Old Lady of Threadneedle Street enjoys comeback June 16, 2010 BANK of England governor Mervyn King welcomed his dramatically extended powers over financial regulation last night, pledging to “take the punch bowl away and turn down the music” at the banking party. In an address sprinkled with jibes at Gordon Brown’s former government, King said the transfer of macro-prudential oversight from the Financial Services Authority [...]
Jobless claims fell even further in May June 16, 2010 THE number of Britons claiming jobless benefits shrank again in May but the headline rate of unemployment climbed to almost 2.5m in April, data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed yesterday. The claimant count, which records those receiving Jobseeker’s Allowance, fell by 30,900 in May to 1.48m and the April figure was revised [...]
Lord Mayor Nick Anstee: Stop bashing the banks June 16, 2010 BREAKING the financial industry would wound the wider economy, Lord Mayor of the City of London Nick Anstee warned last night, in a defence of the banking sector. Anstee welcomed the coalition government’s approach to cutting Britain’s budget deficit, but urged against a populist crackdown on large lenders. “I hope calls for the City to [...]
Government pledges help for forgotten millions June 16, 2010 THE coalition government yesterday said it would help the “forgotten millions” find a job, after new statistics revealed record numbers of people are now economically inactive. Although the number of people claiming job seekers’ allowance fell in May, figures from the Office of National Statistics yesterday showed there are almost 5m people claiming at least [...]
BP caves into US demand as halts dividend June 16, 2010 BP finally caved into White House pressure yesterday and agreed to set aside $20bn (£13.5bn) to pay for compensation claims arising from the Gulf of Mexico catastrophe as well as suspend its dividend payments this year. After more than five hours of discussions, the embattled UK oil major reached an agreement with US President Barack [...]
Gulf oil spill climbs to 60,000 barrels a day after scientists evaluate new data June 16, 2010 THE VOLUME of oil spilling into the Gulf of Mexico from the Macondo well is higher than originally thought after US scientists estimated that up to 60,000 barrels a day could be flowing into the water. Yesterday, US energy secretary Steven Chu and Interior secretary Ken Salazar said that a new estimated range of between [...]
Sainsbury’s sales grow at sluggish pace June 16, 2010 SAINSBURY’S followed its arch-rival Tesco in unveiling lethargic first quarter sales growth yesterday, weighed down by low food inflation and a challenging consumer environment. Like-for-like sales for the first quarter grew at their slowest rate in five years, just 1.1 per cent, excluding fuel sales, which jumped due to inflammatory oil price pressures. Including petrol, [...]
Fed to keep power post reform June 16, 2010 AFTER heavy criticism of its handling of the financial crisis, the US Federal Reserve yesterday appeared likely to escape the most aggressive congressional scrutiny of its interest rate deliberations. Lawmakers finalising a sweeping overhaul of financial regulations have indicated they may back away from a measure that would subject the US central bank’s monetary policy [...]
Nokia warns on profits as competition gets tougher June 16, 2010 Nokia warned yesterday second-quarter sales and profits at its key phones unit would be weaker than expected as it struggles to compete against Apple’s iPhone. Nokia said profit margins at its key cellphone unit would be at the lower-end of its forecasts, or below, in the second quarter and in 2010, citing tougher competition, particularly [...]
MUSIC STARS BID FAREWELL TO UNIVERSAL BOSS LUCIAN GRAINGE June 16, 2010 A rapturous reception on Tuesday evening for Lucian Grainge, the current head of Universal Music’s international division, who is moving to New York next month to become chief executive of the group as a whole. Grainge, on crutches owing to a recent leg injury, stood near the stage area in a room at the Knightsbridge [...]
