America warns of global chaos if it defaults on debt October 3, 2013 THE WORLD faces an even worse recession than the ongoing financial crisis if the US congress fails to lift the country’s debt limit, top officials warned yesterday. The US Treasury said yesterday if the current impasse over government spending is not resolved within a fortnight then it will have a “catastrophic effect on not just [...]
Number of UK businesses hits a record high October 3, 2013 BRITAIN is now home to more businesses than ever before as the number of firms bounds past its pre-crisis levels, Office for National Statistics data showed yesterday. Its annual update showed 2.17m firms registered for tax in March, up 0.9 per cent or 18,000 on the year. That takes the level past the previous highest [...]
UK firing on all cylinders ahead of the US shutdown October 3, 2013 EVEN AS America’s political stalemate brought warnings of a renewed global economic crisis, major sectors of the British economy all pointed to expansion again in September, with purchasing managers suggesting the strongest quarter’s growth in 15 years. The services industry rounded off Markit’s purchasing managers’ indexes (PMI) yesterday, with another month of bumper growth. The [...]
Recovery could still be extinguished by Washington’s antics October 3, 2013 THINGS are either going very well or they are going very badly, depending on your point of view. The fact that it is possible to take such diametrically opposed views of the global economy is extraordinary, an unmistakeable sign of the extreme uncertainty facing the international financial system, courtesy of the preposterous shenanigans of American [...]
What the other papers say this morning – 4 October 2013 October 3, 2013 FINANCIAL TIMES China to invest £650m in Manchester China’s biggest bank will invest in a new £650m business district at Manchester airport in a deal the government believes will mark a fresh wave of investment by Beijing in UK infrastructure. The state-owned Industrial and Commercial Bank of China is to sign the deal when George [...]
Eurozone firms point to growth in third quarter October 3, 2013 BUSINESS activity in the Eurozone reached a 27-month peak in September, suggesting that the currency union’s lukewarm recovery has carried on into the third quarter. Construction, manufacturing and services in the euro area have all expanded, according to Markit’s composite purchasing managers’ index (PMI), released yesterday. The headline figure for the PMI reached 52.2 last [...]
City diners help Itsu and Leon to tasty results October 3, 2013 LONDON’S healthy lunch spots are serving up growing sales and plans to expand beyond the capital. Itsu said yesterday a bigger menu and its first opening outside London have set it up for expansion across the country. The sushi specialist, launched by Pret a Manger founder Julian Metcalfe, posted a 22 per cent rise in [...]
France passes anti-Amazon bookshop law October 3, 2013 THE FRENCH government yesterday banned websites from offering free postage in conjunction with discounts on books, in a direct attack on Amazon’s dominance of the market. The move is designed to boost France’s independent bookshops, who claim they cannot compete with the cheap prices and swift delivery offered by their much larger US rival. “The [book pricing] law [...]
Ex-JP Morgan banker Hannam fights to clear his name in court October 3, 2013 TOP dealmaker Ian Hannam’s bid to overturn a £450,000 fine from the Financial Conduct Authority neared the end yesterday, with his lawyers saying his aims were perfectly proper. Hannam, a former JP Morgan banker, was at the High Court to hear closing statements in his appeal over two counts of alleged market abuse, which he [...]
Barclays rights issue rump to be sold today October 3, 2013 THE RUMP of Barclays’ rights issue could come in at around £300m, it emerged last night, after at least five per cent of investors declined to take up the offer of new discount shares. The £5.8bn issuance will support the bank’s capital position, and each existing investor was offered one new share for each four [...]
