Quake sends Japan into recession May 19, 2011 Japan’s economy shrank much more than expected in the first quarter and slipped into recession after the triple blow of the March earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crisis hit business and consumer spending and tore apart supply chains. The Bank of Japan (BOJ) expects the economy to resume growing in the second half of the year, [...]
Bank rate split remains at 6-3 May 18, 2011 The Bank of England was no closer to voting for a rise in interest rates in May and two of the policymakers backing a rise conceded the argument was still “finely balanced,” minutes showed. The Monetary Policy Council voted 6-3 against a rise for a fourth straight month, with Andrew Sentance, Martin Weale and Spencer [...]
UK unemployment falls by 36,000 May 18, 2011 UK unemployment fell by 36,000 in the three months to the end of March to 2.46m, official figures show. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the rate of unemployment in the UK was now 7.7 per cent. Unemployment among 16 to 24-year-olds stood at 935,000, with the jobless rate for young people now at [...]
Mothercare culls shops as profit dives May 18, 2011 Mother and baby products firm Mothercare said it would close over a quarter of its UK stores over the next two years as it responded to a 23 per cent slump in year profit. The firm, which issued a profit warning in January as sales falls at its core UK business offset rampant growth overseas, [...]
Experian beats profit forecast May 18, 2011 Credit information firm Experian narrowly beat profit forecasts, helped by a recovering US banking sector and expansion in Latin America, and said it was set for good growth this year. Experian, best known for carrying out consumer credit checks for banks and retailers, made a benchmark pretax profit of $973m (£598m) in the year to [...]
UK launches probe into “big four” auditors May 17, 2011 Competition authorities are to probe the stranglehold of the world’s biggest accountancy firms on British blue-chip company audits after finding evidence of anti-competitive behaviour. The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) said dominance of the sector by the so-called “Big Four” threw up barriers for rivals and made it hard for firms to switch auditors. The [...]
Betfred in £200m move for Tote May 17, 2011 Bookmaker Betfred said it had made an offer to buy state-owned bookmaker the Tote, worth close to £200m in cash. Privately-owned Betfred said it supported the government’s pledge that 50 per cent of the net proceeds from the sale would be put back into the racing industry. Betfred also said it would make a contribution [...]
House prices rise 1.2pc in March May 17, 2011 House prices rose by 1.2 per cent on a seasonally-adjusted basis in March, taking the year-on-year rate of growth to 0.9 per cent, government figures showed. The Department for Communities and Local Government said the average price of a home stood at 205,565 pounds in March. The DCLG data is based on a sample of [...]
Consumer price inflation in shock jump May 17, 2011 Consumer price inflation jumped more than forecast in April – fuelled by soaring travel costs around Easter and higher duty on alcohol and tobacco, official data showed. The surprisingly sharp rise reinforces the policy dilemma for the Bank of England, keen to keep interest rates low to support a sluggish economy. The UK Consumer Prices [...]
Bomb found in Ireland before Queen visit May 17, 2011 A homemade bomb was found in the luggage compartment of a bus in Ireland and blown up by the army in a controlled detonation, hours before the first state visit by the Queen. Ireland has mounted its biggest security operation ahead of a visit steeped in symbolism and gestures designed to underline how warm neighbourly [...]
