Euro investors must remain cautious August 20, 2013 But the region could offer good returns THE CASE for investing in the Eurozone appears to be getting stronger. Many analysts still warn that the region is not out of the woods just yet, but some aspects of the macro-economic picture – the second quarter GDP release for the region showed growth (of 0.3 per [...]
The funds that may ride the Eurozone’s recovery August 20, 2013 EVER since Mario Draghi promised to do “whatever it takes” to save the Eurozone, investor sentiment towards the region has improved slightly. With growth returning in some countries, albeit at a modest 0.3 per cent overall in the second quarter, and the MSCI Europe (excluding the UK) index rising from around 1,600 to over 1,770 since [...]
London estate agent Foxtons investigates potential compromise of 10,000 user accounts August 20, 2013 London estate agent Foxtons is looking into whether hackers were able to access the account details of more than 9,800 property searchers registered with the site. A list of email addresses, usernames and passwords of alleged MyFoxtons users was posted on Pastebin and linked to several security sites but has since been removed, although some [...]
Former M&S merchandising head to return to the high street after Asos fiasco August 20, 2013 Kate Bostock, former fashion head at Marks & Spencer, is returning to the high street next month as chief executive of privately-owned occasion wear retailer Coast, following an ill-fated and short-lived stint as executive director at online retailer Asos. The retailer confirmed the news to City A.M. on Tuesday afternoon. Bostock's appointment to head up [...]
Gherkin owner asks courts to oversee £2.7bn debt restructuring August 20, 2013 The German real estate company that co-owns the Gherkin building has said it is seeking protection from creditors after failing to reach an agreement to restructure its debt. IVG will apply for a Schutzschirmverfahren, whereby the courts will oversee the restructuring of its €3.2bn (£2.7bn) of debt. IVG owns around €5bn of office buildings in [...]
200 bankers fail ethics test August 20, 2013 An ethics test for young bankers by the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment (CISI) has had a 98 per cent pass rate since its relaunch in April, the professional body has said. But this means that 200 of the 10,000 taking the test failed to achieve the A or B grade required to take [...]
IoD warns Labour that without zero-hour contracts job creation will suffer August 20, 2013 As Labour MP Chuku Umunna holds a summit on zero-hour contracts today, business group the Institute of Directors (IoD) has slammed claims that those on these flexible jobs early £6 less per hour than other workers. Alexander Ehmann, head of employment policy at the IoD, says: Claims that employees without guaranteed hours are paid less [...]
Greek banks’ reliance on ECB funding increased in July August 20, 2013 Funding for Greek banks from the European Central Bank increased by €900m (£772m) in July, while emergency liquidity assistance from the country’s central bank fell by €4.86bn, data from the Bank of Greece said today (report). ECB funding to Greek banks rose to €62.04bn in July from €61.14bn in June, while emergency liquidity assistance form [...]
Barnes & Noble founder withdraws offer to buy company’s bookstores as losses worsen August 20, 2013 The founder and chairman of Barnes & Noble has dropped his offer to buy the US bookseller’s retail business as the company’s first quarter net loss more than doubled to $87.02m (£55.56). Losses per basic share also increased, to $1.56 from $0.76 in the same period the year before. Sales fell 8.6 per cent to [...]
BAE System’s US head to retire August 20, 2013 BAE Systems has announced that the head of its US business Linda Hudson will be retiring from her post. A search is underway for a replacement, and Hudson has said she will remain in place for a date to be determined, but no later than 31 March 2014. Hudson took charge in 2009, becoming the [...]