Eurozone economic sentiment beats expectations in November November 28, 2013 Eurozone economic sentiment has come in at 98.5 from 97.7 (revised from 97.8) to November. Analysts had expected a rise to 98.0. IHS Global Insight's Howard Archer says that this news supports "hopes that the Eurozone can gradually establish economic recovery". Consumer confidence however, has dropped for the same period – down from -14.5 to [...]
RSA Insurance Ireland CEO Philip Smith quits November 28, 2013 The chief executive of the Irish arm of RSA Insurance, Philip Smith, has resigned from the company after saying he has become the scapegoat for allegations of serious financial irregularities. In a statement Smith said he and his family have been traumatised by recent events. He also claims the ongoing probe by RSA has a [...]
Capita selected as preferred bidder for Npower customer service – as Npower confirms 1,460 job cuts November 28, 2013 Outsourcing company Capita has been selected as the preferred bidder for a partnership with Npower, to provide front office customer management and back office services. Apparently finance negotiations are still ongoing, and the contract is expected to be worth around £120m over seven years, beginning on 1 February 2014. Capita will take responsibility for part [...]
German unemployment sees unexpected jump in November November 28, 2013 German unemployment has risen by 10,000 in November, and October's increase of 2,000 has been revised up to 3,000 by statisticians. That's higher than the increase of 1,000 forecast by analysts for this month. The unemployment rate remains unchanged at 6.9 per cent, as expected.
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. [...]