Telefonica to create a new hub in the UK September 5, 2011 O2 owner Telefonica will create a new hub in London as it shifts the focus of its business away from stricken Spain. The creation of a new digital business will spark an inflow of jobs into the capital as the telecoms giant scrabbles to lessen its exposure to the Spanish economy and give greater weight [...]
Weak retail sales helped by hungry food shoppers September 5, 2011 FOOD sales increased healthily during the summer months, despite overall retail sales being hit by the continuing economic squeeze on households. While like-for-like food sales were up 1.4 per cent in the three months to August, compared to the same period last year, non-food sales dropped by 1.5 per cent on the same measure. And [...]
News International puts Wapping base up for sale September 5, 2011 RUPERT Murdoch’s News International will sell its historic Wapping complex after scrapping plans for a multi-million pound remodelling of the site. The East London base has been home to Murdoch’s stable of newspapers, including the Sun, the News of the World and the Times, since his famous battle with the print unions in the 1980s. [...]
Concern as UK services slam on the brakes September 5, 2011 SERVICES have suffered the sharpest monthly slowdown in growth since the foot-and-mouth crisis in 2001, according to data released yesterday. Markit’s Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for the sector fell from 55.4 in July to 51.1 in August. A rate of below 50 indicates declining activity. The statistics follow last week’s European Commission report that showed [...]
French growth defies sluggish Euro activity September 5, 2011 ACTIVITY growth in the Eurozone service sector has fallen to a two-year low, according to figures released yesterday. At 51.5 in August, the area’s Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) is down 0.1 on July. A PMI of 50 means no change in activity. Performance is varying wildly across the continent, though, with Spain and Italy experiencing [...]
The ECB bond buying spree hits €129bn September 5, 2011 THE European Central Bank (ECB) bought €13.3bn (£11.6bn) of sovereign bonds last week, data revealed yesterday, but the dramatic intervention was barely enough to shore up demand at two Eurozone debt sales last week. And yields have begun to rise again, raising questions about how long the ECB can afford to keep up its purchases [...]
Bank funding takes the centre-stage September 5, 2011 How vulnerable are Europe’s banks? Yesterday, Deutsche Bank chief Josef Ackermann issued the dire (if obvious) prediction that the weak will not survive the gathering storm. And IMF chief Christine Lagarde has needled her old Eurozone colleagues by repeatedly questioning the solvency of the region’s lenders and demanding that they raise more capital – over [...]
All eyes on IMF as doubts raised over Greece’s next €8bn bailout September 5, 2011 TROUBLES in larger Eurozone economies are not entirely deflecting attention away from Greece, analysts said yesterday. “Greece is far behind schedule on the [deficit reduction] targets set by the IMF and this is not due to downward growth revision, but mainly to government’s deficient implementation,” UBS commented in a note. “This is likely to raise [...]
Trichet urges earlier votes September 5, 2011 EUROPEAN Central Bank president, Jean-Claude Trichet, has called on the Eurozone’s paymaster economies to ratify changes to the region’s bailout fund immediately, amid fears that Slovakia could wait until December to do so. In Slovakia on Sunday the head of a junior party in the ruling coalition said the Slovak parliament would not vote on [...]
Europe’s shares sink to a two-week low September 5, 2011 EUROPEAN stocks tumbled yesterday to their lowest close in more than two weeks, as debt-induced recession worries continued to weigh. The FTSEurofirst 300 index of leading European shares fell 4.1 per cent to 910.06 points, the lowest close since 19 August. The Euro Stoxx 50 dropped even more heavily, down 5.1 per cent on the [...]
