Cool Britannia lives on October 10, 2010 COOL Britannia is alive and kicking, or at least it is in the luxury goods market. The Chinese and Indians might be stealing a march on the UK when it comes to manufacturing, services, and just about everything else, but they want to do it while wearing high-end British brands. That’s good news for Burberry, [...]
ECB toughens its stance on lending rules October 10, 2010 THE European Central Bank (ECB) has made changes to its legal framework which underscore its power to limit individual banks’ borrowing at lending operations, amid ongoing discussion about how to tackle the dependency of some institutions on its funding. The changes, published over the weekend, clarify its ability to bar or restrict banks from borrowing [...]
Orange JV launches £4m ad campaign October 10, 2010 EVERYTHING Everywhere, the company formed by the merger between Orange and T-Mobile, will today launch a £4m advertising campaign. The firm will announce to its 27m customers they will now be able to access the network of both brands, which it says will allow them to use mobile services over a greater geographical area. The [...]
BP in talks with Chinese over Argentinian assets October 10, 2010 CHINA’S national oil company China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) is in talks with BP to buyout its £6.3bn stake in Argentina’s Pan American Energy. The two have been in talks since the summer over BP’s 60 per cent stake in the Argentinian company, with CNOOC emerging as the most interested buyer. CNOOC already owns [...]
Kurt Geiger’s earnings show luxury still sells October 10, 2010 LUXURY shoemakers Kurt Geiger posted record annual profits suggesting the market for designer footwear is undimmed despite the global economic downturn. The company said turnover increased 17 per cent to £162m for the year to 30 January with earnings up 21.2 per cent to £14.7m from £12.1m last year. Like for like sales also increased [...]
Google testing self-drive car October 10, 2010 Google, the world’s largest internet search engine, has been tinkering with engines of another sort and come up with some futuristic results – a car that drives itself. Google, in a posting on its official blog, said it has developed the technology and been busy testing a fully automated car that would take the controls [...]
Pressure on US lenders increases October 10, 2010 More than two-thirds of US state attorneys general plan this week to launch a joint probe into charges some banks used fraudulent paperwork to kick struggling borrowers out of their homes, sources said yesterday. Bank of America, the nation’s largest mortgage servicer, on Friday said it would put a temporary halt to foreclosures nationwide as [...]
EuroDisney set to carry on investing October 10, 2010 EURODISNEY has defended its decision to keep pouring cash into expanding its theme park business despite a £1.7bn debt pile. Chief executive Philippe Gas said the group’s strategy of continuing to develop the parks near Paris was sensible despite rising losses. EuroDisney has in the past been criticised for pressing ahead with its Studios Park in [...]
AARDMAN’S CLOSE SHAVE October 10, 2010 WALLACE and Gromit creator Aardman has posted a £2.5m loss this year after soaring costs and shrinking income from its commercials division ate into the bottom line. Despite recording £1m profits last year and increasing revenues by a third to £31.5m since then, the Bristol-based animation house has been hit by costs from moving headquarters, [...]
Businesses still feeling the pinch on bank loans October 10, 2010 CASH-STRAPPED UK companies are still struggling to get bank loans, a new survey has claimed. Almost 40 per cent of businesses surveyed said it had become harder to access bank lending over the past year, while 14 per cent believed it had worsened in the past three months. Yet 27 per cent said their need [...]
