Inflation report look ahead: What the analysts are expecting from Carney August 7, 2013 All eyes on the Bank of England at 10.30 this morning, as the Inflation Report is unveiled. Several analysts are predicting that the central bank could adopt a Fed-style unemployment target. UK unemployment was at 7.8 per cent in the three months to May. Emily Nicol, Daiwa Capital Markets: The main policy event today will [...]
Earnings per share in Old Mutual more than halve in first six months but investors are still buying August 7, 2013 Savings and investment group Old Mutual has reported an 11 per cent increase in pre-tax profits to £805m for the first half of the year, but a 54 per cent fall in basic earnings per share to 8.9p from 19.2p (release). The group said adjusting operating profit increased by 14 per cent to £801m, in [...]
£70m project will see Kier replace nine of London’s oldest fire stations August 7, 2013 Construction company Kier has announced that a £70m project to revamp London's fire stations will go ahead. The Blue 3 consortium including Kier and DIF Infrastructure II will replace nine stations with £52m of government funding (release). Stations at Purley, Dockhead, Old Kent Road, Mitcham, Dagenham, Leytonstone, Plaistow, Orpington and Shadwell will replace the current [...]
Before the open – 07/08 August 7, 2013 London's leading index, the FTSE, is expected to open down following US and Asian markets. Morning all. It's been a while! #FTSE called 18-20 lower this morning. Carney front and centre I guess. — FuturesTechs Updates (@FuturesTechs) August 7, 2013 Morning ftse -16, Dow -40, Dax -42, S&P1692.5, Nikkei -500, H/s -120, crude 105.25 Gold [...]
TUI Travel moves closer to profit as bookings fall August 7, 2013 Holiday company TUI travel has seen its losses moderate in the nine months to 30 June, as pre-tax losses drop from £454m to £369m (release). Bookings declined in Germany and France during the period, by five per cent and 22 per cent respectively. These drags saw total mainstream bookings fall by two per cent. Peter [...]
Bank of England governor faced with dilemma as economic recovery picks up pace August 6, 2013 NEW BANK of England boss Mark Carney faces his first real challenge as governor today, as he reveals a key decision on reforms that could lead to higher inflation. The Bank’s rate-setters publish their views on the potential for new unconventional monetary policy tools this morning, as part of their quarterly inflation report. The monetary [...]
G4S drops bid for tag contract after scandals August 6, 2013 GLOBAL security services firm G4S has dropped out of the bidding for a government electronic tagging contract worth £150m after a scandal over a previous deal. In July, justice secretary Chris Grayling said G4S had overcharged the government by millions of pounds on two previous agreements, tagging people who were already imprisoned or dead. According [...]
Report says NHS culture to blame for healthcare failures August 6, 2013 THE NHS requires “wide systemic change” to ensure it is a world-class healthcare system, according to a major report released yesterday that says individual staff should not be blamed for care failings. Professor Don Berwick, a US academic who has advised President Obama, was commissioned by David Cameron to examine NHS England following a series [...]
Help to Buy unlikely to spur new house building August 6, 2013 THE PRICE of housing is being driven upward by the government’s Help to Buy policy, but may not stimulate new building, according to ratings agency Fitch. Though the intention of the scheme is to get more people a place on the housing ladder, Fitch expects that chancellor George Osborne’s mortgage guarantees will mostly push up [...]
What the other papers say this morning – 7 August 2013 August 6, 2013 FINANCIAL TIMES TPG looks for time to spend key fund TPG, one of the world’s largest private equity companies, has taken the unusual step of asking investors in its $19bn flagship fund if it can have an extra year to spend $3bn of undeployed capital, underscoring the difficulty finding good deals in the aftermath of [...]