Caitlin up despite earthquake May 7, 2010 PROPERTY insurance firm Caitlin has seen its figures boosted despite being hit by payouts for the Chilean earthquake. The company reported a nine per cent jump in gross premiums. The increase was 39 per cent in non-London underwriting hubs. Total cash and investments amounted to $7.47bn (£5bn) at 31 March 2010, compared with $7.69 billion [...]
EasyJet passenger figures hit as ash cloud chaos takes its toll on airlines May 7, 2010 EasyJet today revealed the true cost of the volcanic ash cloud which grounded planes for six days and left the airline industry reeling. The budget carrier had 3.49m passengers last month – down 7.6 per cent on April last year. The figure was also under the 4.3m expected before the eruption in Iceland. The spread [...]
House prices rising but slowdown may follow May 7, 2010 HOUSE prices have risen by 6.6 per cent in the past year, according to the Halifax house price survey. The jump represented the fastest annual rate of increase since October 2007. However, the mortgage lender said that the trend in recent months has been for price rises to stutter. Prices fell slightly in April by [...]
TICKETMASTER MERGER GIVEN GO AHEAD May 7, 2010 A merger between Ticketmaster and promoter Live Nation has been cleared for a second time by the UK’s Competition Commission. The watchdog cleared the deal in December, but reviewed the move after a challenge from rival ticket agency Eventim. It concluded that the deal would not lead to a “substantial lessening” of competition in UK [...]
Clegg: I will speak to Tories first May 7, 2010 LIBERAL Democrat leader Nick Clegg has said he will first go into talks with David Cameron to discuss a possible power sharing deal. Clegg maintained before the election that he would initially speak to the party with the greatest number of votes. He said as it became clear that the Conservatives had polled the most [...]
UK assets slide on poll uncertainty May 7, 2010 UK equity futures tumbled, sterling fell and gilt futures went into reverse as an inconclusive election outcome unnerved investors already jittery after a global equity market sell-off. With most of the ballots counted, the outcome of Britain’s election remained too close to call, with results so far suggesting the Conservatives would be the largest party [...]
Goldsmith takes Richmond Park May 7, 2010 CONSERVATIVE Zac Goldsmith has won the Richmond Park seat after defeating Liberal Democrat Susan Kramer. The Tory billionaire won 29,461 votes against Kramer’s 25,370 in the West London seat. He said: “We held a very positive straight campaign. It comes down to positive, hard work.” Kramer said on her defeat: “You have chosen someone else [...]
Cameron: Labour’s lost the right to rule May 7, 2010 Lib Dems have awful night as surge fails to materialise 4:20AM EDITION DAVID CAMERON last night said Labour had “lost its mandate to govern” as early projections showed the Tories on course to become the largest party in Westminster. “Nationally, we have to wait for the full results to come out. But I believe it is [...]
Labour loses Basildon seat May 6, 2010 CONSERVATIVE GAIN Swing 7.5% CONSERVATIVE candidate Stephen Metcalfe has snatched back the Basildon South and Thurrock East seat from Angela Smith, a close aide to Gordon Brown, in a symbolic victory for the party. Metcalfe leapfrogged his rival with a swing of 7.5 per cent towards the Tories, giving him 43.9 per cent of the [...]
What an astonishing night May 6, 2010 4.20AM: WHAT an election night. The early results have been all over the place. Clearly, the public has rejected the Labour government and the Tories have had more votes than anybody else; but everything else is much more murky. Swings have been hugely variable. Here are a few early thoughts about what has happened. 1) [...]
