Number of UK businesses hits a record high October 3, 2013 BRITAIN is now home to more businesses than ever before as the number of firms bounds past its pre-crisis levels, Office for National Statistics data showed yesterday. Its annual update showed 2.17m firms registered for tax in March, up 0.9 per cent or 18,000 on the year. That takes the level past the previous highest [...]
UK firing on all cylinders ahead of the US shutdown October 3, 2013 EVEN AS America’s political stalemate brought warnings of a renewed global economic crisis, major sectors of the British economy all pointed to expansion again in September, with purchasing managers suggesting the strongest quarter’s growth in 15 years. The services industry rounded off Markit’s purchasing managers’ indexes (PMI) yesterday, with another month of bumper growth. The [...]
What the other papers say this morning – 4 October 2013 October 3, 2013 FINANCIAL TIMES China to invest £650m in Manchester China’s biggest bank will invest in a new £650m business district at Manchester airport in a deal the government believes will mark a fresh wave of investment by Beijing in UK infrastructure. The state-owned Industrial and Commercial Bank of China is to sign the deal when George [...]
Eurozone firms point to growth in third quarter October 3, 2013 BUSINESS activity in the Eurozone reached a 27-month peak in September, suggesting that the currency union’s lukewarm recovery has carried on into the third quarter. Construction, manufacturing and services in the euro area have all expanded, according to Markit’s composite purchasing managers’ index (PMI), released yesterday. The headline figure for the PMI reached 52.2 last [...]
City diners help Itsu and Leon to tasty results October 3, 2013 LONDON’S healthy lunch spots are serving up growing sales and plans to expand beyond the capital. Itsu said yesterday a bigger menu and its first opening outside London have set it up for expansion across the country. The sushi specialist, launched by Pret a Manger founder Julian Metcalfe, posted a 22 per cent rise in [...]
France passes anti-Amazon bookshop law October 3, 2013 THE FRENCH government yesterday banned websites from offering free postage in conjunction with discounts on books, in a direct attack on Amazon’s dominance of the market. The move is designed to boost France’s independent bookshops, who claim they cannot compete with the cheap prices and swift delivery offered by their much larger US rival. “The [book pricing] law [...]
Ex-JP Morgan banker Hannam fights to clear his name in court October 3, 2013 TOP dealmaker Ian Hannam’s bid to overturn a £450,000 fine from the Financial Conduct Authority neared the end yesterday, with his lawyers saying his aims were perfectly proper. Hannam, a former JP Morgan banker, was at the High Court to hear closing statements in his appeal over two counts of alleged market abuse, which he [...]
Barclays rights issue rump to be sold today October 3, 2013 THE RUMP of Barclays’ rights issue could come in at around £300m, it emerged last night, after at least five per cent of investors declined to take up the offer of new discount shares. The £5.8bn issuance will support the bank’s capital position, and each existing investor was offered one new share for each four [...]
Winton Capital suffers rare slip as fund fees fall October 3, 2013 WINTON Capital Management, one of Europe’s biggest hedge funds, saw turnover and operating profits slide last year after it fell short on some of its performance targets. The company, established by hedge fund pioneer David Harding in 1997, posted £192.9m in turnover for the year ending 2012, down from £350.6m in 2011. This led to [...]
Record issue of Euro junk bonds in September amid debt renewal October 3, 2013 EUROPEAN junk bond issuances hit a record high last month thanks to an increase in the number of companies looking to refinance debt. September saw €10.5bn of high yield bonds supplied to the market, driven by corporate refinancings, which are responsible for about 60 per cent of issuances so far this year. The third quarter [...]