Fraud costs UK economy £30bn a year January 21, 2010 FRAUD costs the UK £30bn every year – more than double previous estimates. The total equates to £621 per adult in the UK, according to the annual report buy the National Fraud Authority. A massive 58 per cent of fraud was in the public sector at a cost of £17bn. False insurance claims cost the [...]
John Lewis sales up after thaw January 21, 2010 JOHN Lewis’s sales shot up last week as the big thaw saw customers flooding back. The department store chain reported an 11.1 per cent rise in turnover – with more than half its outlets up on last year’s equivalent sales. Fashion sales were up 19 per cent with cold weather clothing. Oxford Street grew sales [...]
Pawnbroker’s profits soar in new “gold rush” January 21, 2010 THE UK’s largest pawnbroking chain H&T has said demand among recession-hit consumers to trade their unwanted gold for cash had more than tripled scrap profits last year. H&T now expects full-year profits at the top end of forecasts as the price of gold surges. The company offers a postal service, but mainly trades its cash [...]
Sony Ericsson reports loss January 21, 2010 SONY Ericsson has reported a €167m (£146m) fourth quarter loss. This compares with a loss of €187m in the same period last year. The market has been hit by the global economic downturn – with cash-strapped customers putting off some consumer purchases. The company said it expected unit volumes in global handset sales to have [...]
Goldman Sachs profits jump January 21, 2010 US bank Goldman Sachs has seen its net profits jump in the fourth quarter. The company made $4.95bn (£3.06bn) between September and December, compared with a loss of $2.12bn in the same period in 2008. Goldman said it will have a $16.19bn compensation and benefits pot for the whole year – up 48 per cent [...]
London Stock Exchange sees drop in revenue January 21, 2010 LONDON Stock Exchange Group Plc has posted a 9 per cent fall in revenue for its third quarter and said it expected market conditions to be testing for the current quarter. LSE, like other European exchanges, has been losing market share to upstart multilateral trading facilities (MTFs) such as Chi-X and BATS since pan-European regulation [...]
Enterprise Inns sees sales lift January 21, 2010 PUB group Enterprise Inns reported improving sales after many of its struggling licensees saw a long-awaited upturn in business. The UK’s second largest pub company said average net income per pub declined by 4 per cent in the 16 weeks to 16 January – compared to 8 per cent in the last financial year. Shares [...]
Morrison beats rivals with festive sales boost January 21, 2010 SUPERMARKET chain Morrison posted the biggest rise in Christmas sales among Britain’s top four grocers – but urged caution about 2010. Sales at stores open at least a year rose 6.5 per cent, excluding petrol and VAT, in the six weeks to 3 January. Total revenue rose by 10.8 per cent for the period. Morrison, [...]
BSkyB loses appeal over ITV stake January 20, 2010 BSkyB has been ordered by a court to sell offload some of its 17.9 per cent stake in ITV. The broadcaster lost its appeal and was told to reduce its stake to below 7.5 per cent. BSkyB bought into the company for £940m in 2006 – effectively blocking cable group NTL from buying ITV. However, [...]
Surprise drop in unemployment figures January 20, 2010 THE number of people out of work in the UK has fallen for the first time in 18 months, official figures show today. There were 2.46m unemployed people in November, down from 2.49m the previous month. This puts the unemployment rate at 7.8 per cent, down from 7.9 per cent, according to the Office of [...]