A Christmas prayer for City slickers… December 12, 2013 Avid readers of The Capitalist might remember the Fiscal Cliff economist rock song we brought to your attention during the summer. Well, the man behind the anthem, Peter Cook (ex-MBA tutor and friend of musical economist and former MPC member Andrew Sentance) is back, and this time he’s given his rockenomics treatment to the Lord’s [...]
Win talk from South Pole team December 12, 2013 PRINCE Harry and his team are due to arrive at the South Pole this afternoon having braved the Antarctic extremes to raise money for Walking With The Wounded. But the push to support ex-servicemen and women doesn’t end there. The charity is calling for City workers to do their bit by signing up to Walking [...]
Wood Group’s shares fall on profit warning December 12, 2013 JOHN Wood Group’s shares plunged 12 per cent in early trading yesterday, after the FTSE 250-listed energy services firm warned that profits from its engineering division would be down around 15 per cent next year. Wood Group said it expected earnings to decline in its engineering unit – which carries out design work for offshore [...]
Analyst Views | What’s the damage from John Wood’s profit warning? December 12, 2013 BRENDA KELLY IG“The firm’s shares had climbed around 19.5 per cent earlier in the year, so in some respects it was not surprising there was a bit of a sell off. But this update was disappointing as there will be a drop in profits for the engineering unit. This is a sector that has had [...]
Liberty Global in takeover talks with Dutch cable operator Ziggo December 12, 2013 US CABLE group Liberty Global, which bought Virgin Media in a $15.8bn (£9.7bn) deal in February, is in takeover talks with Dutch operator Ziggo, its latest move to consolidate the sector in Europe with a deal analysts say could cost around €5bn. Ziggo rejected an approach from the company controlled by US tycoon John Malone [...]
Eurozone hit by weak industrial output figures December 12, 2013 INDUSTRY in the Eurozone got off to a shaky start in the fourth quarter, as official statistics released yesterday revealed that production shrank between September and October. Output shrank 1.1 per cent during the month, leaving growth at only 0.2 per cent in the 12 months since October last year. Despite the end of the [...]
Bank of America pays $132m to settle Merrill unit charges in US December 12, 2013 BANK OF America yesterday agreed to pay $131.8m to settle US Securities and Exchange Commission charges that its Merrill Lynch unit misled investors about collateralised debt obligations (CDOs) it structured and sold. The regulator said Merrill failed to tell investors that hedge fund firm Magnetar Capital exercised significant influence in choosing collateral underlying two CDOs [...]
China and India lead growth pickup in G20 December 12, 2013 THE WORLD’S biggest economies accelerated in the third quarter, led by strong increases in growth for India and China, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) said yesterday. The G20 nations’ economic growth picked up from 0.6 per cent in the first quarter and 0.8 per cent in the second quarter to 0.9 per cent in [...]
Consumption in UK rises to sixth highest in the EU December 12, 2013 THE STANDARD of living in the UK, measured by how much each individual consumes, rose to joint-sixth in the European Union last year, up a spot from 2011. Despite the improvement in the UK’s position, the European Commission rankings show that Britain had a better ranking in 2010, when it came in joint fifth with [...]
Trips to Britain boost business as tourist numbers lift again December 12, 2013 THE NUMBER of people visiting the UK both for business and leisure is still on the rise, with earnings for British businesses from international tourists increasing at a similar pace. According to official statistics, there was an eight per cent increase in the number of holiday visits to the UK during the 12 months to [...]
