UK exports up 11 per cent on last year but some regions see decline July 18, 2010 THE VALUE of UK exports increased by more than 11 per cent, or £6bn, between January 2009 and 2010, though fortunes were mixed throughout the country. London saw the biggest rise in the value of its exports, up 33.5 per cent to £1.73bn. The West Midlands closely followed with a 26 per cent rise. Northern [...]
Timis eyeing a switch to LSE July 18, 2010 BUSINESSMAN Frank Timis is working on plans to move his mining company, African Minerals, from the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) to the London Stock Exchange (LSE). Timis has previously described LSE regulators as “a kangaroo court” but now says he is about to hire new directors, auditors, legal firms and an investment bank to satisfy [...]
Halliwells signs Barlows deal but could face administration July 18, 2010 FALLEN Manchester law firm Halliwells will learn tomorrow whether it will be forced into administration as it remained in deadlock discussions over the weekend with a number of rivals to sell off parts of its business. The firm has already struck a deal with City insurance practice Barlow Lyde & Gilbert, which has agreed to [...]
UK should reform its electricity markets to attract investment July 18, 2010 BRITAIN must reform electricity markets if it is to secure the private investment needed to meet its carbon emissions targets, according to a study by KPMG. The report, out today, said the government’s investment in low-carbon generation was inconsistent and clearer planning was needed to show how emissions targets will be met. “Nuclear represents the [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS July 18, 2010 GLAXOSMITHKLINE Evolution Securities rates GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) as “buy” and believes that with the Avandia overhang removed, 2010 should represent a period of outperformance. Business performance earnings per share are forecasted as 28.1p excluding the legal provision, and post the legal provision of 1.5p, according to Evolution, which believes that GSK is past its earnings trough. [...]
House price gains set to be wiped out July 18, 2010 ALL the gains seen in property prices over the past six months will be wiped out by the end of the year, thanks to more aggressive pricing and an increase in the number of houses coming on to the market, property website Rightmove will say today. The forecast forms part of its monthly survey of [...]
DO YOU EXPECT THERE TO BE A DOUBLE-DIP IN THE UK HOUSING MARKET? July 18, 2010 IVOR DICKINSON | DOUGLAS & GORDON “Supply of property in London has been rising steadily since January as vendors try to take advantage of rising prices. And demand has remained consistent and we now have almost three buyers for every property. With the market in relative utopia, we are not expecting a double dip.” LUCIAN [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS July 18, 2010 Artemis Investment Management The fund management group has hired Giles Parkinson as a new investment analyst, tasked with supporting William Littlewood in managing the £567m Artemis Strategic Assets Fund, launched by the firm just over a year ago. Parkinson joins from Newton Investment Management, where he has been a research analyst for the past four [...]
UK insolvency down as business picks up July 18, 2010 INDICATIONS that the UK’s business community is starting to stabilise have come from new data that shows the number of company insolvencies in June has declined by more than 13 per cent from last year. Information from data services group Experian shows that 1,771 UK businesses failed last month down from the 2,044 that became [...]
Finance sector must highlight its contribution July 18, 2010 AT a time when spending cuts, tax increases and unemployment dominate the headlines, leaders of the UK financial services industry face an unprecedented challenge getting their message across to the public and politicians. Of course, we must recognise the real anger that continues to exist as a result of the mistakes made – not only [...]