FTSE 350 chairmen are failing to inspire a governance culture December 11, 2011 ONLY 10 per cent of chairmen provide any meaningful insights into how they implement an appropriate governance culture throughout their organisation, according to Grant Thornton’s FTSE 350 corporate governance review. The report also revealed that only 43 per cent of chairmen use their annual report statement to refer to the company’s governance practice. Simon Lowe, [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS December 11, 2011 KPMG KPMG has appointed Paul Sawdon as UK head of its internal audit practice. Sawdon has been a partner at KPMG for the past ten years, where he has worked on a variety of audit projects, including developing the firm’s extended assurance proposition. He takes over from David Defroand, who leaves to devote himself to [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS December 11, 2011 HAYS Shore Capital rates the recruitment group as a “hold” with a target price of 63p, but makes downgrades to its estimates, seeing exposure to Europe and high Australian conversion rates as negative pressures. The broker lowers its earnings per share forecasts for 2012, 2013 and 2014 by 4 per cent, 16.7 per cent and [...]
FTSE up despite Europe summit concerns December 9, 2011 The UK’s top share index has closed higher as investors took the positives from the agreements at the European summit. Talk of potential Chinese investment in Europe and improving economic data in the US also lifted sentiment. While not the emphatic solution to the Eurozone’s two-year old debt crisis some had hoped for, EU countries [...]
US trade gap narrows sharply in October December 9, 2011 The US trade deficit narrowed in October to its lowest in 10 months, but imports from China hit a record high, a new government report has shown. The trade gap totaled $43.5bn, in line with a consensus estimate from analysts before the report. However, the Commerce Department revised its estimate of the September trade deficit [...]
Markets choppy as Europe rift widens December 9, 2011 The FTSE began to slip this morning as investors digested the impact of a new Eurozone agreement over fiscal integration which was shunned by Britain. Britain torpedoed the chances of a consensus as Prime Minister David Cameron refused to accept plans for a financial transactions tax that would clobber the City. Three French banks were [...]
Trade deficit narrows as exports hit record high December 9, 2011 Britain’s trade deficit narrowed at its fastest pace since records began in October, as the value of exports hit a record high, official data showed. The figures provide a glimmer of hope for Britain’s flagging economy, but are unlikely to alter expectations that the Bank of England will have to inject more stimulus to support [...]
UK shuns Eurozone agreement December 9, 2011 Europe divided in a historic rift over building a fiscal union to preserve the euro, with a large majority of countries led by Germany and France agreeing to move ahead with a separate treaty, leaving Britain isolated. Twenty-three of the 27 leaders agreed to pursue tighter integration with stricter budget rules for the single currency [...]
Toyota halves profit forecast December 9, 2011 Toyota has cut its profit forecast for this business year by more than half as it continues to suffer from a stronger yen and widespread output disruptions due to Thailand’s floods. Toyota is poised for a record year in production next year, as it rebuilds inventories and puts behind it the natural disasters in Japan [...]
Moody’s downgrades three French banks December 9, 2011 Ratings agency Moody’s downgraded the debt of BNP Paribas, Societe Generale and Credit Agricole saying their creditworthiness was being hurt by the fragile operating environment for European banks. Moody’s cut its ratings on the long-term debt of BNP and Credit Agicole by one notch to Aa3, concluding reviews that began in June and were continued [...]