MPs waver over bashing bank bonuses February 7, 2012 CHANCELLOR George Osborne gave a confused view on the banker-bashing bonus debate yesterday, at first calling them “unacceptable” and then castigating others for creating an “anti-business culture”. Speaking at a dinner held by the Federation of Small Businesses, Osborne (pictured) said: “Of course rewards for failure are unacceptable – and those who believe in the [...]
The UK mood is improving but remains fragile February 7, 2012 THE LATEST YouGov HEAT (Household Economic Activity Tracker) report reveals that the public felt more confident about the economy in the first month of 2012 than in any month of 2011 except for April. The HEAT Index rose to 92 (on a scale of 0-200), which, apart from that April spike, is the highest level [...]
Surprise drop in December German industrial output February 7, 2012 INDUSTRIAL production fell sharply in Germany at the end of 2011, according to official data released yesterday, denting hopes that the Eurozone powerhouse would keep growing. Output fell 2.9 per cent in the month to December, figures from the economy ministry showed – the largest monthly fall since the start of 2009. In the whole [...]
End of QE will push up bond yields February 7, 2012 THE EXTRA £50bn of quantitative easing (QE) widely expected to be announced tomorrow could be the last, according to analysts at RBC Capital Markets – removing the support the Bank of England has given the gilt market. If next week’s inflation report shows inflation on track to hit its target in the medium term, it [...]
CITY VIEWS: DO YOU FEEL MORE OR LESS POSITIVE ABOUT THE ECONOMY THAN YOU DID AT THE START OF THE YEAR?* February 7, 2012 STEPHEN CAVANAGH | CSIS “I feel more negative – from my experience I can see the market double-dipping again. I worry that things might relapse back to the immediate post-Lehman era.” STEVE PENNY | SKYLINE OFFICE LTD “It is only a couple of months into the year and so far it has not changed. I [...]
Glimmer of hope in UK job market as builders hire February 7, 2012 PERMANENT jobs increased in January for the first time in four months, according to recruitment consultancy data from KPMG, published yesterday. However, unemployment continued to climb despite the rise in permanent placements, the report showed. The study’s permanent staff placement index rose from 48.5 in December to 51.2 in January, recording growth in placements for [...]
BEHIND THE SCENES FOR OSCAR HIT’S LEGAL FIXER February 7, 2012 PAUL RENNEY, a lawyer at Keystone Law, almost collected the Bafta for The King’s Speech – except the film’s producers were faster out of their seats than he was. Renney, as the hit’s legal adviser, was a stand-in at the event for screenwriter David Seidler, who was “annoyed” at not being flown over from the [...]
TalkTalk takings up despite user exodus February 7, 2012 TALKTALK upped its full-year profit guidance and raised its expected earnings per share yesterday despite continuing to haemorrhage customers throughout its third quarter. The former Carphone Warehouse subsidiary shed 43,000 net broadband accounts in the period, leaving TalkTalk with around 4m customers. This year has seen the telecoms group fined £3m and ordered to pay [...]
Winning run for 888 as gamblers play at home February 7, 2012 GAMBLERS’ love of internet poker has helped gaming firm 888 Holdings to post record revenue. The company said full year revenue increased 26 per cent with the number of customers gambling on its websites growing. At 31 December, 888 had 10.6m casino, poker and sport real money registered customer accounts, up 22 per cent from [...]
PC sales take a hit as e-reader demand rises February 7, 2012 PC shipments to the UK dropped at an annual rate of 19.6 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2011, totalling 2.9m units and marking the UK’s fifth consecutive quarterly shipment decline according to Gartner data. Hit by the economy and growth in smartphones, tablets and e-readers, the Christmas period saw PC shipments slide further [...]
