Defence giant’s boss banks £3.5m as pay rises 40pc March 18, 2015 UK DEFENCE giant BAE Systems awarded chief executive Ian King a 40.8 per cent pay rise in 2014, bolstering his total take home to £3.5m for 2014. BAE Systems, the world’s third largest defence group, posted an 8.8 per cent drop in full-year sales from £18.2bn to £16.6bn for last year while underlying earnings before [...]
Fed loses patience and heads for first rate hike in nine years March 18, 2015 THE FEDERAL Reserve yesterday edged towards a much-anticipated first rate hike since 2006 by remov ing “patient” from its language. However, markets bet on a September, rather than a June, hike after it downgraded the expected pace of growth and inflation. Stock markets rallied after the Fed statement, while the US 10-year Treasury yield dipped [...]
Recovery takes UK employment to all-time high with 30.94m people in work March 18, 2015 A record proportion of Britons are in work, providing a timely boost to chancellor George Osborne ahead of May’s General Election. There were 30.94m people in work in the three months ending January – 617,000 more than the same period last year, according to figures released yesterday by the Office for National Statistics. The employment [...]
Graduates urged to choose bank jobs over consultancies to earn more long-term March 18, 2015 Consultancies and investment banks might look the same at graduate recruitment fairs, but the long-term pay prospects are better at the banks, salary data firm Emolument.com said yesterday. The average new recruit at a consultancy will receive £49,000, just under the £54,000 that a new M&A banker will be paid. But top consultancies in fact [...]
UK set to be the second-fastest growing economy in the G7 March 18, 2015 The UK economy will be the second fastest growing in the G7 group of nations, an international economic group said yesterday. The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is predicting growth of 2.6 per cent this year. While the US is predicted to grow 3.1 per cent and the UK’s forecast marking a downgrade [...]
Tower of London set for a new royal battle March 18, 2015 THE IRON throne, the seat of power for the Seven Kingdoms in the HBO fantasy hit Game of Thrones, yesterday came to the Tower of London. Last night, the TV show’s stars were joined by eager fans for the premiere for the fifth season – due to hit screens next month.
Phoenix Group: Fraud up on change in pension rules March 18, 2015 Phoenix Group saw £8m-worth of attempted frauds targetting its customers last year, the firm revealed yesterday, as scammers tried to use the new rules as cover to steal funds. The warning came as Phoenix reported a 10 per cent rise in operating profits, which came in at £489m for 2014. Net incomes came in at [...]
On life, taxes and Osborne’s chance to beat a £20bn target March 18, 2015 If taxes are one of life’s few certainties, then taxes on banks are becoming just as predictable. Just when HSBC thought its lot could not get any tougher, up pops George Osborne with his bi-annual hike to the rate of the charge on lenders’ balance sheets. The chancellor’s final pre-General Election Budget included a commitment [...]
RBS scraps Amsterdam listing in latest sign of global withdrawal March 18, 2015 RBS abandoned its listing on Euronext Amsterdam yesterday, as so few traders buy and sell stocks on the exchange. The Dutch listing is a legacy of RBS’ ill-fated acquisition of ABN Amro in 2007, which contributed to the bank’s collapse and subsequent bailout the following year. But since then RBS has slashed its overseas and [...]
Smiths sees half year results slip on competition March 18, 2015 MULTINATIONAL engineering firm Smiths Group saw its shares dip yesterday in early trading as its half year report saw revenues and profits slide. The deterioration was led by Smiths’ detection and interconnect divisions which saw revenues decline by eight per cent and six per cent, respectively. The company blamed an increasingly competitive market and delays [...]
