...]
Retail sales reverse into biggest slump on record July 25, 2008 The biggest monthly fall in retail sales on record has heightened fears that the UK will fall into a technical recession. British retail sales slumped in June by 3.9 per cent, the sharpest monthly fall since the series began in 1986, bringing the annual growth rate down to 2.2 per cent, according to the Office [...]