UK “bad bank” handed back £1.9bn to taxpayers in the first half of the year August 6, 2013 UK Asset Resolution (UKAR), the state-run “bad bank” running down the loans of Bradford & Bingley and Northern Rock, has said it repaid £1.9bn to taxpayers in the first half of the year including £1.3bn of loan repayments (report). At the end of 2012, UKAR had £27.8bn of funding from HM Treasury, plus a further [...]
What to expect from tomorrow’s Bank of England Inflation Report August 6, 2013 Tomorrow sees Mark Carney's first Inflation Report as governor of the Bank of England, which should come with an additional statement on the central bank's plans for forward guidance. Berenberg chief economist Rob Wood gives his assessment of what we might expect: Here comes guidance The BoE will make an announcement on guidance alongside the [...]
House prices rose by more than expected in July August 6, 2013 UK house prices rose by a larger-than-expected 0.9 per cent in July, according to the Halifax House Price index. Analysts had forecast a rise of 0.5 per cent following an upwardly revised 0.7 per cent growth in June. In the three months to July, house prices rose 4.6 per cent compared to the same period [...]
ECB’s Praet says that further rate cuts remain an option August 6, 2013 The European Central Bank's executive board member Peter Praet has said that further interest rate cuts remain an option, writing in Vox. Praet also said that the central bank's forawrd guidance includes an easing bias. Against the conditions that we see prevailing over a meaningful horizon, our guidance includes an easing bias. This conveys the [...]
Before the open – 06/08 August 6, 2013 Stocks are expected to open down in Europe, following US and Asian markets, on investor profit taking. $FTSE seen dwn 10 points on weaker US & Asia. $ULVR Unilever downgrde @ JPM, $GSK Glaxo downgrde @ Citi. $EMG Man Group Citi upgrade est. MB — IGSquawk (@IGSquawk) August 6, 2013 Morning ftse -20, dow -26, [...]
Greggs profits go cold as sales fall August 6, 2013 Baker Greggs has announced a before tax profit fall from £11.4m to £4.6m in the 26 weeks ended 29 June (release). The firm has seen like-for-like own shop sales down by 2.9 per cent, while total group sales were up by 3.4 per cent in the same period to £362m. Trading in the first five [...]
Soaring services sector drives business activity to record high August 5, 2013 HOPES that the recovery is picking up steam were lifted further yesterday, after the UK’s businesses reported the strongest month of growth since records began. Markit’s surveys of the services, manufacturing and construction sectors in July got the most positive responses ever, bolstering recent signs that the economy is returning to sustained expansion. The unparalleled [...]
Google co-founder revealed as backer of test-tube hamburger August 5, 2013 GOOGLE co-founder Sergey Brin was yesterday unveiled as the mystery financial backer behind a pioneering beef burger made entirely from stem cells. The billionaire internet entrepreneur revealed his support for the project at the first tasting of the so-called test-tube burger yesterday, appearing in a video message played at the launch event in west London. [...]
Ackman hits Soros with complaint in hedgie food fight August 5, 2013 BILLIONAIRE financier Bill Ackman has stepped up his battle against US food giant Herbalife by asking regulators to probe a stake taken in the company by rival investor George Soros. Ackman has reportedly written to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the US watchdog, accusing Soros’ fund of breaking trading rules over its recent investment [...]
EU looks to adopt Britain’s tough bank capital rules August 5, 2013 EUROPE’S banks could soon face the same tough conditions as their British peers as the continent’s regulators yesterday said they would look at imposing a leverage ratio cap similar to that taking hold in the UK. British lenders such as Barclays and Nationwide have been caught by the three per cent cap, with both forced [...]