Apple passes 25 billion app downloads March 4, 2012 APPLE hit 25bn app downloads this weekend, continuing a string of milestones reached in the last month by the world’s most valuable company. And the announcements are set to keep rolling as Apple is expected to reveal the latest iPad to the world this Wednesday, exactly a year after the iPad 2 was released in [...]
Huge energy costs are the new debt crisis March 4, 2012 GREAT. Just as we begin to think of a world saved from immediate financial collapse as the 7th Cavalry that is the European Central Bank’s (ECB) Long-Term Refinancing Operations (LTRO) and Anglo-Saxon QE swamp the banks with liquidity, along comes the next crisis. The new kid on the block is a familiar foe: exploding energy [...]
Every day a Good Hair Day as John Lovering joins GHD board March 4, 2012 DEALMAKER John Lovering has been drafted in as non-executive chairman of GHD Group, makers of the popular GHD hair straighteners. Lovering, who is also a non-executive chairman at Maplin, has joined the board as part of a reshuffle at the brand, which is majority owned by Montagu Private Equity. Finance director Mark Hall is moving [...]
City jobs market shows early signs of recovery March 4, 2012 HIRING in the City has fallen sharply over the last year – but the decline in recruitment appears to have stabilised, Astbury Marsden said today. The recruiters estimated there were 3,585 financial services vacancies last month, down 38 per cent on the 5,800 available in the same month of 2011. Tough economic conditions are to [...]
Prime property prices soaring March 4, 2012 Average prices for prime central London property rose 0.7 per cent in February and 11.6 per cent in the past 12 months, figures from Knight Frank revealed today. The jump takes prices 43 per cent above their credit crunch low point in March 2009, and 8.9 per cent higher than their previous peak in March [...]
Solvency II to hit wider economy March 4, 2012 Insurance industry regulations Solvency II will damage the pensions industry and wider economy, KPMG warned today. Increased capital requirements could make the return on annuities fall to an unacceptable level, making the business uneconomical for insurers. The economy may suffer as insurers move investments away from areas like infrastructure, KPMG said.
Firms say UK economy may be improving March 4, 2012 BRITISH firms are increasingly confident about the economy’s prospects making a return to recession less likely, according to Lloyds Bank’s business barometer, published today. However, economic growth is still likely to be slow, forecasts out today from the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) show, and research from RBS suggests firms are still unwilling to invest [...]
Family lending up in finance squeeze March 4, 2012 ALMOST one-third of Britons are not currently saving and increasing numbers of young people are relying on loans from their parents, according to a finance survey published today. Family lending has jumped by over one-third in the last five years, according to Scottish Widows’ annual savings and investments report, and the average amount loaned to [...]
Mining deals surge with China gaining traction in market March 4, 2012 CHINA is snapping up fast-growing miners in new markets while Western firms “play it safe”, according to figures from PwC out today. Mining titans in the US, Canada and Australia still make up the lion’s share of the takeover market, representing 53 per cent of buy-side activity by value in 2011. But firms in developed [...]
Audit watchdog to cut fees after making savings March 4, 2012 THE spending watchdog for England’s local authorities has said today it will cut audit fees by 40 per cent. The Audit Commission, which will be abolished this year, said outsourcing and internal cost-savings meant audit fees for most local public bodies will fall by £250m over five years. The savings will come in part from [...]