Game Group shares fall 70% on administration fears March 12, 2012 Computer games retailer Game has warned investors that their shares could be worthless as it struggles to source new products from suppliers, causing shares to plummet by over 70 per cent in early trading. The group, which trades from about 1,270 stores in nine European markets and Australia, said this morning it remained in talks [...]
UK INCOMES TO FALL FOR THIRD YEAR IN A ROW March 11, 2012 STUBBORNLY high inflation will squeeze Britons’ purse strings even tighter this year, according to a leading group of economists. Rising energy and commodity prices mean that disposable incomes will fall in real terms for the third year in a row, the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) will warn today. Inflation is likely to [...]
Accountants hit out at Clegg’s tycoon tax March 11, 2012 INDEPENDENT accountants have shot down deputy prime minister Nick Clegg’s call for a “tycoon tax”. Addressing his party faithful at their spring conference in Gateshead, Clegg attacked “multimillionaires avoiding tax by moving their money around” and claimed that many pay less than 30 per cent or even 20 per cent tax. Yet tax experts at [...]
Trader event set for May March 11, 2012 Our annual Active Trader conference, sponsored by IG Index, will bring leading traders, strategists and industry insiders together at a top-notch London hotel to share their insights on 24 May. City A.M. has combined its intimate knowledge of the City with the full range of expertise featured in its regular trading pages to produce a [...]
Michael Heseltine returns March 11, 2012 THE GOVERNMENT has drafted in former deputy prime minister Michael Heseltine, who is said to be tasked with drafting a report on the competitiveness of the UK economy. Heseltine has also teamed up with business secretary Vince Cable to formulate an “industrial policy” that would aim to boost Britain’s manufacturing industry. His re-emergence in government [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING March 11, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES SEC LAUNCHES EXCHANGE PROBE The US market regulator has launched a broad investigation into whether exchanges favour large trading companies at the expense of smaller customers. The enforcement inquiries emerged from examinations by the Securities and Exchange Commission of how exchange operators, some of which also regulate their customers, manage conflicts of interest [...]
Japanese economy recovering March 11, 2012 Japan’s core machinery orders rose in January, according to figures out this morning, in a sign that rebuilding the country’s earthquake-battered northeast coast could propel capital expenditure and support the overall economy. Core machinery orders, which help gauge the strength of capital spending, rose 3.4 per cent in January from the previous month, beating a [...]
KPMG to unveil next UK chair March 11, 2012 The audit and consulting group KPMG is due to announce its next UK chairman today. The race to succeed John Griffiths-Jones as leader of the firm’s UK operations has been whittled down to the last three: global head of transactions and restructuring Simon Collins, Alan Buckle, who has been supervising various European and global activities, [...]
Glencore eyes £3.5bn grain giant buyout March 11, 2012 COMMODITIES giant Glencore has emerged as the mystery bidder for Canadian grain giant Viterra. The Swiss trading firm, currently putting the final touches to a $90bn (£57bn) merger with mining group Xstrata, has made an approach for Viterra, which on Friday told the market it had been subject to expressions of interest. Glencore is already [...]
Record year for train travel in the UK despite price hikes March 11, 2012 THE NUMBER of train journeys made in Britain hit a post-war high in the last year, according to the Association of Train Operating Companies. Despite fares rising by an average of 5.9 per cent in January, passenger numbers rose six per cent in the year to March to surpass 1.4bn – the highest for a [...]