Hydro profits rise in first half September 6, 2011 WATER treatment group Hydro International’s pre-tax profits rose by 53.9 per cent to £950,000 in the six months to the end of June. Revenue increased 23.8 per cent to £13.7m while operating profits rose by 36.8 per cent to £1.04m. Chief executive Steve Hides said: “Significant progress has been made in the half with accelerated [...]
Energy hikes lead inflation rise in OECD September 6, 2011 SOARING energy and food prices are hitting consumers across the developed world, claim figures out today. Data from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) show consumer price index (CPI) inflation increased to 3.1 per cent across all items in the 12 months to July. That is up slightly from three per cent the [...]
Services lift US growth hope September 6, 2011 STRONG service sector performance in the US has given new hope to economists who had feared signs of a slowdown. The Institute for Supply Management’s non-manufacturing purchasing managers index (PMI) increased to 53.3 in August, up from 52.7 in July, it said yesterday. Experts had expected the figure to fall to 51. Any figure above [...]
UK employment recovery could soon be at an end September 6, 2011 THE RECOVERY in UK job prospects could be running out of steam if the trend seen in August continues, according to a report out today. The Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) and KPMG said the rise in vacancies brought by the economic recovery slowed through August. Pay levels are also suffering, with last month’s increases [...]
CITY VIEWS: ARE YOU SURPRISED BY THE RISE IN CAR REGISTRATIONS? September 6, 2011 ROBIN TUTTY | STARR AND PARTNERS “With the country’s current economic situation in mind, I am surprised at the increase in car registration. Personally, I very rarely purchase a new car and still own my 1980 Land Rover Defender, which has done 79,000 miles.” ROLAND OPOKO | RSA “Everyone wants a car and I’m not [...]
Glimmer of hope after year of decline in new car sales as vans carry market September 6, 2011 VEHICLE registrations increased in August for the first time in 14 months, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Trades has revealed. Over 59,000 new cars were sold last month, representing a 7.3 per cent increase on sales in August 2010. From January to July of this year sales were down 6.1 per cent on the [...]
Exports struggle to keep EU afloat as consumer demand slides even further September 6, 2011 OVERALL growth slowed dramatically across Europe from April to June, figures released yesterday confirmed – but growing demand from other countries helped the 27 member states in positive figures. GDP across the European Union grew by a meagre 0.2 per cent in the second quarter, taking growth for the 12 months to June to 1.7 [...]
German factory orders plummet on low demand September 6, 2011 FACTORY orders in Germany fell sharply in July, according to statistics out yesterday. Orders fell by 2.8 per cent, representing a major turnaround from the situation in earlier months. June and May saw increases of 1.8 per cent and 1.5 per cent rise respectively. The stats add to other indicators pointing to a renewed downturn.
Rocketing price pressures strike again in Brazil September 6, 2011 TWELVE consecutive months of inflation increases have left Brazil with its highest price rises in six years, new statistics showed yesterday. CPI inflation hit 0.37 per cent in August, with prices rising by 7.23 per cent over the last year. Despite an official target of 4.5 per cent, the central bank cut interest rates at [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS September 6, 2011 Emap International Duncan Painter has been appointed as chief executive of the publisher and events business to replace David Gilbertson, who stepped down in May. Painter is currently managing director of the BSkyB subsidiary Sky IQ, which provides customer intelligence services to BSkyB and FTSE 100 firms including Centrica and Zurich Financial Services. Previous roles [...]
