Japan suffers third quarter of falling output despite stimulus February 14, 2013 THE JAPANESE economy declined for the third successive quarter in the final three months of 2012, despite the impact of the first elements of radical stimulus policy. Japan’s GDP shrunk 0.1 per cent in the fourth quarter of the year, according to official statistics from the country’s Economic and Social Research Institute, released yesterday. This [...]
Firms criticise UK broadband February 14, 2013 Business has hit out at the state of broadband internet in the UK, in a poll carried out by the Institute of Directors (IoD). Just 57 per cent of IoD members are satisfied with download speeds on fixed lines, the survey, out this morning, revealed. Conversely, some 83 per cent of respondents said that significantly [...]
US new jobless claims fall again February 14, 2013 New claims for unemployment insurance fell again in the US, according to figures released by the Department of Labor (DoL) yesterday. New claims were 341,000 in the week ending 9 February, down 27,000 on the previous week, and 20,000 underneath where they were a year before. Total insured unemployment also fell, the DoL said, by [...]
Fitch upgrades Iceland to BBB February 14, 2013 Iceland’s debt is now investment-grade, according to a revised rating from Fitch. Citing “impressive progress in recovering from the financial crisis of 2008-09” the ratings behemoth announced yesterday evening that it was upping the north Atlantic island’s debt, as well as placing it on a stable outlook. Fitch gave the small country plaudits for a [...]
EDF seeks deal for nuclear as profits inch up February 14, 2013 FRENCH energy giant EDF yesterday reported flat earnings and investment, but surprised shareholders with a dividend increase. EDF’s UK nuclear stations produced 60 terawatt hours of energy last year, the best performance in seven years, which helped to boost sales by over 13.6 per cent to €9.7bn (£8.3bn), representing organic growth of 6.4 per cent. [...]
Primetime Peppa Pig and films put Entertainment One on track February 14, 2013 POPULAR children’s cartoon Peppa Pig going primetime in the US and a series of box office hits helped drive group revenues at Entertainment One 15 per cent higher in the 10 months to the end of January. The group, which distributes films and television series in the UK, US, Canada and several other countries, said [...]
Sunny outlook lifts Renault February 14, 2013 French carmaker Renault yesterday predicted an upturn in global sales will restore its manufacturing division to profit this year, as overseas growth outweighs Europe’s slump. The firm yesterday impressed investors with a rise in operating cash flow to €597m (£513.9m), which offset a fall in net income to €1.77bn on revenues 3.2 per cent lower [...]
Puma swings to a loss February 14, 2013 Sportswear group Puma yesterday said it is ending its sailing sponsorship deals as it swung to a quarterly loss of €42.6m. The German firm last month axed its sponsorship of the Irish rugby union team kit. Chief executive Franz Koch told journalists that it would take “some time” before Puma’s cost savings brought visible success, [...]
January boost for online retail February 14, 2013 Online retail sales were up 16 per cent overall year-on-year in January. The clothing sector was the best performer, with its 23 per cent year-on-year rise marking a three-year high for the sector. In total, £6.9bn was spent online in January – nearly £1bn more than January 2012 – according to the statistics from the [...]
Slower growth in new markets knocks Nestle February 14, 2013 NESTLE, the world’s biggest food company, sees no respite this year from a tough trading environment after sales growth undershot rival Unilever last year as emerging markets like Asia slowed. Nestle’s 2012 underlying sales grew 5.9 per cent last year to SFr92.2bn (£64.6bn), the firm said yesterday. The figure is in line with a consensus [...]
