Posen: Economy could lurch back into recession June 30, 2010 THE economy is in a tentative recovery but could still switch back to recession, Bank of England policymaker Adam Posen has warned. In a speech in London, Posen said the economy was trapped between two outcomes – the austerity in Europe and the recovery in the rest of world. “If we are fortunate, our present [...]
Stan Chart to invest $500m in AgBank listing June 30, 2010 Standard Chartered Bank will invest $500m (£332m) in Agricultural Bank of China’s floatation in Hong Kong, as it tries to strengthen its position in Asia. AgBank’s initial public offering is aiming to raising $23.2bn Standard Chartered chief executive Peter Sands said: “This investment is a natural next step in our long-standing relationship and it underpins [...]
HMV profit up 18 per cent June 30, 2010 HMV met forecasts with an 18 per cent rise in year profit and said its plan to transform the business into a broad-based entertainment brand is making progress. The music, games and DVD group, which runs over 400 stores under its own name as well as 314 Waterstone’s bookstores, made an underlying pretax profit of [...]
House prices rise 0.1 per cent in June June 30, 2010 HOUSE prices rose by 0.1 per cent in June, according to the Nationwide building society. The average property price in the UK is now more than £170,000. Prices have risen by three per cent since the start of the year, the lender’s house price index showed. But the rate of annual house price inflation fell [...]
Mortgage approvals fall June 29, 2010 MORTGAGE approvals fell unexpectedly in May, new figures from the Bank of England show. Last month 49,815 loans were approved – marginally down from April and well below the 51,000 forecast by economists. However, mortgage lending picked up more strongly than expected, rising to £1.184bn from £0.979bn in April – a figure that was sharply [...]
National Express says profit is on track June 29, 2010 TRANSPORT group National Express said it expects first-half pre-tax profit to improve year-on-year, while cost cutting measures will bolster its performance beyond this year. The group said it traded in line with expectations in the second quarter, with its business benefiting from improved margins at its rail business. “First half normalized profit before tax is [...]
Carpetright profit up 68 per cent June 29, 2010 CARPETRIGHT has posted a 68 per cent rise in full-year profit but said that consumer demand was looking subdued in 21010/11. The firm, which trades from about 586 stores in the UK and Ireland and 117 in the Netherlands and Belgium, said on Tuesday it made an underlying pretax profit of £28.2m in the year [...]
Emerson ups bid for Chloride to $1.5bn June 29, 2010 Emerson Electric has upped its cash offer for Chloride to $1.5bn (£995m) in a bid to tempt the group away from a recommended $1.25bn deal from Switzerland’s ABB. Emerson’s latest offer of 375 pence per share in cash for the power company is being made through vehicle Rutherfurd Acquisitions and represents a 15 percent premium [...]
Catlin to launch reinsurance unit June 29, 2010 LONDON-LISTED property and casualty insurer Catlin has said it is planning to set up a Swiss reinsurance unit to take advantage of an anticipated upturn in the European reinsurance market. Bermuda-based Catlin will provide the new business, Catlin Re Switzerland, with capital reserves of at least $1bn (£663bn). Catlin aims to expand its presence in [...]
DP World postpones listing June 28, 2010 PORTS operator DP World has postponed plans to seek a dual listing on the London Stock Exchange saying it needed to find an acceptable system to support the listing. The next opportunity would be starting after the publication of its 2010 results, the unit of conglomerate Dubai World said in a statement. The company usually [...]
