UK’s households some of the least work intensive in the EU January 16, 2013 THE UK has one of the highest rates of so-called low work intensity households out of the 27 members in the EU, data revealed yesterday. In 2011, some 11.5 per cent of people under the age of 60 lived in households where the adults were employed at only 20 per cent or less of their capacity. [...]
Fund manager calls on central banks to shock January 16, 2013 CENTRAL bankers should shock markets more with monetary policy decisions, M&G fund manager Jim Leaviss argued in a note yesterday. Central banks sometimes announce their policy too far in advance, Leaviss said, meaning they may be forced to commit to their policy even if economic circumstances change, or potentially leading to a loss of credibility. “What [...]
Purchases of new cars in EU at 17-year low January 16, 2013 DEMAND for new cars in recession-struck Europe fell to a 17-year low in 2012, according to industry figures released yesterday. Yet motorists in the UK are bucking the downward trend seen elsewhere on the continent. Passenger car registrations across the European Union plummeted by 8.2 per cent last year – the sharpest decline since 1993. [...]
Top investment bankers join up to form boutique advisory firm January 16, 2013 FORMER Morgan Stanley investment banker Simon Robey is teaming up with senior City figure Sir Simon Robertson to form a joint advisory boutique, the latest in a line of veteran dealmakers to quit a large investment bank for pastures new. Robey, whose 25-year career at Morgan Stanley saw him latterly as head of the UK [...]
Bundesbank to repatriate 19pc of gold reserve January 16, 2013 GERMANY’S central bank, the Bundesbank, yesterday bowed to public pressure by agreeing to withdraw 674 tonnes of gold reserves stored at foreign banks by 2020. It will bring back 300 tonnes held in New York, and 374 tonnes currently stored in Paris, to leave roughly half of its total stock of 3,396 tonnes in Frankfurt. Currently [...]
City Moves for 17 January 2013 | Who’s switching jobs January 16, 2013 Lloyds Bank The bank’s commercial banking division has appointed Karin Cook chief operating officer. She joins from HSBC, where she was most recently global chief operating officer for its private bank. Cook has over 20 years’ experience in the industry, and has also held roles at Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. Saffery Champness The accountancy [...]
Best of the Brokers January 16, 2013 DEBENHAMS Andrew Wade at Numis has downgraded Debenhams to “reduce” from “hold” with a target price of 95p, citing concerns over British sales. Although the retailer’s stock had “an exceptional run” during 2012 Wade says the UK business has been going backwards. “[We] believe that transfer into lower margin categories (online, concessions, beauty) may see [...]
The greatest show on earth January 16, 2013 The biggest, loudest, wackiest technology showcase in the world, the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), came to a close in Las Vegas this week, leaving geeks drooling over the gadgets we can expect to see over the next 12 months. The six-day event saw an estimated 20,000 new products from the over-3,000 exhibitors. This year’s event [...]
Blockbuster collapses into administration January 16, 2013 DVD rental firm Blockbuster has become the latest retailer to bite the dust, and today appointed Deloitte as its administrator. The collapse of Blockbuster, which employs 4,190 staff across 528 stores in the UK, comes just two days after high street stalwart HMV hit the rocks. Lee Manning, Matthew David Smith and Neville Kahn, partners [...]
Anglo American leads FTSE 100 down January 16, 2013 Global miner Anglo American led the FTSE 100 down this morning as one of its mines was hit by a strike following yesterday’s review of its platinum operations in South Africa. Amplats, which is 80 per cent owned by parent Anglo American, yesterday said it would divest of a mine complex and close four shafts, [...]