KPMG cost cuts help push profit up 27 per cent December 15, 2013 ACCOUNTING giant KPMG said today the “first and toughest year” of its plan to restore growth has been a success, with earnings up 27 per cent in the 12 months to the end of September. The company, one of the so-called Big Four professional services firms, posted £455m in annual profits on revenues up 0.4 [...]
RBS claims shareholders knew it was weak when it raised £12bn December 15, 2013 THE WEAK capital position at RBS was well known to investors in 2008, the bank said yesterday, defending itself against claims from investors that it hid vital information. The bank is fighting legal action over its £12bn rights issue in April 2008. Investors lost out when the bank failed months later. In legal filings seen [...]
Treasury to launch boardroom search for Whitehall finance job December 15, 2013 THE TREASURY plans to launch a search today for a newly created position to help oversee public finances at Whitehall. Chief Treasury secretary Danny Alexander is expected to announce the new senior role today alongside the release of the results of a financial management review across Whitehall, a person familiar with the situation confirmed. The [...]
London asking prices to hit record levels in 2014 December 15, 2013 INITIAL asking prices for London homes are set to rise by six per cent next year, a slowdown on 2013 but still taking London prices to new all-time records, new research out today shows. According to Rightmove’s latest house price index, the average price of property coming to market in London is up by 10.6 [...]
Job vacancies and pay rise in the City as the recovery kicks in December 15, 2013 PAY PACKETS in financial services outstripped inflation this year, recruiters Astbury Marsden said, as the economic recovery reached salaries at long last. And the number of City firms hiring more staff jumped sharply last month, according to data out today from headhunters Morgan McKinley. Salaries increased by an average of six per cent, rising above [...]
Revenue clawed back from tax probes surges to a fresh high December 15, 2013 HER MAJESTY’S Revenue and Customs (HMRC) raked in £20.7bn from its investigative work on tax avoidance and evasion this year, the highest amount ever collected. During 2012-13, the tax authorities beat its own target for revenue acquired through investigations by £2bn, topping 2011-12’s £18.6bn by a similar amount, according to new research by UHY Hacker [...]
Asmussen exits ECB as he joins Merkel coalition December 15, 2013 EUROPEAN Central Bank (ECB) board member Joerg Asmussen yesterday accepted a job as deputy labour minister in the new German coalition government, stepping down from his banking role. Asmussen, who has two young daughters, cited family reasons for the switch. He will form part of the Social Democrat Party’s wing in Germany’s grand coalition, which [...]
RSA seeks calm from investors after stock slide December 15, 2013 RSA INSURANCE yesterday scrambled to reassure shareholders about its future after investors wiped more than £260m off the company in the wake of chief executive Simon Lee’s resignation. Chairman Martin Scicluna and senior executives have spent the weekend speaking with top investors about the next steps for the firm after it flagged a £130m black [...]
Bottom Line: Japanese firms are hungry for UK assets December 15, 2013 JAPAN’S demographic challenges are nothing new. For years the country has been struggling with an ageing population, with the IMF predicting that its working-age headcount will fall to just 55m by 2050 – well below its peak of 87m in 1995. The country’s leaders are well aware of the problem. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s programme [...]
Ringfence could hike bank costs and end free current accounts December 15, 2013 SPLITTING up retail banks from their investment arms could end up costing consumers dearly, as it would end the subsidies given to current accounts from other parts of banking groups, think tank Policy Exchange warned today. The ringfence could mean the end of free banking, with customers instead being charged by lenders to use their [...]