Boss-napped French execs let go January 7, 2014 TWO EXECUTIVES taken hostage during redundancy negotiations at a tyre plant in Amiens, France, were released yesterday after being held for more than 24 hours. Members from the CGT union blocked the managers from leaving the site during redundancy discussions with workers that have been laid off by Goodyear. The hostage-takers had initially said that [...]
Bumper December helps Apple top $10bn in app sales in 2013 January 7, 2014 APPLE said yesterday that its customers spent $1bn (£610m) on purchases in its applications store in December, leading to a total of $10bn worth of apps sold in 2013. Apple reported that almost three billion apps were downloaded in December, making it a record month for the store, which offers one million apps for the [...]
Irish borrowing costs tumble on strong demand January 7, 2014 THE IRISH government successfully raised €3.75bn (£3.1bn) in long term debt yesterday in its first return to the markets since exiting its bailout programme last year. The troubled economy’s relatively healthy revival has been met with strong demand from investors – the 10 year bond was more than three times oversubscribed. Investors placed bids for [...]
Surprise drop in Eurozone price growth reveals risk of deflation January 7, 2014 EUROZONE inflation fell in December after a small rise the previous month, increasing the European Central Bank’s challenge of avoiding deflation as well as supporting the bloc’s recovery. Consumer price inflation in the 17 countries then sharing the euro stood at 0.8 per cent year-on-year in the last month of 2013, compared with 0.9 per [...]
German boost from jobs data January 7, 2014 THERE was good news for Germany yesterday as unemployment fell for the first time in five months in December – by 15,000. The jobless rate stayed steady at 6.9 per cent, yet the figures nonetheless beat expectations. But despite job creation throughout last year, unemployment has increased by 33,000 compared to a year ago. “Strong labour [...]
France records confidence rise January 7, 2014 CONSUMER confidence rose slightly in France during December, according to official figures released yesterday. The official confidence index rose from 84 to 85 last month, but optimism remains well below the long term average score of 100. The outlook for the financial situation in the next 12 months also dipped slightly, but views of the [...]
Centrica finance chief leaves for Reed Elsevier January 7, 2014 CENTRICA finance director Nick Luff will depart the company this year to join information group Reed Elsevier, leaving Britain’s biggest household energy supplier in the midst of a political row over rising bills. Energy costs have become a big political issue in recent months, leading to intense scrutiny of utility companies like Centrica, after Ed [...]
Analyst Views: What does Nick Luff’s move mean for Centrica and Reed Elsevier? January 7, 2014 JOHN MUSK | RBC CAPITAL MARKETSNick Luff is widely regarded as one of the best finance chiefs in the European utility sector. He has been responsible for the transformation of Centrica from an asset light and inefficient energy supplier to a more balanced entity. We see Nick Luff’s departure as a slight negative for Centrica. [...]
Rise in traffic gives Christmas cheer to EasyJet January 7, 2014 EASYJET carried 3.6 per cent more passengers than it did a year ago in 2013, helping narrow the gap between the budget carrier and its larger rival Ryanair. The orange-liveried airline booked in 61.3m customers in 2013, it said yesterday. Traffic in December was up 3.5 per cent at 4.5m, giving FTSE 100-listed EasyJet a [...]
New car sales hit post-crisis high January 7, 2014 BRITONS bought 2,264,737 new cars last year, the highest sales rate since 2007 and better than industry forecasts. Showrooms shifted 10.8 per cent more new vehicles than they did in 2012, with analysts pointing to windfalls from PPI compensation, attractive finance packages and a hunt for more fuel-efficient cars as the main drivers of growth. [...]
