Bank of England freezes interest rates August 4, 2011 UK interest rates have been kept at a record low of 0.5 per cent by the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) The Bank also kept its programme of quantitative easing at £200bn.
FTSE fightback foiled by bank weakness August 4, 2011 The banking sector put the brakes on potential gains on the FTSE 100 in early trading after poor results from Lloyds. The index was expected to be given new impetus today as hopes of a new package to breathe life into the US economy encouraged investors elsewhere. Former Federal Reserve vice chairman Donald Kohn said [...]
Blacks Leisure chairman resigns August 4, 2011 David Bernstein, the chairman of Blacks Leisure, has resigned a week after Sports Direct, the outdoor goods retailer’s largest investor, voted against his re-appointment at its annual shareholders’ meeting.
Investec confirms bid for Evolution August 4, 2011 South African investment bank and asset manager Investec said it was the bidder for Evolution Group a day after the British investment bank and broker said it had received a bid approach from an unnamed suitor. Investec, which is also listed in London, said it had made a preliminary approach regarding “a potential share offer” [...]
Ladbrokes profits slump by a third August 4, 2011 Betting firm Ladbrokes reported a worse-than-expected 33 per cent decline in first half pre-tax profit, and said it remained cautious on the outlook for the UK economy. The company, which has more than 2,700 betting shops, said pre-tax profit fell to £76.6M from £114.7m the year before, reflecting a one off interest rebate which boosted [...]
Price hikes fuel Unilever growth August 4, 2011 Consumer goods giant Unilever raised its prices sharply in the second-quarter to offset a hike in commodity costs helping it on Thursday to beat forecasts with 7.1 per cent rise in quarterly sales growth. The Ben & Jerry’s ice cream and Dove soaps group suffered a fall in margins due to the time lag between [...]
Lloyds pushed into red by insurance mis-selling August 4, 2011 Compensating customers who were mis-sold insurance pushed Lloyds £3.25bn into the red in the first half but the loss was broadly as expected and the bank reiterated its full-year guidance. The banks shares fell by more than five per cent after the announcement. Excluding the £3.2bn Lloyds had already earmarked to cover mis-selling liabilities, the [...]
SocGen warns on 2012 profit as Greece exposure bites August 3, 2011 French bank Societe Generale showed the scars of its share of a Greek bailout in its second quarter results, helping to push its 2012 profit goal out of reach. France’s second-biggest bank said its aim of 6bn euros (£5.4bn) in net profit in 2012, reiterated as recently as May this year, would now be “difficult [...]
GKN beats profit foreacast August 3, 2011 Industrials group GKN beat first-half profit forecasts, driven by new products and strength in emerging markets in its automotive business, and tipped its aerspace division to improve in the coming years. GKN, which produces auto components as well as airframes for planemakers Airbus and Boeing reported a 14 per cent rise in pretax profit to [...]
Service sector growth at four month high August 3, 2011 Activity in the country’s dominant services sector grew at its fastest pace in four months in July on strong growth in new business, raising hopes that the economy may pick up despite recent dire news from manufacturers and retailers. However, the services firms also cut jobs, and banks and consumer-facing sectors suffered a drop in [...]
