House prices rise again June 1, 2010 HOUSE prices in England and Wales rose 0.2 per cent on the month in April, according to figures from the Land Registry. The government agency said that left the average price of a home at £165,596. The annual rate of house price inflation stands at 8.5 per cent. Prices have been rising fastest in London [...]
Eurozone unemployment tops 10 per cent June 1, 2010 THE eurozone jobless rate has surged to a near 12-year high of 10.1 per cent in April. There was a rising number of people without work in Spain, Portugal and Italy. Analysts noted that this was the smallest monthly rise since last November. Howard Archer of IHS Global Insight said: “We remain doubtful that the [...]
Weak pound fuels robust exports June 1, 2010 THE weak pound boosted exports with May another positive month for manufacturers. Demand for British goods is on the rise despite the tough economic climate. The Chartered Institute of purchasing and Supply (CIPS) said its index of activity, carried out by Markit, was stable at 58 in May. Under the data anything about 50 represents [...]
Gartmore’s Rambourg faces fresh FSA probe June 1, 2010 THE Financial Services Authority (FSA) is to launch its own probe into Gartmore star fund manager Guillaume Rambourg, sparking fresh uncertainty over his long-term future at the fund firm. The investigation comes just a month after Rambourg returned to the firm as an analyst following an internal probe that found he had breached internal regulations [...]
AIG rejects new Pru offer June 1, 2010 AMERICAN International Group has rejected Prudential’s move to lower the price its is offering for the company’s Asian arm AIA. The snub threatens to derail the industry’s largest ever transaction. Prudential said in a statement it had proposed to cut the deal’s value to $30.38bn (£20.9bn) – offering $23bn in cash and about 2.16bn new [...]
Ryanair to pay dividend after £289m profit June 1, 2010 RYANAIR has reported pre-tax profits of €341m (£289m) for the year to March – and announced a one-off dividend to shareholders. Passenger numbers were up 14 per cent on last year while revenue jumped two per cent. investors will share a dividend pot of €500m on the strength of the results. The profit represents an [...]
Jobs well done as 2m iPADS sold May 31, 2010 APPLE’S iPad sales continued their extraordinary pace yesterday when the firm announced it had shifted more than 2m units. The tablet device, which became available in the UK on Friday, has smashed all predictions, becoming an instant hit that has dwarfed even the sales of the landmark iPod and iPhone. The iPod sold just 125,000 [...]
Euro banks face huge writedowns May 31, 2010 EUROZONE banks face writedowns of €195bn (£165bn) over the next 18 months, according to the European Central Bank (ECB). The “hazardous contagion” of the sovereign debt crisis will spark a “second wave” of loan losses, it said yesterday. The ECB said in its latest Financial Stability Report that the writedowns could be even bigger if [...]
Healthscope gets new bids May 31, 2010 A BIDDING war has broken out for Healthscope, the Australian hospital and pathology group, in a sign banks and private equity firms are ready to return to leveraged buyouts. Healthscope told the Australian stock exchange it had received two separate bids at A$5.80 (£3.38) per share, valuing the company at A$1.8bn. One of the offers [...]
UK Plc hit by series of PR disasters May 31, 2010 THESE are dark days for some of Britain’s flagship firms. Three of our corporate giants are floundering: British Petroleum, whose inability to stem the spill off the US coast is now in the realm of the preposterous; British Airways, which is being crippled by the actions of a minority of deluded and self-destructive strikers; and [...]
