Savers will pay a terrible price for Europe’s latest stealth tax February 17, 2014 MONEY, money, money – there is much still to learn from Abba, the wonderful Swedish band, especially when it comes to economics. Take their garish outfits: the crazed hotpants, the white boots and the bizarre shirts. It turns out that they were chosen for tax reasons: under the crippling Swedish tax system under which Abba [...]
Poundland to hire ex-Carpetright boss Shapland February 17, 2014 DISCOUNT retailer Poundland is set to appoint the former boss of Carpetright Darren Shapland as a senior independent director as it prepares to push the button its £750m float. He will join the board as it unveils its decision to float in London, as early as this morning.
Global recovery boosts profits for BHP Billiton February 17, 2014 PROFITS soared at mining giant BHP Billiton in the six months to the end of 2013, the group reported last night, as the economic recovery boosted demand. Net profit for the half-year jumped 83 per cent to $8.1bn (£4.8bn) as rising volumes and falling costs combined to increase profitability. Revenues increased 5.7 per cent while [...]
What the other papers say this morning – 18 February 2014 February 17, 2014 FINANCIAL TIMES Goldman retreats from bond platform Goldman Sachs has retreated from its electronic bond trading platform, in a move that highlights the challenges investment banks face in revamping their struggling fixed-income trading businesses. Banks including Goldman, Morgan Stanley and UBS had developed their own electronic corporate bond trading platforms in an effort to more efficiently [...]
UK banks brace for tough new US capital rules February 17, 2014 BRITISH banks will be forced to move capital from their UK headquarters over to their US arms, under plans to be voted on today by the Federal Reserve. The result is likely to be higher costs for British and European banks operating in the US, which could reduce the viability of some of their less [...]
Major retailers call for shake-up of bricks and mortar tax system February 17, 2014 BRITAIN’S retailers have today called for the link between business rates and rateable property value to be scrapped over fears that retailers with lots of property are being unfairly hammered. The British Retail Consortium (BRC) and accountants EY have put forward several alternatives to the current business rates system: replacing it with a tax based [...]
Strong January sales for online stores February 17, 2014 ONLINE retailers have seen in the new year with strong trading, with web sales up 18 per cent on January last year. Figures from the IMRG Capgemini e-retail sales index revealed online sales of around £8.1bn for the month. The travel sector was up 16 per cent year on the year and a record breaking [...]
BT’s clash over Sky Sports goes into extra time February 17, 2014 BT’S DISPUTE with BSkyB over the price and availability of Sky Sports on its YouView set top boxes will go into an epic eighth year following a court ruling yesterday. The Court of Appeal decided that the competition tribunal should re-examine its decision from August 2012, which stopped BSkyB being forced to offer Sky Sports [...]
Ferrovial makes a bid to take on a trio of Britain’s regional airports February 17, 2014 THE BIGGEST investor in Heathrow’s parent firm has offered to buy out Glasgow, Aberdeen and Southampton airports from the company, it emerged yesterday. Ferrovial, a Spanish infrastructure group, holds a 25 per cent stake in Heathrow Airport Holdings (HAH), which owns Heathrow as well as the trio of smaller airports. Ferrovial offered £800m to take [...]
Renzi snaps up Italian job and seeks coalition February 17, 2014 THE PRESIDENT of Italy has formally asked Matteo Renzi to form a government and take over from ousted Enrico Letta as Prime Minister. Renzi officially announced his intention to try to form a new government last week, and now has the task of reforming a coalition. He has shown a preference for the left-right deal [...]
