Wincanton trading in line February 7, 2013 Supply chain firm Wincanton said yesterday it continued to trade in line with expectations over the period from October. Its contract logistics business performed “robustly”, winning several new contracts. It plans to open three new distribution centres for retail grocery customers later this year. Within its specialist businesses, the records management continued to perform strongly, [...]
Total to offload fertiliser units February 7, 2013 French oil major Total has received a firm offer from chemicals company Borealis to acquire GPN, a wholly-owned Total subsidiary and France’s largest nitrogen fertiliser manufacturer. The Austrian chemicals and plastic solutions company has also made an offer to acquire Total’s 57 per cent stake in Belgian fertiliser manufacturer Rosier, for €200 (£171) a share.
Level of home ownership at a 25 year low February 7, 2013 THE PROPORTION of households that are owner occupied has slumped to its lowest level in 25 years, according to government data published yesterday, with more people locked into the rental market. Just 65.3 per cent of dwelling were lived in by their owners in 2011/12, down from 66 per cent the previous year and a [...]
Boom in vacancies in January brings hope for the unemployed February 7, 2013 THE EMPLOYMENT boom was still continuing apace in January, according to figures released this morning. Both temporary and permanent jobs were being added during the first month of 2013, KPMG and the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) said, while vacancies were also on the up. Temporary billings increased for the sixth month in a row, [...]
Trade gap narrows as 2012 ends due to £769m export increase February 7, 2013 THE UK’S trade deficit narrowed from £3.6bn in November to £3.2bn in December, according to data out yesterday. The overall narrowing was driven by a £769m – 1.9 per cent – jump in exports, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said, outweighing a £393m bump to imports. But this end of year improvement could not [...]
Spanish industry collapses as German factories bounce back February 7, 2013 INDUSTRIAL production crashed in Spain, over the year to December, but recovered in Germany during the same month. Spanish industry produced 8.5 per cent less in December than it did a year before, according to data put out by its official statistical body, INE, yesterday. This was worse than November, when production was down seven [...]
Think tank says UK will see no growth in first quarter of 2013 February 7, 2013 THE UK is set to stay stuck in a growth plateau for a further three months, according to forecasts released yesterday. GDP will stay completely flat during the first quarter of 2013, the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) said, quashing hopes the economy would reverse some of the decline suffered in the [...]
Jobless claims still high in US after recession February 7, 2013 NEW US jobless claims fell slightly in the final week of January, according to data out yesterday. New unemployment insurance applications were 366,000 in the week ending 2 February, according to the seasonally-adjusted measure, the Department of Labor said, down 5,000 on a week earlier. But the level remained within touching distance with the number [...]
Finance lessons on curriculum February 7, 2013 FINANCIAL education will be taught in all schools by 2014, under plans put out for consultation yesterday by education secretary Michael Gove. The new national curriculum will include basic household matters such as budgeting, as well as wages, taxes, debt, financial risk “and a range of more sophisticated financial products and services”. However Gove has [...]
Industry slump gets deeper February 7, 2013 THE INDUSTRIAL decline that made a big contribution to last quarter’s fall in GDP was even bigger than originally estimated, according to data out yesterday. Industrial production was 1.9 per cent lower in the fourth quarter of 2012 than in the third, according to data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). This was the [...]