Pensioners in protest over Budget cuts March 22, 2012 GEORGE Osborne was forced to defend his “granny tax” Budget yesterday after pensioners’ groups attacked his “outrageous assault” on older people. The chancellor (pictured) said pensioners would be “better off” despite his shock decision to phase out their age-related allowances, first introduced by Winston Churchill in 1925. Saga boss Ros Altmann criticised the move, at a [...]
Storage tax to backfire March 22, 2012 BIG Yellow Group’s stock plunged four per cent on the Budget’s surprise announcement that self-storage units could from October no longer be exempt from value added tax. In the name of correcting VAT anomalies and closing loopholes, Osborne outlined that self-storage will be taxed as other forms of storage and no longer be classed as [...]
WHAT DO YOU THINK OF VAT BEING ADDED TO HOT TAKEAWAY ITEMS?* March 22, 2012 MELISSA CARSTENS | MIZUHO “At the moment, prices have been going up anyway. It’s a treat getting pasties and hot sandwiches, so people will probably continue to look at it as non-essential and stop buying it so frequently.” KAT ROSTAMI | CALVIN KLEIN “I think the addition of the VAT will deter some people from [...]
Government to ban cheap alcohol sales March 22, 2012 THE GOVERNMENT will today announce the introduction of a minimum price for alcohol as part of measures that aim to reduce the social impact of excessive drinking. New legislation will force retailers to charge a minimum of 40p per unit of alcohol. Prime Minister David Cameron has also promised to ban bulk-buy discount deals in [...]
Analysts blame Mervyn King for economy’s credit drought March 22, 2012 THE BANK of England is creating a “corrosive” environment for credit, according to analysts at UBS, while its claim that regulations are not to blame for choking off lending “holds no water”, they said. Respected banking analysts John-Paul Crutchley and Alastair Ryan accuse BoE governor Mervyn King of failing to recognise that if bank shares do [...]
Morgan Stanley loses corporate broker Cochran to BG Group March 22, 2012 MORGAN Stanley is losing Alistair Cochran from its UK corporate broking team. He is joining the exploration group BG to head up its mergers and acquisitions department. Cochran joined Morgan Stanley in 2004 from Credit Suisse along with Alisdair Gayne, as the US bank looked to build out its corporate broking franchise. A managing director, [...]
UPBEAT NIKE TARGETS MORE GROWTH March 22, 2012 NIKE headed into the spring quarter with strong demand and improving margin trends, as the top sportswear retailer forecast a strong year with plans to cash in on the Olympics. The firm saw futures orders for delivery from March through July rise 15 per cent, with chief executive Mark Parker (above) saying he is optimistic about [...]
M&A activity still in slump March 22, 2012 NERVOUS companies have held off from buying up or merging with rivals so far this year, with global activity down by almost half on a year ago, according to Thomson Reuters’ latest figures. The market is particularly subdued in Europe, where the value of announced M&A deals has slumped to its lowest quarterly level by [...]
Glencore deal bonanza helps prop up a struggling market March 22, 2012 THE M&A MARKET might be moribund in 2012, but a handful of massive deals have helped prop up activity figures – and the rankings of several top banks. Glencore’s long-awaited advances on Xstrata in February added $48.9bn to Thomson Reuters’ M&A values for the first quarter of the year. And the army of banks working [...]
Next calls for Sunday boost as sales jump March 22, 2012 NEXT CHIEF executive Lord Simon Wolfson said a permanent relaxation of Britain’s Sunday trading hours could add £40-£50m to the fashion retailer’s annual turnover. In Wednesday’s Budget chancellor George Osborne said he will introduce legislation lifting the six-hour limit on opening hours for larger stores over eight weekends from 22 July covering the Olympics. Wolfson [...]