First winter snowstorm shuts airports and causes rail havoc December 5, 2012 THE FIRST big snowstorm of the winter forced Stansted Airport to close for around two hours this morning and caused disruption on train routes into London. Stansted re-opened its runway shortly after 8am, having cleared two inches of snow, but the closure caused around 40 cancellations and delays for frustrated passengers for the rest of [...]
Newspaper bosses find accord on regulation without the state December 5, 2012 NEWSPAPER editors yesterday reached a broad agreement over new systems of press regulation, agreeing to many of Lord Justice Leveson’s proposals but ruling out any state interference. At a breakfast meeting in central London yesterday, Fleet Street bosses signed up to the majority of the Leveson report’s recommendations, including a revamped system of complaints and [...]
Brewin pleases as more funds bolster profits December 5, 2012 BREWIN Dolphin, the 250 year-old investment manager, yesterday recorded a £43m pre-tax profit after excluding redundancy and other exceptional costs. The profit jump – an increase of eight per cent – was underpinned by an income of close to £270m over the past 12 months. As one of the City’s oldest investment houses, investors have [...]
Numis portfolio boost offsets revenue fall in tough markets December 5, 2012 CITY broker Numis kept its head above water in the increasingly crowded broking market last year after a multi million pound boost from its investments portfolio, it said yesterday. The brokerage, which helps raise money from the markets for small businesses, saw revenues dip after a 15 per cent drop in institutional commission and trading [...]
UK businesses plan to invest despite the gloomy economy December 5, 2012 UK small businesses are preparing to invest again next year after adapting to the ‘new normal’ of a gloomy economy treading water, a survey of 200 chief executives revealed yesterday. Just 13 per cent of those polled said they planned to cut investment next year, with the remainder saying they were prepared to maintain or [...]
What do you think of Brewin’s results? December 5, 2012 ROBIN SAVAGE CANACCORD GENUITY The outlook refers to some sign of improved trading volumes since the summer; importantly the margin improvement programme is delivering results. We expect management to deliver margins of over 20 per cent. DAVID MCCANN NUMIS We continue to believe there are much better opportunities in the sector and would continue to [...]
Monks Investment down 6pc December 5, 2012 Baillie Gifford’s Monks Investment Trust posted a dismal six per cent fall in its net asset value for the past six months due to bad stock selection, it said yesterday. The firm said not holding shares in the oil, pharmaceutical and technology sectors, which had performed well and led the benchmark index higher, had hit [...]
Banque Postale extends lending December 5, 2012 French state-owned Banque Postale plans to step up its mortgage lending to low-income borrowers next year. The bank said yesterday it was targeting €1bn (£810m) in housing loans to low-income borrowers in 2013. Banque Postale said its expansion would be backed with 300 hires from rescued rival Credit Immobilier over the next two years.
SEC report nears publication December 5, 2012 The US Securities and Exchange Commission’s staff has completed a study looking at whether rules implemented in 2010 were enough to shore up the $2.6 trillion money market fund industry, SEC commissioner Luis Aguilar said yesterday, without providing any of the findings. “I look forward to the report being published,” he said.
House of Fraser in Xmas spirit December 5, 2012 HOUSE OF FRASER, the department store group, yesterday revealed robust third quarter figures, boosted by the recent revamp of its stores. In an update issued to bondholders, the privately owned chain unveiled like-for-like sales growth of 5.4 per cent in the 13 weeks to 27 October. Online sales jumped by a staggering 50 per cent [...]
