PwC faces probe over auditing of BarCap December 16, 2011 Accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) is being investigated over its auditing of Barclays Capital Securities in relation to the investment bank’s compliance with rules governing the protection of client money. The Accountancy and Actuarial Discipline Board said on Friday its investigation would cover PwC’s conduct in preparing reports on Barclays Capital, the investment banking arm of [...]
Fresh French assault on UK economy December 16, 2011 French Finance Minister Francois Baroin added to the verbal assault on the UK economy by his country’s officials as France struggles to cope with the threat of an imminent ratings downgrade. “The economic situation in Britain today is very worrying, and you’d rather be French than British in economic terms,” Baroin told Europe 1 radio. [...]
Laura Ashley closes stores as online sales rise December 16, 2011 British fashion and homeware retailer Laura Ashley added to the gloom on the high street by reporting a decline in sales in its stores in recent weeks, but said that online business was booming. The firm closed five stores this year, on top of the fourteen it closed last year, and said that overall UK [...]
Miners fuel FTSE gains December 16, 2011 The FTSE 100 continued where it left off in the last session with a moderate rally fuelled by positive data from the US. US weekly jobless claims fell to a three-year low suggesting that its economic recovery was still on track. But markets still remain braced for credit rating downgrades for Eurozone countries as agencies [...]
Sports Direct ditches Blacks bid December 16, 2011 Sports Direct has decided not to proceed with an offer for Blacks Leisure. Earlier this week Blacks Leisure, the struggling outdoor goods company, said it had received an expression of interest from Sports Direct International, amongst a number of others, “which may or may not lead to an offer being made.” Sports Direct said in [...]
Punch struggles as Spirit rises December 16, 2011 Pub group Punch Taverns said like-for-like net income from its core estate for the first 16 weeks of the new financial year fell 1.5 per cent, while sales at its demerged unit Spirit Pub Co for the same period rose 6.2 per cent. Punch’s average net income per pub across the full estate, however, rose [...]
BP reaches deal with Cameron Intl over oil spill payouts December 16, 2011 Cameron International Corp said BP had agreed to indemnify the company for current and future compensatory claims associated with the Deepwater Horizon incident. As part of the deal, Cameron said it had agreed to pay $250m to BP. Cameron said the company’s insurers are expected to fund not less than $170 million of this agreement [...]
In comes tax December 15, 2011 City institutions and their employees paid a whopping £63bn in tax to the Treasury this year, more than any other industry in the UK, new figures published today show. City firms paid almost £10bn more tax this year than in 2010, despite the stretched trading conditions – contributing more than 12 per cent of the [...]
Sleepless in the City: Lloyds boss explains his absence December 15, 2011 LLOYDS chief António Horta-Osório admitted that he had not been able to sleep for five days in a row before going on sick leave last month. The exhausted executive returned to his bank’s HQ in Gresham Street yesterday to shake hands and demonstrate what chairman Sir Win Bischoff called his new, “bushy-tailed” condition following almost [...]
Noyer: France safer than UK December 15, 2011 FRENCH central bank chief Christian Noyer lashed out at the UK economy yesterday, saying Britain’s sovereign should be downgraded before any cut to France’s gold-plated credit rating. Noyer’s unexpected attack drew responses from Number 10 and the Treasury. Prime Minister David Cameron pointed to the “credibility” granted by the UK’s low bond yields and his [...]
