Zurich profits up as chief executive’s turnaround plan takes hold February 9, 2017 Profits at Zurich soared as the Swiss insurer cut costs and operating profit at its general insurance segment rose by 182 per cent. The figures Full year net income attributable to shareholders rose 74 per cent to $3.2bn (£2.6bn). Fourth quarter income swung from a loss of $424m in 2015 to a gain of $685m. [...]
EU leaders hint there’s little to gain by choking off the City’s air in Brexit deal February 9, 2017 Pragmatism is rearing its head on the continent. Alongside recent comments from German finance minister Schauble, who has stressed the importance to Europe’s economy of finding a workable and balanced Brexit deal, we can now add EU commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis. In an exclusive interview with City A.M. today, he says it is not the EU’s aim [...]
We must take a wrecking ball to political correctness to achieve our true economic potential February 9, 2017 Just how big is the size of the state in the UK? A simple question you might think. Surely all you need is a numerator (a tax or public spending measure) and a denominator (a GDP measure)? Divide one by the other and hey presto there’s your size measure – as a proportion of GDP. [...]
UK’s small businesses confident it can grow profits as it turns to global exports after Brexit February 9, 2017 Small businesses in the UK are confident about their future business prospects in the face of Brexit as they move their focus to export growth, according to a survey of executives. Half of British small-business executives think they can increase revenues by at least four cent over the next year, according to the survey by [...]
Scandal-hit Francois Fillon could gift Marine Le Pen the French presidency February 9, 2017 His campaign is in serious crisis, but Francois Fillon – candidate of the centre-right after a convincing victory in the primaries – said on Monday that he will continue to fight to become the next President of France despite a scandal engulfing him and his family. Trying to save his campaign, he apologised to the French [...]
Home sales were sluggish in January February 9, 2017 Home sales stayed sluggish in January, according to industry experts, with central London suffering a decline in sales. According to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics), house sales lacked "momentum" in January, but an overall shortage of housing stock is still pushing up house prices and rents. The gloomy outlook comes after the government [...]
Anglo American Platinum chief exec Chris Griffith injured after encounter with buffalo February 9, 2017 Anglo American Platinum’s (Amplats) chief executive has been injured by a buffalo while on holiday, the company said yesterday. Chris Griffith, who was appointed chief executive of the 94bn rand (£5.6bn) company in September 2012, had appeared at Mining Indaba, an industry conference in Cape Town this week in a wheelchair. Amplats said in a statement, he “had an encounter [...]
Treasury Select Committee chair slams dodgy maths on costs of scrapping the yearly tax return February 9, 2017 The chair of the influential Treasury Select Committee today questioned the figures which have been produced so far for the cost to businesses of HM Revenue and Customs' (HMRC) Making Tax Digital project. The taxman's landmark initiative, which will see people update HMRC on their financial details throughout the year rather than filling out a [...]
Dry January wasn’t much of a draw this year as two-thirds opted not to bin the booze February 9, 2017 Despite the grumbling you may have heard, not everyone did Dry January last month. In fact, according to research into the late night economy from The Deltic Group, over two thirds of people didn't take part this year. That was though, still more than last year when 84 per cent didn't take part. The report of [...]
Apple boss Tim Cook hits out at Donald Trump’s travel ban again February 8, 2017 Apple boss Tim Cook has again stressed his opposition to President Donald Trump’s travel ban. “We have employees that secured a work visa, they brought family to the US, but happened to be outside the US when the executive order was issued and all of a sudden their families were affected. They couldn’t get back [...]