COLIN FIRTH HANDED FREEDOM OF THE CITY March 8, 2012 ACADEMY award winning actor Colin Firth was yesterday handed the Freedom of the City of London in a ceremony at the Guildhall. Firth, who starred in the famous BBC adaptation of Pride & Prejudice, was rewarded for services to acting. Picture: Laura Lean / CITY A.M.
NICK CANDY JOINS THE PARTY SET AT CANNES March 8, 2012 AFTER a subdued and more sombre start to MIPIM, the annual property conference in Cannes, the mood began to pick up on Wednesday, the second and busiest day, as the weather brightened and investors began to talk more positively, albeit cautiously about the outlook for real estate this year. The sun graced Cannes in time [...]
Families set to lose from benefit cuts March 8, 2012 CUTS to benefits will hit families with children the hardest, with the average family set to lose hundreds of pounds a year under current planned changes, a report showed yesterday. Family incomes will fall by 0.6 per cent in real terms in the coming financial year – slower than the 2.8 per cent fall this [...]
French GDP grinds to halt as German growth holds up March 8, 2012 THE FRENCH economy is looking weak with employment falling and new forecasts suggest it will not grow in the first three months of 2012. However, Germany is on a reasonably strong footing, according to industrial production data out yesterday. The final quarter of 2011 saw French non-farm payrolls fall by 0.1 per cent – a [...]
Interest rates at record low for three years as Bank of England holds policy March 8, 2012 THE BANK of England held interest rates again yesterday, extending the period at which they have been at a record low to three full years. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) also decided to leave its asset purchase programme unaltered, as the £50bn in quantitative easing (QE) announced last month continues to be implemented. QE began [...]
CITY VIEWS: DO YOU THINK GREECE’S TROUBLES ARE OVER?* March 8, 2012 ROSETTE TYERS | ALPHA CONNECT CONSULTING “I think that Greece is still going to have problems. I don’t think you can find a solution that quickly. It is going to take time to fix it.” ADRIAN WELLS | PRUPIM “Greece’s problems are not going to go away that quickly and the underlying issues will carry [...]
US joblessness rises once more March 8, 2012 The number of Americans filing new claims for jobless benefits rose last week, a government report showed yesterday, but not enough to change perceptions that the labour market was strengthening. Initial claims increased 8,000 to a seasonally adjusted 362,000, the Labor Department said. Even with the increase, claims are still near their lowest in four [...]
Japan shrinking more slowly March 8, 2012 Japan’s economy shrank less than initially estimated in the fourth quarter, as companies ramped up spending, supporting oil prices. The revision to GDP showed a 0.2 per cent contraction as companies look to an increase in demand due to reconstruction of the country’s tsunami-battered northeast coast. However, the country’s trade balance swung further into the [...]
British banks performing well March 8, 2012 A new report from ratings agency Standard and Poor’s argues British banks have made good progress in strengthening their balance sheets, and are set to grow slowly but steadily in the coming years. “The stand-alone credit profiles of our rated UK banks remain adequate, predominantly in the A minus to triple-B range,” the agency said.
Services help to lift Balfour Beatty profit March 8, 2012 BALFOUR Beatty, Britain’s largest contractor, yesterday posted a nine per cent rise in full-year profit as growth at its professional services and infrastructure units helped offset weakness at its British and US construction businesses. Balfour, which operates in some 80 countries and offers a range of infrastructure services, revealed an underlying pre-tax profit of £334m [...]
