BRC warns on credit insurance July 30, 2009 The British Retail Consortium (BRC) will today warn of a lack of available trade credit insurance. According to the BRC’s Quarterly Credit Conditions, more than half of the firms it surveyed have been hit by the problem. Three quarters of those affected have suffered problems with suppliers who are unable to take out credit insurance [...]
Airlines slide deeper into crisis July 30, 2009 The aviation sector is unlikely to see a recovery soon after several airlines suffered heavy losses, a leading trade body said yesterday. Giovanni Bisignani, director-general of the International Air Transport Association, said there were “no signs of an early economic recovery.”
Auditors win liability ruling July 30, 2009 Auditors have won a case determining the extent of their liabilities in the event of a Madoff-style fraud. Law lords threw out a negligence case against a City accountancy firm, for allegedly failing to spot fraud at Stone & Rolls, a trading firm which went under in the late 1990s. The ruling is a victory [...]
Bank to launch capital scheme July 30, 2009 The Bank of England will announce a new scheme to provide working capital to businesses on Monday. The plan will see the bank buy secured commercial paper, either using Treasury bills to pay for it, or printing new money. The Bank has already bought £125bn of assets from firms under its policy of quantitative easing.
Third rise for house prices July 30, 2009 HOUSE prices rose for the third month in a row in July in a further sign of stability for the UK property market, putting the average price of a UK home at £158,871. The Nationwide monthly survey showed a rise of 1.3 per cent on a seasonally-adjusted basis while the smoother quarter-on-quarter measure rose 2.6 [...]
Boris Johnson taps business for 4.1bn of Crossrail funds July 30, 2009 MAYOR Boris Johnson yesterday outlined details of his plans to tap London firms to fund the Crossrail scheme, under which around half of the total tax revenue will be met by businesses on the City, Canary Wharf and Westminster patch. The plans state that from April 2010, an initial levy of 2p in the pound [...]
CITY VIEWS: ARE TRAIN WORKERS RIGHT TO GO OUT ON STRIKE OVER PAY? July 30, 2009 STEPHEN BOTTOMEY PARALEGAL“I’m not really bothered on this occasion as it wasn’t my train line, however I do disagree with the strikes when the workers have already received above inflation rises. What about the people who have taken cuts and can’t get to work now?”IMOGEN EBBS MAPELEY ESTATES“If it is purely due to pay then [...]
Mastercard recovery is priceless as credit card firm reverses loss July 30, 2009 CREDIT card firm Mastercard beat expectations to record second-quarter pre-tax earnings of $536m (£325m) yesterday, a dramatic recovery from last year’s loss of $1.22bn. The company saw net revenue in the three months to 30 June rise by 2.7 per cent to $1.28bn, ahead of the $1.25bn seen in last year’s second-quarter. Excluding currency fluctuations, [...]
Shell looks to axe more jobs in the slump July 30, 2009 SHELL, the world’s second biggest oil company, followed industry trends yesterday by posting a 70 per cent slump in profits on the back of lower crude prices and tumbling demand. Earnings for the second quarter plummeted from $7.9bn (£4.8bn) in the same period last year to just $2.3bn. New chief executive Peter Voser saw the [...]
Exxon Mobil profit plunges by 66 per cent July 30, 2009 EXXON Mobil, the US oil giant, posted a steeper-than-expected 66 per cent fall in second-quarter profit as natural gas and crude oil prices slid from a year ago and the global recession hurt demand for fuel. Exxon Mobil, which raked in record profits last year, has seen earnings wither as crude oil prices have fallen [...]
