New heights for Lufthansa with order for 59 Boeing 777s and Airbuses September 19, 2013 Airline Lufthansa has announced the purchase of 59 new planes: 34 Boeing 777-9Xs and 25 Airbus A350-900s. (Release) The new planes will join the 107-strong fleet, serving to replace older 747-400s and Airbus A340-300, which be phased out by 2025. Lufthansa's order totals €14bn (£11.7bn) to date with an overall list value of €36bn (£30.2bn) for 295 new aircraft [...]
Regulator calls for pension crackdown from government September 19, 2013 Weaknesses in the system mean some savers are not getting value for money when it comes to their pensions, says the Office for Fair Trading (OFT). (Release) The OFT published a market study today and, in agreement with The Pensions Regulator (TPR) has agreed a set of reforms to the £275bn market for defined contribution [...]
Bernanke’s legacy: The long-nosed Malayan tapir September 19, 2013 Ben Bernanke, governor of the Federal Reserve, will soon be leaving his role – amid investor and economist focus on how and when the Fed will taper. Tapering – or a reduction in the rate of expansion of the monetary base – was expected this month. Market watchers had been forecasting the announcement since June [...]
Retail sales drop unexpectedly in August September 19, 2013 UK retail sales have dropped by 0.9 per cent in August, a shrink where analysts had expected a 0.4 per cent growth. In the year to August, that's a 2.1 per cent rise, well below last month's three per cent, and short of economist forecasts of a jump to 3.3 per cent growth. Sadly, it [...]
More structural change for African Barrick Gold as new chief financial officer is appointed September 19, 2013 Mining company African Barrick Gold has appointed internal candidate Andrew Wray as chief financial officer. (Release) Wray's appointment comes a week after the sudden resignation of the company's chief operating officer, which was less than a month after the departure of its chief executive. Our mining reporter Suzie Neuwirth on the exit of the COO [...]
Left behind: Vodafone is the only stock down in the FTSE 100 after Fed rally September 19, 2013 London's leading index, the FTSE 100, opened up nearly 80 points higher this morning – and just one stock is in the red right now. An announcement from the US Federal Reserve that it will not be reducing the scale of it asset purchases – known as tapering – has sent stocks to record highs [...]
Sales up for Happy Shopper and Makro owner Booker September 19, 2013 Booker Group, the owner of Happy Shopper, has announced a 19.3 per cent sales increase in the 12 weeks to 13 September 2013. (Release) Booker acquired cash and carry Makro earlier this year. Excluding Makro, Booker like-for-likes were up 3.5 per cent with non-tobacco like-for-likes increasing 6.9 per cent (including Makro, non tobacco increased 30 [...]
Asos sees sales soar with strong UK market and new growth in US and Russia September 19, 2013 Online retailer Asos has announced UK retail sales up 47 per cent for the three months to the end of August with 49 per cent growth in the UK. (Release) Retail sales for the year were up 40 per cent year-on-year. The company had 7.1 million active customers at the end of August, up 42 [...]
Before the open: Record highs as Fed doesn’t taper September 19, 2013 New records were reached on US markets last night following the Fed's decision to refrain from tapering QE. Consequently, European markets are expected to surge this morning with the Dax at record highs and FTSE opening calls of +70 and higher. Yesterday, the Bank of England upgraded the UK's growth forecast for the third quarter [...]
Ben bottles it as Fed rejects QE tapering September 18, 2013 Stock markets surge as the US Federal Reserve decides not to start rolling back its easy money scheme US treasury yields dive and gold prices rocket after the shock move to wait at least another month Janet Yellen is now the favourite to take over from Fed chairman Ben Bernanke once he leaves his post [...]