Microsoft sinks as Nokia soars on tie-up news September 4, 2013 MICROSOFT suffered another disappointing day on the stock market yesterday as the company failed to persuade investors that its €5.44bn (£4.5bn) acquisition of Nokia’s devices and services division would improve the company’s fortunes. Since the deal Microsoft stock has plummeted six per cent, wiping more than $18bn from the group’s market value. Steve Ballmer, Microsoft’s [...]
Huge debt from Vodafone deal causes Verizon’s rating to fall September 4, 2013 SINCE Monday’s announcement of a groundbreaking $130bn (£84bn) sale between Verizon and Vodafone, Verizon has seen its debt rating downgraded and share price slump. Moody’s yesterday downgraded Verizon’s long term debt to Baa1 from A3 citing the additional $67bn of new debt that the telecoms firm added from the Vodafone deal, almost doubling the telecoms [...]
Regional gulf in jobless houses remains high September 4, 2013 THE PROPORTION of households in which no one works is back over 30 per cent in Glasgow, but the number in the south east of England is still dropping. According to new data released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) yesterday, in 2012, 30.2 per cent of households in Glasgow with at least one [...]
Watchdog says Universal Credit introduction was too ambitious September 4, 2013 THE GOVERNMENT has not achieved good value for money in the implementation of its flagship Universal Credit welfare reform, according to a report released today by the spending watchdog. The National Audit Office said the programme – which will see many existing benefits combined into a single payment – has been over-ambitious and could not justify the [...]
Labour loses union money September 4, 2013 THE GMB union yesterday said it will slash its donations to Labour by £1m a year, in protest at Ed Miliband’s attempts to weaken the role of the trade unions in the party. Its existing £1.2m contribution to party coffers will be reduced to just £150,000 – and it will also curb spending on other party campaigns. [...]
US trade gap widens in July September 4, 2013 AMERICA’S trade deficit widened slightly more than expected in July as exports dipped, but a rebound in imports pointed to some firming in underlying domestic demand. The trade gap increased 13.3 per cent to $39.1bn (£25bn). June’s shortfall on the trade balance was revised to $34.5bn from the previously reported $34.2bn. Imports of goods and [...]
Shadow MPC against a change in rates in first vote after guidance September 4, 2013 IN THE first vote by City A.M’s shadow monetary policy committee (MPC) since the Bank of England’s forward guidance was announced, our panel of economists have voted to hold interest rates. Seven votes on our board were for no change in rates, while one was for a 0.25 per cent hike in the bank rate, [...]
City A.M. shadow MPC votes to hold rates September 4, 2013 ALLISTER HEATH | CITY A.M. “The time has come to raise bank rate to 0.75 per cent. With such obvious signs of strength emerging, and growth likely to rise in the third quarter, we cannot afford any more of the distortion caused by ultra-loose policy.” GRAEME LEACH INSTITUTE OF DIRECTORS “The economy is clearly strengthening, but [...]
Tough job kicks off for India’s new governor September 4, 2013 INDIA’S new central bank governor Raghuram Rajan arrived at his new post yesterday, beginning the difficult job of organising monetary policy for the country’s struggling economy. The country has suffered from a rapid depreciation of the rupee over recent months, with foreign investment leaving the country as expectations for the tapering of the Federal Reserve’s [...]
Bosses defend big bank firms September 4, 2013 THE CHIEF executives of Deutsche Bank, Societe Generale and Unicredit have defended the need for large banks even as global regulators seek to force lenders with large balance sheets to shrink. SocGen chief Frederic Oudea said large banks were needed to maintain Europe’s capacity to finance large companies and its infrastructure. “On these markets, the [...]