Gloomy manufacturing output raises fears of renewed slump November 22, 2012 UK MANUFACTURING output will fall over the next three months, businesses said in a survey out yesterday, leading analysts to suggest the economy could slip back into decline in the fourth quarter. Of the 409 manufacturers responding to the Confederation of British Industry’s (CBI) industrial trends survey for November, only 19 per cent expect to [...]
Chinese factories bounce back November 22, 2012 China’s manufacturing sector turned around recent bad times in November, according to a business survey out yesterday, hitting a 13 month high in output. China’s overall purchasing managers’ index for the manufacturing sector hit 50.4 in November, the figures from Markit and HSBC showed, just above the crucial no change level of 50, and thus back [...]
MPs want new rules on honours November 22, 2012 The Public Administration Select Committee (Pasc) this morning called for firmer rules on honour forfeiture, instead of so-called trials by media like that it says contributed to former RBS boss Fred Goodwin losing his knighthood. Pasc says ever since the Goodwin case, the committee has been peppered with “calls for the forfeiture of the honours [...]
Network Rail’s debts soar as it upgrades track November 22, 2012 THE OWNER of Britain’s railway has posted a rise in profits as it makes progress in upgrading the network, though its debt pile has ballooned by almost £1bn to £28bn in the space of six months. Network Rail, the not-for-dividend body responsible for maintaining tracks and signalling, spent £2.06bn on improving the railway in the [...]
Grainger net asset value jumps as it focuses on the south east November 22, 2012 RESIDENTIAL landlord Grainger yesterday pledged to reduce its net debt to under £1bn over the next 12 months as it posted a strong set of full-year results. The FTSE 250 residential property owner-manager said net asset value increased 3.2 per cent to 223p for the year to 30 September, thanks to its focus on the [...]
Housebuilders welcome further funding boost to spur growth November 22, 2012 HOUSEBUILDERS and industry executives welcomed government plans yesterday to provide an extra £225m funding to help unblock a number of stalled schemes to deliver 48,600 new homes. Speaking at the National House-Building Council annual lunch deputy prime minister Nick Clegg warned that the UK has “been under-building for decades” with more than 100,000 homes needing [...]
E.ON loses its appeal against €38m EU seal tampering fine November 22, 2012 ENERGY group E.ON must pay a €38m (£30m) fine for breaking a seal on a door during a European Commission antitrust raid in 2006. E.ON yesterday lost its appeal against the penalty, which was imposed after a surprise inspection at the firm’s E.ON Energie offices in Munich. Because the probe took place over several days, [...]
Helical Bar chief Mike Slade: it is time to kick-start building November 22, 2012 HELICAL BAR chief executive Mike Slade gave an upbeat outlook on the property market yesterday and declared “it is time to start building” as the developer reported a solid rise in first half profits. The group reported a better-than-expected rise in net asset value per share, up 0.8 per cent to 252p, driven by £4.7m [...]
SEC gets glut of tip-offs from UK November 22, 2012 More than one in 10 tip-offs about corporate wrongdoing received by the US Securities and Exchange Commission came from overseas in the year to April, with British whistleblowers topping the list, said a global investigations firm yesterday. Nearly one in four of the 324 overseas tip-offs came from Britain, according to Kroll, with the promise [...]
Earnings lift at Jet2 parent November 22, 2012 Dart Group, the parent company of low-cost airline and holiday group Jet2, yesterday posted a 37 per cent rise in pre-tax profits to £57m for the six months to the end of September. The firm said a strong summer had driven a 31 per cent rise in turnover to £584.5m, though it warned that a [...]