Majority of businesses in UK reject closer EU ties May 21, 2014 OVER half of UK businesses reject the idea of closer political integration with Europe, according to new research from professional services firm Grant Thornton. Fifty-seven per cent of UK companies surveyed said they would not want to see closer links with the 28-state union, an attitude increasingly shared by two other major European players, Germany [...]
Weak exports could hit chance of recovery in troubled Eurozone May 21, 2014 THE EUROZONE’S weak economic recovery was thrown further off track yesterday as new numbers showed exports were weaker than expected in March. Its current account surplus with the rest of the world was squeezed in the month, falling to €18.8bn (£15.2bn) from €21.8bn a month earlier. “The March decline is partly due to trade on goods [...]
UK slips out of top 20 ranks for ease of doing business May 21, 2014 THE UK is not keeping up with its competitors as a place to do business, according to rankings released yesterday by the Economist Intelligence Unit. In the four years ahead, the UK will be the world’s 22nd best business environment, according to the group’s research – falling from 19th during 2009-2013. The country has been [...]
Complaints to small energy firms surge May 21, 2014 THE NUMBER of customer complaints to smaller energy suppliers has risen sharply over the past six months, according to new data released today. The public furore over the cost of living and rising energy bills has prompted an increasing number of people to shop around for cheaper deals. Big six supplier Npower still had the [...]
China’s house sector to slow May 21, 2014 THE CHINESE property market was downgraded by credit ratings agency Moody’s yesterday, with the group now expecting a “significant slowdown”. The group cut their view of the sector from stable to negative. While Moody’s still expect some growth in property sales, of up to five per cent, the expansion is a major drop from the 26.6 per [...]
DCC on the hunt for new deals as acquisitions boost revenues May 21, 2014 THE CHIEF executive of DCC yesterday said the services group would continue to look for deals in the UK and continental Europe, after acquisitions helped drive a 6.2 per cent rise in revenue last year. “We continue to have an appetite to deploy more capital in the UK,” Tommy Breen told City A.M. “We’d also [...]
HICL eyes more deals as profits rise May 21, 2014 HICL, a fund that invests in infrastructure projects, yesterday posted pre-tax profits of £153.8m for the year, up from £93.1m the prior year. The firm has invested £230m during the year, which includes 16 new investments. “Despite competitive markets, we still believe we will be able to make further investments, both in the UK and, [...]
Record sales for African Minerals May 21, 2014 African Minerals, the Aim-listed iron ore miner founded by the colourful former boss of Regal Petroleum Frank Timis, yesterday posted record first-quarter production of 5.3m tonnes and record sales of 4.6m tonnes, while cash costs fell over the period. “We are well advanced in our next stage of growth targeting low capital cost optimisation and [...]
Lekoil completes £22m placing May 21, 2014 Aim-listed oil and gas explorer Lekoil yesterday said it has raised around $37.7m (£22.4m) from a share placing, to fund its development of the Otakikpo oil field in Nigeria. On Tuesday Lekoil said it had bought a 40 per cent interest in the field. Mirabaud Securities and UBS are acting as joint bookrunners on the [...]
Part owners win whistle-blower rights in ruling May 21, 2014 A LANDMARK judgement by the Supreme Court yesterday confirmed that limited liability partnership (LLP) members are entitled to the same whistle-blowing rights as other employees. The ruling, which determined that former Clyde & Co employee Krista Bates Van Winkelhof can claim status as a whistleblower despite owning a part of the firm, may have wide-ranging consequences [...]
