US jobs market in boost November 5, 2010 The US jobs jobs market showed signed of improvement in October, with total non-farm payrolls rising by by 151,000. That was higher than the 70,000 increase pencilled in by Wall Street economists. The non-farm data excludes public sector workers. The unemployment rate remained at 9.6 per cent for the third consecutive month, the official figures [...]
Channel Tunnel link sold to Canadian pension funds November 5, 2010 Two Canadian pension funds are to buy Channel Tunnel high-speed rail link, High Speed 1, for £2.1bn. The Government put the 69-mile London to Folkestone up for sale in June as part of efforts to reduce national debt. Toronto-based Borealis Infrastructure and Ontario Teachers’ Pension plan have won the right to operate the rail link [...]
Factory gate inflation in slim rise November 5, 2010 Factory gate inflation picked up slightly in October but was lower than expected after the biggest reworking of the official data since 1992, figures from the Office for National Statistics showed. The ONS said annual producer output price inflation picked up to four per cent in October from 3.8 percent in September, against forecasts for [...]
HSBC profit on the climb but warns over regulation November 5, 2010 Europe’s biggest bank HSBC said profits so far this year were “well ahead” of 2009 levels with losses on bad loans hurting less than at any point since the onset of the credit crisis in 2007. HSBC , which named a new chairman and chief executive six weeks ago after a damaging boardroom power struggle, [...]
Toyota profit drives forward again November 5, 2010 Toyota profit has continued to surge with second quarter earnings nearly doubling to 98.7bn yen. The company raised its profit forecast again, predicting earnings of 380bn yen ($4.7bn, £2.9bn) for the full year. But executive vice president Satoshi Ozawa said the strong yen was threatening production levels. Sales were also boosted by green car subsidies [...]
Aer Lingus on recovery trail November 5, 2010 Irish airline Aer Lingus reaffirmed its outlook for this year after reporting a 35 per cent increase in third quarter operating profit on but remains cautious about next year given harsh austerity measures at home and abroad. “We remain cautious on the outlook for 2011 given concerns about the durability of the recent aviation sector [...]
RBS sinks £1.4bn into the red November 5, 2010 RBS has announced pre-tax losses of £1.38bn for the three months to the end of September. The lender – which is 84 per cent owned by the taxpayer – said market conditions would remain challenging. Chief executive Stephen Hester said the bank was making “good progress in our recovery”, but that highly volatile accounting charges [...]
Carphone Warehouse to pay dividend November 5, 2010 Mobile phone retailer Carphone Warehouse raised its earnings forecast and pledged to pay a dividend, saying strong US growth and demand for smartphones would offset extra investment in its UK megastores. Carphone, which owns 50 per cent of a venture with US electricals group Best Buy and a 47.5 per cent stake in Virgin Mobile [...]
Property prices up 1.8 per cent in October November 4, 2010 House prices in the UK rose by 1.8 per cent in October compared with the previous month, the Halifax said. The average home cost £164,919, according to the survey. “An increase in the number of properties available for sale in recent months, together with a decline in demand, has put some downward pressure on prices [...]
Cable asks regulator to probe News Corp’s offer for BSkyB November 4, 2010 Business Secretary Vince Cable has asked the country’s communications regulator to look at whether News Corp’s proposed offer for BSkyB may be against the public interest. News Corp, led by Chief Executive Rupert Murdoch, is proposing to buy the 61 per cent of the satellite broadcaster it does not already own for £7.8BN to consolidate [...]
