Time Line | the shifting landscape of uk taxes March 24, 2010 9 November 2009 50 per cent bank bonus tax on anything over £25,000 introduced as government reacts to anger at financial institutions. 1 January 2010 Rate of VAT goes back up from 15 to 17.5 per cent as planned when the change was brought in at the height of the recession. 1 January 2010 Stamp [...]
CITY VIEWS: WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THIS YEAR’S BUDGET? March 24, 2010 CRAIG BENNETT | PGI GROUP “The stamp duty is definitely a good idea for new starters. The 3p fuel rise on the cost of our already increasing bills isn’t very good. Why should we be taxed more if we earn more? I don’t think that is correct at all.” DAVID THORNBERRY | CHRISTCHURCH INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT [...]
Government’s Lloyds stake sees a profit March 24, 2010 STOCK in Lloyds Banking Group, 41 per cent state-owned, is trading above the government’s average investment per share on at least one measure for the first time since the credit crunch. Most analysts say a government sell-off is highly unlikely before the general election expected in early May, with parliament expected to be dissolved just [...]
WHAT DOES THE CHANCELLOR’S BUDGET MEAN FOR YOU? March 24, 2010 KATE SOLWAY, 30 FUNDS CONTROLLER AT PRIVATE EQUITY FIRM COGNETAS Kate is single and lives in rented accommodation with flatmates. She also owns two investment properties – one a London flat with a mortgage which she rents out, and the other a holiday home under construction in Cape Verde, which she owns outright and will [...]
Chancellor slashes stamp duty for first-time buyers March 24, 2010 ALISTAIR Darling has said stamp duty will be scrapped on house purchases up to £250,000 for first-time buyers – to be funded by a five per cent levy on those buying homes over £1m. The chancellor unveiled the measures in his budget in which he said the economy was at a “crossroads”. Meanwhile he said [...]
Three Alstom directors arrested in fraud probe March 24, 2010 THREE directors of transport and infrastructure group Alstom have been arrested in a UK corruption investigation by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO). The arrests followed a raid on the French firms offices across the UK as well as residential addresses. The SFO said in a statement it believed bribes had been paid in order to [...]
easyJet lands Guardian executive as new boss March 24, 2010 BUDGET airline easyJet has chosen Guardian Media Group chief executive Carolyn McCall to replace chief executive Andy Harrison. McCall who has been at the helm of the publisher of The Guardian and The Observer for four years, said the switch as a “once in a lifetime opportunity.” She has been with GMG for 24 years, [...]
Bellway to raise dividend after profit surge March 24, 2010 HOUSEBUILDER Bellway will raise its dividend after reporting healthy first half profits. The firm, Britain’s fifth largest housebuilder by market value, made £19m in the six months to the end of January, compared with a loss of £48.6m in the same period the year before. It completed sales of 2,247 homes compared with 2,014 – [...]
Lloyds of London hits record profit March 24, 2010 THE Lloyd’s of London insurance market said its profit more than doubled last year to a new record thanks to a quiet hurricane season and lucrative investments. Pre-tax profit was £3.87bn – up from £1.9bnin 2008, when the market was forced to pay out massive sums after communities and businesses were torn apart by hurricanes [...]
Sainsbury’s sales growth at five-year low March 24, 2010 SAINSBURY’S has reported its smallest rise in underlying quarterly sales in almost five years. Britain’s third biggest grocery chain said stores open at least one year rose 1.7 per cent, excluding fuel, in the fourth quarter. Sales rose 3.7 per cent in the third quarter but a slowdown in price inflation and economic uncertainty before [...]