Public borrowing hits high as tax receipts fall February 18, 2010 THE state of the UK’s public finances got even worse in January after spending rose more than expected while tax revenues declined, according to official figures. Figures from thr Office of National Statistics (ONS) said the government borrowed another £4.3bn last month. Analysts had expected the government to repay about £2.8bn of its debts. January [...]
Ladbrokes profits slump February 18, 2010 LADBROKES was on a losing streak in 2009 with the recession leading punters to place fewer and lower bets. Pre-tax profits slumped 28 per cent to £191.3m after a tough year in which it was forced to tap shareholders for £274.6m in October. The UK’s biggest bookmaker said its 2,000 UK betting shops suffered a [...]
VT rejects improved offer from Babcock February 18, 2010 BABCOCK International has had a renewed offer to buy defence firm VT Group for up to £1.29bn rejected. VT said the latest cash and shares offer worth between 680 and 715 pence a share was only a “small improvement” on the 633.9 pence previously offered and “continued to significantly undervalue VT and its prospects.” The [...]
BAE profits down after truck deal lost February 18, 2010 BAE Systems fell into loss last year after a major write-down linked to its purchase of US military group Armor Holdings. The British arms manufacturer said it suffered a net loss of £67m in 2009 compared with profit after tax totalling £1.7bn in 2008. BAE said it was forced to writedown £973m after Armor lost [...]
Westfield sales up February 17, 2010 SALES at Westfield shopping centre were up 11 per cent last month lifting some of the gloom from the retail market. The mall in West London’s Shepherds Bush also saw spending in the run-up to Christmas soaring by 18 per cent compared with the same period in 2008 when the UK was in the grip of [...]
Jarvis shares tumble after profit warning February 17, 2010 SHARES in troubled rail and plant firm Jarvis plunged more than 14 per cent after it today issued a profit warning to round off a “disappointing year”. The FTSE Fledgling company spooked investors with forecasts of a £5m operating loss this year following a “very considerable reduction” in the volume of rail and plant [...]
ING reports loss after bailout repayment February 17, 2010 DUTCH banking group ING has reported a fourth quarter loss after repaying some of its bailout funds. ING reported a loss of 712m euros (£621m) after giving back 930m euros to the Dutch government. However, the loss was less than the 3.71bn-euros it reported in the same quarter last year. The group will sell its [...]
Unemployment dips but benefit claimants up February 17, 2010 THE jobless total in the UK has fallen slightly but the number of benefits claimants has gone up, official figures have shown. Total unemployment stood at 2.46m for the three months to December, down 3,000 on the figure for the previous three months. The rate of unemployment was unchanged at 7.8 per cent, the Office [...]
BNP Paribas sees profits jump February 17, 2010 FRENCH bank BNP Paribas made a 1.37bn euros (£1.2bn) profit in the three months to December last year. The lender recorded a loss of almost the amount in the equivalent period the year before. BNP Paribas made total profits of 5.83bn euros for the whole of 2009 – up by 93 per cent from 2008. [...]
JP Morgan Chase clinches deal for RBS Sempra assets February 16, 2010 ROYAL Bank of Scotland (RBS) has struck a deal with JP Morgan to sell off part of its RBS Sempra joint venture after months of negotiations. The US investment bank will pay around $1.7bn (£1.1bn) for the global metals and oil operations along with the European energy business. However, the deal excludes RBS Sempra’s North [...]
