Debenhams profit surges by 20pc October 21, 2010 Debenhams met expectations with a 21 per cent rise in year profit and predicted more growth in 2010-11 as it benefits from a shift to higher margin own-bought products. Debenhams, with 167 stores in Britain, Ireland and Denmark, and 60 franchised outlets in 23 countries said it expected to resume dividend payments when it publishes [...]
Credit Suisse profit tumbles October 21, 2010 Credit Suisse’s third-quarter net profit tumbled 74 per cent to miss forecasts, as sluggish equities trading halved investment banking earnings from the previous quarter. Switzerland’s No.2 bank by market value behind UBS said net profit fell to 609m Swiss francs (£398m). Investment banking pretax income halved to 395m francs from an already subdued 784m the [...]
Morgan Stanley reports third-quarter loss October 20, 2010 MORGAN Stanley reported a third-quarter loss as slumping trading volumes weighed on its trading business. The bank reported a net loss applicable to shareholders of $91m, compared with a profit of $498m a year earlier. On a per-share basis, Morgan Stanley reported income from continuing operations of five cents, down from 50 cents a year [...]
Osborne unveils spending shake-up October 20, 2010 Chancellor George Osborne has unveiled the deepest spending cuts since the Second World War – with 490,000 civil service jobs facing the axe. The budgets of Whitehall departments will be cut by an average of 19 per cent – under the Spending Review. The figure was expected to be anything up to 25 per cent. [...]
Public borrowing hits new record as cuts loom October 20, 2010 Public borrowing hit a record high for a month of September, the Office for National Statistics, as chancellor George Osborne prepared to deliver an announcement of £80bn of spending cuts. The government’s preferred measure of borrowing, which excludes financial sector interventions, also hit its highest for a month of September since records began in 1993. [...]
Mortgage lending in September drop October 20, 2010 Mortgage lending fell by one per cent to £11.98bn in September, according to figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML).
IMF issues warning over cuts October 20, 2010 Europe’s recovery is underway but governments must ensure necessary fiscal consolidation does not hurt jobs or growth and can be slowed in some cases if momentum stalls, the International Monetary Fund has said. Earlier this month, the Fund raised its growth outlook for the euro area to 1.7 per cent in 2010 and 1.5 per [...]
China surprises markets with interest rate hike October 20, 2010 China’s central bank surprised markets with its first increase of interest rates in nearly three years, a move that reflects concern about resurgent asset prices and could mark the start of a more aggressive phase of monetary tightening in the world’s fastest-growing major economy. The People’s Bank of China said it was raising benchmark rates [...]
Rio Tinto in $3.1bn expansion October 20, 2010 Global miner Rio Tinto approved a $3.1bn (£1.9bn) iron ore expansion, staking a claim to become the world’s top producer and defying industry concerns over a new Australian mining tax. Iron ore miners are ramping up production to meet booming demand from Asia, with most of the growth in output set to come from Australia [...]
Home Retail hit as shoppers cut back October 20, 2010 Home Retail posted an expected 23 per cent fall in first-half profit as cash-strapped low-income shoppers trimmed their spending. The firm, which owns Argos and DIY business Homebase, said it made an underlying pre-tax profit of £95m in the six months to 28 August. That was in line with company guidance of a 20-25 per [...]
