Brown says budget to take place “in two weeks” March 10, 2010 THIS year’s Budget will be held in “two weeks’ time”, Prime Minister Gordon Brown has confirmed. The 24 March budget will be six weeks ahead of an election date tipped for 6 May. Brown said the government had guided the economy through a “storm” at a speech in Canary Wharf. The Prime Minister said on [...]
Northern Rock losses narrow March 10, 2010 LOSSES at nationalised bank Northern Rock shrank to £257.4m last year, as income levels picked up and bad loans lessened in the second half of the year. This compares to a £1.36bn pre-tax loss in 2008, when the beleaguered lender was feeling the full force of the financial crisis. Rock, which was taken into the [...]
Standard Life beats profit forecasts March 10, 2010 INSURER Standard Life saw its 2009 operating profit slip 1.5 per cent to £919m. The result was well above forecasts thanks to a strong performance in Britain and Asia. Standard Life aims to cut costs by £75m by the end of this year and has already achieved £47m of that by restructuring its customer services [...]
Barclays on hunt to buy US banks March 9, 2010 BARCLAYS is seeking to buy a large US retail bank in a bid to bolster its high street presence in the US, bringing it in line with the booming performance of its investment banking division Barclays Capital. Antony Jenkins, chief executive of global retail banking, is heading up an internal team charged with building on [...]
Break even or else, says soccer boss March 9, 2010 IVAN GAZIDIS, the chief executive of Arsenal, has told City A.M. he is firmly behind Europe-wide proposals to force all football clubs to break even. Clubs would have to balance the books over a three-year rolling cycle, starting in 2012, under so-called financial fair play rules discussed by leading sides and European governing body Uefa [...]
Shell in £2bn bid for Arrow March 9, 2010 ROYAL Dutch Shell and PetroChina will attempt to take control of one of Australia’s most promising oil companies in an audacious £2bn bid. The companies will jointly bid for Brisbane-based Arrow Energy, which holds the largest fuel reserves in Australia. Shell already owns 30 per cent of Arrow’s assets after snapping them up in a [...]
Dangers ahead despite bull market March 9, 2010 YESTERDAY was the first anniversary of the bull market. The FTSE 100 has soared 57 per cent since reaching 3,460 on 9 March 2009, a six-year low, closing at 5,602 yesterday. The S&P 500 touched bottom at 676.53 this time last year; it has since jumped 70 per cent. This has been a dangerously exuberant [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING March 9, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES REGULATORS TELL US BANKS TO HOLD FUNDS US regulators have told banks not to increase dividends or buy back shares until political and economic uncertainty surrounding the industry dissipates, in a move that will delay by months the return of capital to shareholders. Some investors in financial stocks argue that winners of the [...]
Poll: vote for your dream chancellor March 9, 2010 THE next chancellor will have one of the toughest jobs in recent political history. With credit rating agencies warning they could strip the UK of its AAA rating unless the government acts quickly to cut the huge £178bn budget deficit, he will have to make the biggest public spending cuts in a generation. This is [...]
Tory lead shrinks by a point March 9, 2010 The Conservative lead narrowed yesterday as the party dropped three percentage points, according to a daily YouGov poll. Labour also lost support, falling two points. The Lib Dems soaked up most of the support, surging four points. The Tories are now on 36 per cent, Labour on 32 per cent and the Lib Dems on [...]
