CBI: recovery on way for the high street October 27, 2009 SALES on Britain’s high streets grew in October at their fastest annual rate in almost two years, the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) said yesterday, raising hopes that the retail sector will see a recovery sooner rather than later. In its monthly distributive trades survey, the business lobby said that a net balance of eight [...]
IS BP RIDING OUT THE THE SLUMP IN OIL PRICES? October 27, 2009 MALCOLM GRAHAM-WOOD HANSONWESTHOUSE“Try as I might, I can’t find any flaws in the numbers and the company is reaping the reward of the action taken by Tony Hayward, in particular to attack the cost base.” TONY SHEPARD CHARLES STANLEY“These were a good set of figures from BP and sets a high benchmark for other oil [...]
Postal strife hurts Barratt October 27, 2009 PROPERTY group Barratt Developments yesterday voiced concerns that national postal strikes might affect the take-up of its £720m rights issue. Barratt Developments issued a notice to shareholders urging them to promptly take up their share entitlement, or use another courier service to return their applications. In a statement to the stock market yesterday, the company [...]
Big Four accountants retain hold over blue-chip audit jobs October 27, 2009 ATTEMPTS to inject more competition into firms that audit UK company books have suffered a setback as figures released yesterday showed the “Big Four” accountants maintaining their stranglehold on the sector. The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) set up a market participants group three years ago which made recommendations to spread this business more evenly. It [...]
STRIKE ANNOUNCEMENT DUE October 27, 2009 The postal union will announce today whether it is pressing on with a three-day strike, due to start tomorrow. The CWU has been in talks with Royal Mail bosses after a 48-hour walk-out among postal staff last week, which threw businesses into chaos. Workers are protesting over modernisation. Politicians and business leaders have urged both [...]
Government gets tough on credit cards October 27, 2009 GOVERNMENT plans designed to help consumers pay off debt faster met a mixed reaction yesterday. Revealing the government’s intention to reduce the amount of overall interest paid, consumer minister Kevin Brennan said it is time credit and store card firms “get their act together”. He added: “My opinion is clear, the current relationship between card [...]
Boris stands firm on Crossrail October 27, 2009 LONDON Mayor Boris Johnson yesterday secured the support of business organisation London First as he continued to insist investing in Crossrail and London’s transport network was essential for the Capital’s economic prosperity. Attending the launch of a report published by London First into the benefits of maintaining investment in transport, Johnson said his commitment to [...]
FSA warns over 24bn of risky investment products October 27, 2009 RETAIL investors may have been sold up to £24bn of structured investment products that were more risky than their sellers admitted, a probe by the City watchdog Financial Services Authority (FSA) found yesterday. The FSA said a review of these products, backed by now collapsed Lehman Brothers, found the sales advice was “unsuitable” or “unclear” [...]
Pawnbroker H&T cashes in on surge in gold prices October 26, 2009 PAWNBROKER H&T cheered the market yesterday after revealing its rapid roll out of gold buying stores boosted trading “well ahead of expectations”. Investors responded favourably – sending its shares up five per cent to close at 300p. Since April the group has aggressively developed its gold-buying business, called Gold Bar stores, and has opened 56 [...]
Banks agree new FSA code for reporting October 26, 2009 THE MAJOR UK-based banks have agreed to implement a new code for financial reporting which aims to address investor concerns over the disclosure of complex, risky products. The Financial Services Authority (FSA) yesterday confirmed that the institutions – including bailed-out banks Lloyds Banking Group and Royal Bank of Scotland – have agreed to apply the [...]