Osborne’s VAT increase passes in Commons by 346 votes to 270 June 28, 2010 Chancellor George Osborne’s VAT hike was rubber-stamped last night as MPs in the House of Commons approved his plans by a margin of 346 to 270. VAT will now increase from 17.5 per cent to 20 per cent on 4 January 2011. Lib Dem chief secretary to the treasury Danny Alexander defended the budget, saying [...]
BP boss calms Russian fears June 28, 2010 TONY HAYWARD, the embattled BP chief executive, yesterday launched a campaign to reassure top Russian officials of the group’s stability. Hayward, who met with government figures, is on a charm offensive to reassure the Kremlin over BP’s local operations. A number of concerns have been expressed by the country’s government over the future of the [...]
Relief well starts to close in on source of Gulf oil spill June 28, 2010 BP is one step closer to completing the first relief well in the Gulf of Mexico, putting the embattled firm’s efforts to stem the oil spill ahead of target. Drilling for the first of two wells came within 20 feet of the ruptured Macondo well yesterday – bringing BP closer to the leak than it [...]
WHAT WILL RESTORE INVESTOR CONFIDENCE IN BP? June 28, 2010 GREG SMITH | FAT PROPHETS “Asset sales will be key to restoring investor faith as will the appointment of Bob Dudley and the success of the relief wells. But it is a long road back to investor faith.” JONATHAN JACKSON | KILLIK & CO “More certainty is needed from BP over the leak and the [...]
Connaught in tailspin after profit warning June 28, 2010 SHARES in social housing maintenance firm Connaught have lost over half their market value since Friday’s surprise profit warning. The firm’s stock tumbled 37 per cent yesterday, following losses of 33 per cent in the last half-hour of trading last week when the company announced that 31 contract deferrals from hard-up local councils would hit [...]
Mears moves to reassure investors June 28, 2010 SOCIAL housing maintenance firm Mears moved to reassure investors yesterday by reporting it has secured revenues worth 91 per cent of consensus forecast for the year. The company said its order book stood at £2.5bn, with a bid pipeline of £3bn, and told the stock market it is experiencing no downward pressure on spending on [...]
German banks face new levy but rules on short selling loosened June 28, 2010 German banks face a new levy of between five and 15 per cent of their annual profits as their contribution to the cost of the financial crisis, according to a leaked draft law. The rate of the levy will depend on banks’ business volume and how important they are to the broader banking system, said [...]
Stan Chart in line for $6bn June 28, 2010 STANDARD Chartered stayed on track to deliver around $6bn (£4bn) in full-year pre-tax profits yesterday as it said its consumer and wholesale divisions traded strongly in the first half. The London-listed bank, which focuses on Asia, said improving economic conditions and client confidence meant income and profits ran at record levels for the five months [...]
Standard Chartered June 28, 2010 SUCCESS stories of this magnitude are always a little too good to be true. On the face of it, Standard Chartered is probably the strongest of the major banks: it avoided the worst of the crisis; its Asian focus means it is exposed to some of the world’s fastest-growing nations; and it holds a negligible [...]
Executives see euro weakening as public debt woes rumble on June 28, 2010 TWO thirds of business leaders and finance directors expect the euro to slide in the coming year as concerns over sovereign debt refuse to dissipate, according to a survey. More than 66 per cent of company executives interviewed by the Economist Intelligence Unit for investment bank RBC Capital Markets thought the single currency would continue [...]
