House prices fall 1.4 per cent in April May 9, 2011 House prices fell 1.4 per cent in April, mortgage lender Halifax said. That confounded analysts’ forecasts for a rise of 0.1 per cent, and left average prices in the three months to April 3.7 per cent lower than a year earlier. The average price of a home stood at £160,395 pounds, according to the figures.
Serco “on target” thanks to contract wins May 9, 2011 Outsourcing group Serco said it was on track with its 2011 expectations after some strong contract wins and was well placed to achieve future revenue targets. Serco, which among other things runs London’s cycle-hire scheme and Dubai’s metro, said it had won £1.6bn worth of work since the start of its financial year on 1 [...]
Thomas Cook warns of grim 2011 May 9, 2011 Tour operator Thomas Cook warned its British business was likely to perform worse than last year after reporting an increased first half loss. Europe’s second-biggest travel firm said it faced tough market conditions and a difficult economic environment in the UK, as inflation, unemployment and expectations of higher interest rates hurt consumer sentiment. The company [...]
Barclays takes £1bn hit on insurance claims May 9, 2011 Barclays is to take a £1bn provision to cover compensation for people who were mis-sold certain insurance policies, the bank said. Barclays and the country’s other banks will also drop a planned appeal against an earlier court ruling which had made them liable to the compensation claims over the mis-selling of payment protection insurance (PPI). [...]
Barclays takes £1bn hit on insurance claims May 9, 2011 Barclays is to take a £1bn provision to cover compensation for people who were mis-sold certain insurance policies, the bank said. Barclays and the country’s other banks will also drop a planned appeal against an earlier court ruling which had made them liable to the compensation claims over the mis-selling of payment protection insurance (PPI). [...]
Salmond’s momentum sets course for independence May 9, 2011 SO Scotland is on the road to independence. There are many who say it will never happen, but they are the same people who said the SNP would never be the largest party in the Scottish Parliament, let alone win an outright majority. They are the people who said that devolution would kill off all [...]
Salmond’s momentum sets course for independence May 9, 2011 SO Scotland is on the road to independence. There are many who say it will never happen, but they are the same people who said the SNP would never be the largest party in the Scottish Parliament, let alone win an outright majority. They are the people who said that devolution would kill off all [...]
UK says “No” to voting change May 6, 2011 UK voters have rejected a change to the voting system. More than 9.8m people voted to keep the first-past-the-post system, more than 50 per cent of the votes cast, the BBC said. Counting continues but the No vote is set to get 69 per cent support, meaning a decisive rejection of a move to the [...]
US employment increases May 6, 2011 US employment increased more than expected in April as private companies created jobs at the fastest pace in five years, pointing to underlying strength in the economy, even though the jobless rate rose to nine per cent. Nonfarm payrolls rose 244,000 last month, the most in 11 months, the Labor Department said. The private sector [...]
Kraft to raise food prices May 6, 2011 Kraft Foods has warned it will increase its product prices because of higher raw material costs. The Cadbury owner, which also produces Oreo cookies and Philadelphia cheese, made a first quarter profit of $799m (£488m). Kraft reported a strong start to 2011. Most of the commodities that Kraft uses to make its products have risen [...]