Conservative peer Lord Ashcroft admits he is a non-dom March 1, 2010 CONSERVATIVE donor and party chairman Lord Ashcroft has admitted that he is a “non-dom” but suggested he would give up the status if the party won power. In a statement on his website he said was concerned that his tax affairs were “distracting” from the general election campaign. Lord Ashcroft has donated £4,131,995 to the [...]
Mortgage approvals on the slide March 1, 2010 THE number of mortgage approvals in January plummeted by 17 per cent in January compared with the previous month, according to official figures. Data from the Bank of England revealed that the number of home loans approved for house purchases in January fell by 17 per cent compared with the previous month. However, the 48,198 [...]
Prudential seals £23bn deal for AIG’s Asian arm March 1, 2010 INSURANCE giant Prudential (PRU) has snapped up the Asian operations of US insurer AIG for £23bn in a move which will transform the company. The UK’s largest insurer has agreed to pay $25bn in cash and $10.5bn in equity. Prudential in turn will seek to tap shareholders for around $20bn and issue $5 bn of [...]
HSBC profits hit by write-downs March 1, 2010 HSBC has reported a 24 per cent drop in annual pre-tax profits (£4.7bn) for 2009 after a raft of write-downs. However, when one-off factors such as the write-downs are taken out of the equation, its underlying profits rose by 56 per cent to £8.8bn. HSBC has not received direct government support unlike Lloyds and RBS. [...]
Serco profits surge by 30pc February 26, 2010 SUPPORT services firm Serco has posted a 30 per cent profit rise and predicted that the government would outsource more work after the general election. The group made a full-year pre-tax profit of £177.1m, with revenues 27 per cent higher at £3.97bn. Serco hiked its final dividend by a quarter to 6.25p a share while [...]
GDP grows by 0.3pc February 26, 2010 A stronger services sector and higher industrial production levels boosted economic growth to 0.3 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2009. The second GDP estimate from the Office of National Statistics revises the initial figure up by 0.2 percentage points from 0.1 per cent. However, this shows that while some sectors of the economy [...]
John Lewis sees a further sales jump February 26, 2010 JOHN lewis and Waitrose have reported further rises in weekly sales – fuelling hopes of a high street recovery. The department store’s overall sales were up 15.1 per cent year-on-year. Sales at the group’s supermarket rose 13.7 per cent. John Lewis’s stores in Oxford Street, Bluewater and Kingston were among the leading lights in the [...]
House prices hit by the big freeze February 26, 2010 HOUSE prices fell back in February for the first time in 10 months as poor weather deterred would-be househunters. Nationwide’s latest monthly survey revealed that prices fell by 1 per cent to £161,320 during the month following a 1.4 per cent rise in January – the largest for five months. Economists warned that although the [...]
William Hill profits plunge in recession February 26, 2010 BOOKMAKER William Hill said profit dropped last year as recession-hit Brits cut back on wagers. Pre tax profit slumped 59 per cent to £120.9m, down from £293.3m in 2008. William Hill’s telephone operations lost £1.8m last year on competition from bet exchanges and offshore rivals, according to the company. It said in statement “Our telephone [...]
Lloyds in £6.3bn loss February 26, 2010 PART-NATIONALISED Lloyds Banking Group has reported an operating loss of £6.3bn for 2009. The lender is still saddled with bad debts but the loss is less than the record £6.7bn reported in 2008 after the bank’s rescue of stricken HBOS. The bank is 41 per cent-owned by the state, down from 43 per cent after [...]
