Standard Chartered forecasts 10pc profits rise December 8, 2011 Standard Chartered Bank has said that it expects pretax profit to rise by at least 10 per cent this year to another record, helped by a strong performance in emerging markets such as Singapore and Hong Kong. Net interest margins were also expected to rise from 2010 levels, it said in a filing to the [...]
Tesco sales fall for fourth quarter in a row December 8, 2011 Tesco, the world’s No. 3 retailer, posted a drop in underlying British sales for the fourth quarter in a row on Thursday, overshadowing a more solid performance in its overseas markets. The firm, which takes about one in every 10 pounds spent in British shops, said sales at British stores open over a year, excluding [...]
MERKOZY IN POWER GRAB December 7, 2011 BRITAIN will lose control over corporation tax and employment rules while the City will be battered by a financial transactions tax, if a new plan devised by French and German leaders gets the green light this week. German Chancellor Merkel and French President Sarkozy outlined the controversial demands in a letter to European Council President [...]
Boris calls for referendum December 7, 2011 BORIS Johnson, the Mayor of London, yesterday broke ranks with the Tory leadership by insisting that the treaty changes being proposed by European leaders would need to be put to the British public in a referendum. Johnson’s call for a referendum on plans for a “very dominant economic government” in Europe directly contradicts David Cameron’s [...]
S&P extends its warnings December 7, 2011 CREDIT rating agency Standard & Poor’s piled further pressure on the Eurozone last night by putting the EU’s triple-A rating on downgrade watch. The US agency then added to the beleaguered bloc’s misery by issuing a similar ratings warning to some of the largest banks, including France’s Societe Generale and BNP Paribas, Italy’s UniCredit and Germany’s [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING December 7, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES DUBLIN IS URGED TO SELL NAMA AS A SINGLE ENTITY A secret report into the operations of Ireland’s National Asset Management Agency, the state agency set up to purge Irish banks of their toxic property loans, has recommended that the government should consider selling it off as a single entity. FINANCING PROBLEMS WEIGH [...]
Cameron must be radical on Europe December 7, 2011 ONCE again, the British public is being mis-sold a European treaty. Some of what is being proposed is, as advertised, about “saving” the euro by trying to make it harder for nations to overspend and over-borrow. But what has imposing a Tobin tax on London, to raise billions that would be transferred to Brussels, got [...]
Bomb sent to Ackermann December 7, 2011 A LETTER bomb intended for Deutsche Bank’s chief executive Josef Ackermann was found yesterday, prompting the New York Police Department to step up security at the bank’s Manhattan office. The device, discovered in the mail room of Deutsche Bank’s Frankfurt headquarters at around 1pm local time, did not detonate. An x-ray of the package revealed [...]
Warren Buffett buys solar farm December 7, 2011 Warren Buffett’s wind energy company MidAmerican Energy Holdings yesterday announced its plan to purchase the Topaz Solar Farm for over $2bn (£1.27bn). The 550-megawatt photovoltaic power plant, being built in California, will have the capacity to generate enough renewable energy to power approximately 160,000 homes.
LivingSocial finds new funding December 7, 2011 Daily web offer company LivingSocial said it will raise up to $400m in a new funding round, in a move suggesting plans for a public listing will be put on hold at least several months. The funding round gives the company a valuation of around $6bn, a person familiar with the matter said.