Sunny prospects for Thomas Cook as it delivers a profit November 28, 2013 Things are starting to look up for Thomas Cook as the travel company saw an operating profit for the first time since 2010, as the first year of its turnaround plan starts to take off. Shares have rocketed this morning on the news, up over 11 per cent, putting it at the top of the [...]
Wolseley build on economic recovery as revenue rises November 28, 2013 Mulitnational building company Wolseley has seen a like-for-like revenue increase of 3.5 per cent reaching £3.4bn for the three months to 31 October. USA like-for-like revenue growth stood at 7.6 per cent as key businesses continued to take market share. Revenue of the ongoing businesses was 7.4 per cent ahead of last year while trading [...]
Weak French economy leaves Kingfisher with flat sales November 28, 2013 Kingfisher has seen flat sales for the 13 weeks ended 2 November, due to a poorly performing French economy. Profits in France dropped by 5.6 per cent over the period. The owner of B&Q and Screwfix saw like-for-like sales in France of £1.17bn. Analysts at Deutsche Bank had expected a sales increase of 0.3 per [...]
What you need to know before the open – 28/11 November 28, 2013 European bourses are set to open mixed this morning as unemployment and CPI data come in from Germany. US markets are closed for Thanksgiving, which is likely to subdue Europe further. The Dax, however, is expected to open higher, after German parties agreed on a grand coalition deal yesterday. ETX Capital #morningcall: FTSE100 down 2 [...]
Rio Tinto iron ore expansion cheaper than expected November 28, 2013 Rio Tinto's existing plan to grow its iron ore production to 360m tonnes a year will cost more than $3bn (£1.8bn) less than it had previously thought, the mining giant said today. It said that combining its brownfield expansions and securing further low-cost productivity gains will feed the expanded infrastructure its currently developing. To further [...]
London faces savings crisis November 27, 2013 LONDONERS save less of their monthly income than people in any other part of England and Wales, leaving the capital’s population facing a savings timebomb. Despite higher average earnings, the capital’s dwellers have the equivalent of just 22 per cent of their annual salary in savings accounts, according to research released this morning by Halifax. [...]
Bitcoin soars above $1,000 November 27, 2013 BITCOIN broke fresh records last night when the price of the digital currency reached $1,073 (£659.60) on popular online exchange Mt.Gox, as market momentum lifted it to a new high. Last week a US Senate committee described Bitcoin – the digital currency that can be traded anonymously and freely worldwide – as a legitimate financial [...]
U-turn on plain cig packaging November 27, 2013 THE COALITION government is to announce an independent review of plain packaging for cigarettes, in a dramatic U-turn. Downing Street confirmed that there will be a statement from the Department of Health in the House of Commons today and that ministers are “open minded” about how to tackle the issue. The Prime Minister shelved plans [...]
RBS boss says bank did not profit from troubled firms November 27, 2013 THE CHIEF executive of RBS jumped to his bank’s defence yesterday, saying he did not believe that it had made a “systematic” effort to profit from its troubled business customers. Responding to two reports that have criticised lending practices at the under-fire bank, Ross McEwan said the accusations had damaged RBS’ reputation. “The most serious [...]
Boris: economic inequality is a driver of effort November 27, 2013 LONDON Mayor Boris Johnson gave a speech praising Margaret Thatcher and the spirit of rivalry last night, telling the audience that a bit of healthy competition is a good thing for the economy. “The income gap between the top cornflakes and the bottom cornflakes is getting wider than ever,” he said. “I don’t believe that [...]