Competition watchdog set to double cartel investigations October 30, 2013 THE NEW competition authorities should be able to double the number of anti-trust investigations carried out thanks to better resources, a leading law firm has forecast. The Competition and Markets Authority will begin work next year, replacing the Office of Fair Trading and the Competition Commission. And according to analysis from Pinsent Masons, a 31 per cent hike [...]
UK house prices could rise 10 per cent next year on easy money October 30, 2013 HOUSE prices across Britain could rise by more than 10 per cent next year as the economy recovers and banks ramp up mortgage lending, analysts at UBS Wealth Management predicted yesterday. Banks have cleaned up their balance sheets since the crisis, the analysts said, meaning they are free to increase lending again. And with super-low interest [...]
Tories call for sponsored loos to cut TfL fares October 30, 2013 LONDONERS face another fare rise announcement this month – but Conservative assembly members at City Hall reckon they can cut fares and improve your commute. Their solution? Get sponsors for everything. And we mean everything: from TV screens to station lifts and even toilets. “It is ludicrous that TfL is currently splashing out millions of pounds [...]
MP fights European directive to maintain Britain’s quality jam October 30, 2013 LIBERAL Democrat MP Tessa Munt is trying to squash rules that would allow jam producers to drop sugar content of fruit spreads to a measly 50 per cent. Jam, the quintessentially British breakfast, lunch and (sometimes) dinner delicacy, requires high levels of sugar to maintain its gel-like quality. Munt raised the issue in a House [...]
Any other business – 31/10 October 30, 2013 ■ Maybe it was his inability to stop the world’s biggest economy from swerving dangerously close to default; perhaps it was prompted by a poll from NBC News showing all-time low approval ratings. Whatever the cause, Barack Obama’s place at the top of the celebrated Forbes list of the world’s most powerful people has been [...]
Sky and UKTV coming closer together with new distribution deal October 30, 2013 SKY HAS signed a new multi-year deal with UKTV bringing its channels, such as Dave and Good Food, across all of Sky’s services for the first time. “We are delighted to have extended our partnership with UKTV so that we can offer our customers even more great ways to enjoy some of their favourite shows,” [...]
Warmer summer weather lifts C&C’s beer and cider revenues October 30, 2013 DUBLIN-BASED C&C, the brewer behind the Tennent’s, Magners and Bulmers brands, reported revenue growth of 27.8 per cent on the back of good weather helping whet sales. C&C saw profits increase 7.9 per cent to €71.1m (£60.8m) in the half year to the end of August, with revenue rising to €336.7m. “Following a weak first [...]
Shine comes off L’Oreal’s growth plans October 30, 2013 FRENCH cosmetics maker L’Oreal said yesterday its like-for-like sales growth slowed to 4.1 per cent in the third quarter, due to weakness in North America and a slowdown in Mexico. L’Oreal missed the average analyst estimate for sales growth of five per cent and compared with 5.2 per cent growth in the second quarter and [...]
Pearson plunges as it warns of lower profits October 30, 2013 FTSE 100-listed publishing group Pearson saw its shares slide almost four per cent yesterday, after it warned that full-year operating profits will be lower than last year. The education and media group, which owns the Financial Times newspaper, attributed the lower profit forecast to weak market conditions for college textbooks in North America and the [...]
Analyst Views: What do you make of Pearson’s results? October 30, 2013 DAVID REYNOLDS | JEFFERIESYou need to see the results in the context that the stock has depreciated around 10 or 11 per cent in the last month, so it’s pretty punchy. The numbers were pretty much what I expected. It’s no surprise that the US business is under pressure, as the company has a renewed [...]