No up-turn until mid-2010 July 22, 2009 Battle-damaged by a year of recession and plagued by poor liquidity, the UK’s largest firms will be unable to respond to the economic upturn when it emerges, according to research by Roland Berger Strategy Consultants. It found companies do not anticipate recovery until next year, but hit by poor turnover, an ongoing credit shortage, late-paying [...]
EasyHotel boosted by London July 22, 2009 Budget hotelier easyHotel, founded by entrepreneur Stelios Haji-Ioannou, yesterday posted buoyant trading in its London premises as it progresses with plans to expand overseas. The company said like-for-like occupancy at its hotels in the capital rose to 94 per cent in the second quarter compared with 90 per cent occupancy in the same three months [...]
MYNERS: BANK BOFFINS CAN’T REPLACE THE FSA July 22, 2009 CITY minister Lord Myners yesterday launched a scathing attack on Tory plans to transfer huge regulatory powers to the Bank of England, claiming the central bank neither wants nor has the right skills for the job. “They have misjudged the competence and culture of the Bank of England. The Bank is a very academic institution. [...]
Pharmaceuticals inject more life into the FTSE 100’s rise July 22, 2009 THE FTSE 100 added 0.3 per cent yesterday, extending its winning streak to eight sessions thanks to modest gains on Wall Street and solid second-quarter results from drugs giant GlaxoSmithKline. At the close, the index was 12.56 points higher at 4,493.73, up 8.2 per cent over the past eight sessions. Drug maker Shire was the [...]
Nasdaq up despite bad day for banks July 22, 2009 THE Nasdaq rose yesterday for the 11th straight day, buoyed by solid profits from Apple and Starbucks, while disappointing bank results and declining energy shares weighed on the broader market. The Dow Jones industrial average declined, halting a seven-day winning streak, as investors sold some of the market’s recent winners to take profits, and the [...]
Nomura faces shock claims at tribunal July 22, 2009 NOMURA is accused of making a star salesman redundant because he blew the whistle on client abuses at the Lehman Brothers Europe division it bought last year, an employment tribunal heard yesterday. In accusations denied by Nomura, former sales star Paul Ryb said his redundancy from the Japanese bank in March 2009 was motivated by [...]
Consumers hoard 38m credit cards July 22, 2009 Consumers are holding on to 38m unused credit cards, with a total credit limit of £200bn, in a desperate bid to cling to a financial safety net, according to a report published yesterday by uSwitch.com. With unemployment at 2.38m and over 3m credit card rejections over the past 12 months, consumers are increasingly “loathe to [...]
BHP reports a mixed quarter July 22, 2009 BHP Billiton said yesterday that its fourth-quarter petroleum output reached a new record, with the company logging a four per cent rise year-on-year. BHP logged 37.56m barrels, or 408,000 barrels per day, in the three months to the end of June, largely driven by the start up of a new project in the Gulf of [...]
Fiat debt mars strong results July 22, 2009 FIAT beat expectations for second-quarter trading profit yesterday, helped by tax breaks for drivers trading in older, polluting cars, but its efforts to cut debt disappointed. Europe’s sixth-biggest car maker, which owns 20 per cent of US firm Chrysler, said trading profit for the quarter was €310m (£268m) after a loss of €48m in the [...]
Vodafone to get foothold in Ireland after BT deal July 22, 2009 BT and Vodafone have signed a partnership worth €4.8m (£4.1m) which will see Vodafone become the Republic of Ireland’s second-largest fixed-line broadband provider. Under the agreement, which is still to be approved by the Irish Competition Authority, BT Ireland will transfer its 84,000 consumer and 3,000 small business customers to Vodafone, and provide the company [...]
