Schauble backs bondholders as Troika reports July 29, 2013 THE TRIO of Greece’s international lenders, known as the Troika, published their third review of the country’s ongoing bailout yesterday. German finance minister Wolfgang Schauble told media in his home country that the Greek government must fulfil its obligations, and that bondholders would not undergo further haircuts. The Troika, which is made up of the [...]
Hiscox boss says insurers must not rely on investment income July 29, 2013 INSURERS must concentrate on their core business and ignore investment income if they want to make a profit, the chairman of Hiscox said yesterday. “The investment area is going to remain turbulent,” Robert Childs told City A.M. “No insurer or reinsurer should be looking to rely on anything but underwriting profit at the moment.” Insurers invest premiums [...]
LV= boss warns car costs to rise July 29, 2013 DRIVERS should expect to pay more for car insurance next year, the boss of LV= told City A.M yesterday. Mike Rogers, chief executive of the mutual, said he is worried recent price cuts prompted by a ban on referral fees may have “gone too far”, unless claim levels start to fall. He was speaking as the [...]
Firms reject a Eurozone exit July 29, 2013 LESS than a quarter of Eurozone businesses expect a country to leave the currency union in the 12 months ahead, according to Sentix. Only 23.75 per cent of firms suggested that a country’s exit from the euro area was likely in the next year, while 73 per cent did at this time last year. At [...]
Japanese banks see profits soar after money printing splurge July 29, 2013 DAIWA Securities and Sumitomo Mitsui yesterday both reported huge jumps in earnings in the first quarter of the new financial year, the three-month period in which Japan’s central bank cranked up the printing presses. Daiwa’s profits came in at ¥57.3bn (£381m), more than 20 times higher than the ¥2.7bn profit in the same period of [...]
Chinese auditors launch urgent assessment of mounting debt July 29, 2013 THE CHINESE national audit office is to undertake a review of the government’s debts, following instruction from the government’s State Council, which is chaired by Premier Li Keqiang. The office released a one-line statement announcing the review. The People’s Daily, a Chinese communist party newspaper, followed with an article suggesting that the project may require [...]
Hammerson upbeat on signs of UK recovery July 29, 2013 HAMMERSON, the Anglo-French property firm that owns shopping centres including London’s Brent Cross, said it had seen a pick-up in overseas retailers looking to launch in the UK in a sign of returning confidence in the market. Chief executive David Atkins said despite the continued squeeze on household budgets, macro-economic conditions were showing encouraging [...]
Analyst Views: What did you make of Hammerson’s half-year results ? July 29, 2013 JAMES CARSWELL | PEEL HUNT Value Retail is the reason Hammerson’s results show it is outperforming its retail property peers – the valuation was down slightly in the first half excluding Value Retail but when included its valuation is up. The rise in dividend is also worth noting as it shows management are quite confident [...]
Travelodge warns on taxes July 29, 2013 TRAVELODGE yesterday warned the government that plans to build new hotels across London could become “unviable” because of “extortionate charges” it faces from the community infrastructure levy (CIL). In a letter to Eric Pickles, the local government secretary, Travelodge managing director Paul Harvey said that the budget hotel chain plans to develop 95 hotels across [...]
Tribunal: Shiret faced age bias July 29, 2013 CITY analyst Tony Shiret was unfairly dismissed and suffered age discrimination by employer Credit Suisse, a tribunal has ruled. Shiret could now be in line for a seven figure payout as compensation. The retail analyst was made redundant in June 2011 at the age of 55. He had been working at the bank for 18 [...]