Moody’s says Olympics will give UK economy minor boost May 1, 2012 The Olympic Games in London this summer will likely provide only a temporary boost to corporate earnings, credit ratings agency Moody’s said. Britain, which went back into recession at the start of 2012, has spent nine billion pounds building the Olympics venues in east London and hopes the Games will be a catalyst to help [...]
FTSE edges up as Lloyds gains May 1, 2012 The FTSE 100 clawed back some lost ground in early trading with Lloyds among the top gainers after quarterly results that matched forecasts. London’s blue-chip index ended April in negative territory yesterday – its second consecutive monthly loss – as concerns rose over Spain’s economy and political tensions in Europe took their toll. Meanwhile UK [...]
UK manufacturing growth slows May 1, 2012 British manufacturing eked out growth in April as an economic slowdown in the euro zone curbed demand for goods made in Britain, a survey showed, raising the risk of a longer recession. The unexpectedly sharp slowdown will also fuel a debate over the chances of further monetary stimulus from the Bank of England (BoE), after [...]
Man Group says client outflows slow May 1, 2012 Man Group said clients pulled out less of their cash in the first three months of this year than in the previous quarter, raising hopes that the beleaguered hedge fund manager may soon stabilise its business after a dire past six months. The firm, whose share price has fallen by almost 60 percent since September [...]
Xstrata copper production dips May 1, 2012 Miner Xstrata, which is moving into the final stages of a record tie-up with commodities trader Glencore, posted a drop in first-quarter copper production as it prepares for the ramp up of key projects in the second half of the year. Xstrata, which said all its major projects were making good progress and remained on [...]
Lloyds warns of ‘long and difficult’ path to recovery May 1, 2012 Lloyds said it would set aside another £375m to cover compensation for people mis-sold insurance, while it faced a “long and difficult” path to recovery. Lloyds, 40-per cent owned by the government after a bailout during the financial crisis, said the increased provision reflected a rise in the volume of complaints received in February and [...]
BP profit falls as Gulf spill takes toll May 1, 2012 Oil najor BP reported a bigger-than-expected drop in profits despite an increase in crude prices, as production fell after it was forced to sell fields to pay for the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. London-based BP added it would continue its disposal programme, putting some smaller fields in the Gulf of Mexico on the block. [...]
Legal firms hit by fresh downturn April 30, 2012 LONDON’S increasingly embattled legal sector suffered a further blow yesterday, as magic circle stalwart Slaughter and May froze associate salaries and Herbert Smith announced 51 redundancies in its City office. Only second-year associates at Slaughters will see their pay packets rise, though by less than one per cent, while salary bands for the firm’s other [...]
Eurozone crisis erupts as recession spreads April 30, 2012 SPAIN confirmed yesterday that it had slipped back into a technical recession during the first three months of the year, kicking off a gloomy start to the week as a slew of downbeat data renewed fears over the single currency area. Eurozone woes were compounded by figures from crisis-struck Greece, which showed retail sales are [...]
Regulator faces backlash on expensive new offices April 30, 2012 THE BANK of England is spending millions of pounds extra to house the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) a few hundred yards away in Moorgate, instead of keeping it a short DLR journey away in Canary Wharf, it was announced yesterday. However, financial services groups and MPs denounced the move as “lavish” at a time when [...]