Great Portland sees its office valuations jump November 11, 2009 GREAT Portland Estates yesterday signalled a tentative return to health for the commercial real estate sector as it revealed a jump in valuations over the past quarter and announced a lucrative new West End property deal. Great Portland, which in May tapped investors for £560m in a rights issue, said its properties were valued at [...]
Insurers call for rethink on capital limits November 11, 2009 INSURERS yesterday called on European regulators to widen their rethink on draconian capital restrictions proposed under the Solvency II reforms. The Association of British Insurers (ABI) welcomed indications that Europe was open to relaxing some rules for annuity providers that could potentially cost UK insurers up to £50bn a year if implemented in their current [...]
Darling announces date for his pre-budget report November 11, 2009 CHANCELLOR Alistair Darling will deliver his crucial pre-budget report on 9 December, drawing the battle lines for the general election. Darling said the PBR’s first priority would be to continue to support the economy until the recovery is established, echoing the agreement of G20 finance ministers last weekend to keep fiscal stimulus in place. His [...]
Swiss regulator unveils its plans for banker pay November 11, 2009 Switzerland’s largest banks and insurers will have to defer the bulk of managers’ bonuses and better match pay to performance under new rules aimed at curbing risky investments. Swiss financial regulator FINMA had planned to impose the rules on the vast majority of the financial sector, but watered down its original proposals after industry lobbies [...]
Non-food to drive growth at Sainsbury’s November 11, 2009 J SAINSBURY has pinned its growth hopes on a bold expansion of its non-food offering, with plans to take on market leaders Tesco and Asda in larger-format stores. Unveiling a robust 18 per cent rise in first half profits to £307m yesterday, chief executive Justin King outlined a £2bn expansion programme for the next two [...]
Reassurance on UK growth boosts the blue chip index November 11, 2009 BRITAIN’S top share index closed higher yesterday, as risk appetite received a boost after reassuring signals on the UK economy, and with miners the biggest gainers after a jump in Chinese factory growth. The FTSE 100 index ended 36.20 points higher, or 0.7 per cent, at 5,266.75, having touched a high of 5,301.14 earlier in [...]
China data pulls up Dow and S&P 500 November 11, 2009 THE Dow and the Standard & Poor’s 500 index closed at 13-month highs last night as an upbeat forecast from a top homebuilder and data from China pointed to a strengthening global economy. The Dow’s advance was its sixth straight as comments from top Federal Reserve officials suggesting low interest rates will stay for some [...]
MARTHA LANE FOX ON SIDE FOR CITY LADIES November 11, 2009 WOMEN who’ve made it to the top in business are creatures all too rare, even in this day and age, so it’s refreshing to find someone who’s willing to put her cards on the table when it comes to supporting the fairer sex. Martha Lane Fox – government digital inclusion champion and co-founder of lastminute.com [...]
ON THE MEND (OR SO KING HOPES) November 11, 2009 THE BANK of England hiked its growth forecasts for the next three years yesterday in its clearest signal yet that it believes the UKeconomy is finally on the mend. The Bank’s new central projections are for output to grow by 2.1 per cent next year and by four per cent in 2011, based on market [...]
Don’t expect a return to the boom years November 11, 2009 OPTIMISM is back in fashion at the Old Lady of Threadneedle Street. It is always tricky to work out what the Bank of England is talking about in its Inflation Reports so I’m grateful to George Buckley, chief UK economist at Deutsche Bank, for his help in trying to decipher the relevant graphs. The Bank’s [...]
