Estimated crimes in UK hit 32-year low January 23, 2014 Crime is falling in Britain, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics. The downward trend in crime numbers continued last year, with the police recording 3.7m offences in the year ending September 2013 – that's three per cent down on a year earlier. Household crime dropped by 10 per cent in the year [...]
Eurozone private sector activity makes strong start to 2014 January 23, 2014 It's nice to have a more positive message to start the year. And Christian Schulz, senior economist at Berenberg, says that 2014 is "off to a good start" as Eurozone purchasing managers' index (PMI) data comes in strong for January. The euro area's composite PMI is up from 52.1 to 53.2 in January – with [...]
Pearson trading warning sees biggest share dive since 2002 January 23, 2014 UK-based education and publishing company Pearson said that it is still facing tough trading this year. Shares in the FT publisher have fallen seven per cent this morning – the worst daily slide since 2002. They’re currently down 7.5 per cent at £1.22p. Operating profit was approximately £865m before restructuring charges, said the company. Net [...]
SSE suffers falling customer numbers ahead of price cut January 23, 2014 Energy company SSE has confirmed it will cut its household energy prices on 24 March. The confirmation was made in the company's interim management statement and follows the government's announcement of a consultation on reducing environmental charges for energy firms. Alistair Phillips-Davies, SSE chief executive, said: December's decision by the UK government to make changes [...]
China’s factory sector contracts for the first time in six months January 23, 2014 Asian stocks dipped in Thursday trading, after an unexpected contraction in China’s factory activity in January. HSBC’s flash manufacturing purchasing managers’ index came in overnight at 49.6 from 50.5 in November and below expectations of 50.6. The number hails the first contraction in six months, as new orders declined and exports stayed soft. On [...]
What you need to know before the open – 23/01 January 23, 2014 After disappointing PMI numbers from China, Europe is expected to open lower today. In focus are European January manufacturing and services PMIs, with predictions that France's will continue to show contraction in economic activity, while Germany will continue to improve. The broader European measure is expected to signal growth in manufacturing and services across the [...]
Winter storms fail to dampen enthusiasm for EasyJet January 23, 2014 Winter storms and power outages at Gatwick airport over Christmas have failed to dampen passengers enthusiasm for low cost airline EasyJet. Seats flown grew by 4.1 per cent to 16.1m, with passengers carried increasing by 4.2 per cent to 14.3m. EasyJet's system of seating allocation introduced in 2012 helped grow revenue per seat by 3.4 [...]
China, Japan, and the row that shook Davos January 22, 2014 JAPANESE Prime Minister Shinzo Abe raised the terrifying prospect of conflict in east Asia yesterday, comparing Japan and China’s cold relationship to relations between the UK and Germany in the years before World War One. At the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos yesterday, Abe told journalists that while China and Japan had a [...]
Humiliation for UK as Europe overrules finance veto January 22, 2014 THE CITY is braced for a beating from Europe, after Britain lost a key legal case that could set a precedent for Brussels to overrule the UK in financial services. In a shock decision the European Court of Justice (ECJ) went against its own legal adviser to give the European Securities and Markets Authority the power [...]
Joblessness falls to brink of interest rate threshold January 22, 2014 UNEMPLOYMENT plunged to 7.1 per cent during November, according to figures released yesterday, leaving the Bank of England’s forward guidance policy hanging in the balance. The rate of joblessness fell from 7.4 to 7.1 per cent in just a month, the fastest drop in over 15 years, with the labour market improving at an unexpectedly [...]