Bank unanimous against rate hikes despite raised growth forecasts October 23, 2013 Turns out the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee was unanimously against rate hikes at their last meeting, with all nine members voting against a change in policy in rates or asset purchases. That's despite the fact that the Bank's own survey data now points to two per cent growth over the second half of [...]
Jonathan King steps down as Homeserve executive October 23, 2013 Jonathan King, CEO of Homeserve Membership is stepping down to pursue a a non-executive career. King has been involved with the emergency repairs business for 13 years. Among his positions held at the firm were six years as CEO of Homeserve USA, following four years as managing director of HomeServe Membership. He will leave the [...]
UK banks benefit from housing upturn as corporate lending remains weak October 23, 2013 Citi Research has released a report concluding that there is an increasing upside to UK banks. Analysts cite several positive indicators leading to a positive assessment of the sector. There was a significant increase in mortgage volumes in July and August, with gross mortgage lending for the eight months to August 2013 amounting to £99bn, [...]
De La Rue FTSE250’s biggest faller after profit warning October 23, 2013 British currency printer De La Rue is currently the biggest faller on the FTSE250 this morning, down 8.5 per cent cent after it warned it would miss its profit target for this year because of the challenging market. De La Rue's performance in the first half of the financial year was in line with its [...]
Asos on track to hit £1bn of sales by 2015 as profits beat analyst expectations October 23, 2013 Online retailer Asos has posted a whopping 23 per cent rise in full year pre-tax profit to £54.7m in the year to 31 August. Analysts had expected the company to post a profit of just £44.5 to 54m. That's not stopped Asos shares dropping on the open though. Shares are now trading about 4.7 per [...]
Internet sales boost results for Argos as Home Retail reports positive results October 23, 2013 Argos and Homebase parent company Home Retail has today announce a positive like-for-like sales performance, despite highlighting limited customer spending, owing to lessened disposable incomes. Profit before tax for the period was £14.2m in the 26 weeks to 31 August. (Release) Argos did particularly well when it came to sales via smart devices – internet [...]
What you need to know before the open – 23/10 October 23, 2013 US markets continued to climb yesterday after US job numbers missed expectations, sending the S&P500 to new record highs for the third day in a row. Despite the upward revision to the jobs data, markets seem to be interpreting this as a staving off of tapering. European markets seem more restrained this morning, following a [...]
Strong results for Sports Direct as clothes shop Republic catapults profit October 23, 2013 Sport Direct International has announced a 15.1 per cent sales increase for the nine weeks to 29 September, with gross profit up 19.4 per cent to £199.8m (from £167.4m like-for-like). (Release) The buying up of clothes shop Republic back in February saw Premium lifestyle sales soar in the period – sales and gross profit from [...]
Falcon business jet contract win for Meggitt October 23, 2013 Meggitt has announced a multi-million dollar contract win for a braking and control system with Dassault. (Release) Dassault, who make Rafale combat planes, has selected the British aerospace engineering business to develop the systems for the all-new Falcon 5X business jet. Meggitt's chief executive officer Stephen Young commented that the award "is a significant milestone [...]
Major stokes row with call for energy tax October 22, 2013 FORMER Prime Minister Sir John Major’s call for a one-off windfall tax on energy firms’ profits was lambasted as “misguided” and unfair yesterday, as analysts and investors warned the levy would discourage investment and raise consumers’ bills. Speaking at a lunch in Westminster, the former Conservative leader said recent price rises were unacceptable and suggested [...]