Osborne freezes carbon tax March 19, 2014 The chancellor has announced a freeze in the carbon price floor. Carbon will cost £18 per tonne from 2016 for the rest of the decade. Measures in the budget taken to bring down cost of energy amount to £7bn. This will be welcome to energy intensive industries that have been hardest hit by the rising cost [...]
Chancellor hopes for 200,000 new homes as a result of budget measures March 19, 2014 George Osborne has announced the government will be providing support to small housebuilding firms, with £150m used for new build housing. The construction of a new garden city at Ebbsfleet was also confirmed. The chancellor said the measures taken in the budget would support over 200,000 new homes, with 120,000 built as a result of [...]
Osborne to tackle tax avoidance with stamp duty hike March 19, 2014 Chancellor George Osborne has announced a series of measure to tackle tax avoidance. There will be a new rate of stamp duty of 15 per cent on properties worth over £500,000 purchased through companies, the 15 per cent had previously been applied to properties valued ar £2m or more. Chartered accountants HW Fischer & Company, [...]
Osborne caps welfare at £119bn March 19, 2014 George Osborne has announced a cap on welfare spending of £119bn in 2015/16 rising to £127bn in 2018/19. Only the state pension and cyclical unemployment benefits are excluded from the cap. Read our full summary of the budget here.
Ophir Energy ends drilling operations at Gabon well March 19, 2014 Africa-focused oil company Ophir Energy has ended drilling operations at the Padouk Deep-1 well off the coast of Gabon, according to announcement made on Wednesday. The company said "no significant hydrocarbon shows in targeted reservoirs." Ophir said the key pre-drill risk was that of seal and trap integrity. However, Ophir added: Minor shows were interpreted [...]
Smiths Group faces challenge in healthcare markets as profits drop March 19, 2014 Global technology company Smiths Group has reported a fall in pre-tax profit of four per cent to £215m for the six months to 31 January. Revenue fell by two per cent to £1.4bn while the company's dividend rose two per cent to 12.75p. Smiths said that its strength in commercial markets had been offset by challenges [...]
Asian markets calm ahead of Fed policy review March 19, 2014 Asian markets are having an indecisive day ahead of the Federal Reserve's policy review. Investors are keeping a close eye on the Ukraine situation but tensions appear to have cooled for the time being after Vladimir Putin's comments that Russia did not intend to annexe any other parts of Ukraine. However, Western leaders have promised [...]
EU considers subsidies to industry to tackle crippling energy costs March 18, 2014 The European Union may provide state aid to 62 energy intensive industries to reduce the impact of adapting to renewable energy, according to a draft document seen by Bloomberg. The European Commission would reduce environmental taxes if the beneficiaries covered 20 per cent of the additional costs. The document is due to be adopted by [...]
Cairn Energy losses mount in face of high drilling costs March 18, 2014 Oil explorer Cairn Energy has reported a loss before tax of $1bn (£600m) significantly higher than last year's $194m. The board also agreed to suspend its share buy-back programme until the position with regard to the shareholding in Cairn India is resolved. The company expanded on why a well located off Morocco had been plugged [...]
Sainsbury’s sales fall for the first time in 9 years March 18, 2014 Sainsbury's has seen a fall in like-for-like sales growth for the first time in nine years, with like-for-like sales in the fourth quarter dropping 3.1 per cent excluding fuel and a decline in total sales of 1.5 per cent. Justin King, chief executive, said: We have seen a decline in sales in the quarter reflecting [...]
