Sales drop at owner of Argos and Homebase March 15, 2012 Home Retail, the owner of Argos and Homebase, reported a big drop in sales in the eight weeks to 25 February, sending shares down 0.6 per cent. Argos sales decreased 8.5 per cent, while like-for-like sales at Homebase dropped 6.5 per cent, worse than the full year decline of 2 per cent. Despite this Home [...]
Lloyds to sell £1.4bn of Australian loans March 15, 2012 Lloyds Banking Group has started the sale of 2.1bn Australian dollars (£1.4bn) of non-performing loans on distressed property in Australia as the group seeks to wind down non-core assets, according to reports. The move is the second round of sales after the bank offloaded 1.7bn Australian dollars of distressed property loans to Morgan Stanley and [...]
Ratings agency Fitch places UK on negative outlook March 14, 2012 BIG government debts and a slower than expected economic recovery have seen the UK’s outlook slashed by another credit rating agency, in a major blow to chancellor George Osborne. Fitch announced last night that it was revising the UK’s outlook from stable to negative, one week ahead of the Budget – placing pressure on Osborne [...]
Tesco’s UK chief Richard Brasher set to step down March 14, 2012 TESCO’S chief executive of UK operations Richard Brasher is set to step down just one year after taking the position. Group chief executive Philip Clarke will assume responsibility for Tesco’s home operations. Richard Brasher joined Tesco in 1986 and was appointed to its board eight years ago today, on 15 March 2004. He took the [...]
Stunned Goldman is forced to fight for its reputation March 14, 2012 NOTORIOUSLY private investment bank Goldman Sachs was last night forced to make public an internal email reassuring its 30,000 employees, after a tumultuous day saw a disgruntled ex-employee write a scathing attack on the firm in the New York Times newspaper, after he had resigned. The employee’s critique of the bank, in which it was [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING March 14, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES FINANCIAL AUTHORITY URGED TO DROP OPAQUE CHARGES The new Financial Conduct Authority should use its powers to remove opaque banking charges and make it cheaper for new lenders to enter the market, a panel that represents the interests of retail customers has urged. In a paper to be published today, the Financial Services [...]
Facebook traders charged by SEC March 14, 2012 Two private funds established specifically to acquire Facebook shares have been charged by the Securities and Exchange Commission for “misleading investors and pocketing undisclosed fees.” The SEC claims the fund managers – Frank Mazzola and Laurence Albukerk – collectively raised more than $70m. The Commission also charged online trading platform SharesPost, which has been facilitating private [...]
Tube stops to have Wi-Fi March 14, 2012 London’s commuters will be able to connect to the internet while underground from July when a Wi-Fi network is rolled out across the Tube. Virgin Media will sponsor free Wi-Fi during the Olympics at 80 of the London Underground’s 270 stops. A further 40 stations will be added to the network after the summer, when [...]
Jobs rise as confidence boosts hiring March 14, 2012 JOBLESSNESS fell again from its November peak, new data showed yesterday, but youth unemployment hit a new high. Unemployment stood at 2.666m in the three months to January, down 5,000 on the same period to December and 19,000 a month earlier, figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed, though the changes are small [...]
City bonuses tumble as price rises keep outstripping wages March 14, 2012 FINANCIAL services workers saw weekly pay fall in January as bonuses came in far lower than last year, data showed yesterday. Wages in the industry fell to an average of £592 per week, down one per cent on the same month of 2011 figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed. January was the [...]