Consumer spending drought will persist July 22, 2009 CONSUMERS will continue to rein in spending this year due to a weak economic environment and rising unemployment, according to fund manager Alliance Trust. The firm said that the financial confidence of consumers showed an improvement for a second successive quarter in the last three months, as household budgets improved, but that the economic backdrop [...]
MARSTON’S TOPPED UP BY SHAREHOLDERS July 22, 2009 Pub firm Marston’s, which owns the Pitcher & Piano chain, said yesterday it had received support from 91 per cent of shareholders for its £176m fundraising. It will use the cash to acquire and develop new pubs.
Canis to sell off Setanta slots July 22, 2009 PAY-TV channel consultancy Canis Media has been appointed to sell the nine slots left available on the Sky digital platform after the collapse of Setanta’s British operations. Deloitte, which is handling the administration, asked Canis to handle this latest stage of winding down Setanta’s business, which could raise up to £1m. Canis will also handle [...]
Sportingbet ditches Italia July 22, 2009 ONLINE gaming company Sportingbet yesterday said it was dumping its Italian business due to a tightly regulated local market which restricted expansion plans. Sportingbet said it sold the business to the local management team for a nominal consideration, but did not give details of the deal. The sale of Sportingbet Italia will reduce the company’s [...]
The bankruptcy timebomb is waiting to explode July 22, 2009 WHEN Peter Mandelson was trade and industry secretary, he came back from a trip to America on a mission to foster a greater spirit of entrepreneurialism in Britain by introducing a US-style insolvency regime. He wanted to create a “nation of entrepreneurs” and his belief was that everyone deserved a second chance if they failed. [...]
MPC stands united on QE July 22, 2009 IT WAS a unanimous vote from the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) to hold interest rates and keep quantitative easing (QE) at the current level of £125bn, minutes from the July meeting showed yesterday. The minutes of the 8-9 July meeting indicated that while the extension of QE was the central question for [...]
Weaker UK orders for factories in July July 22, 2009 BRITISH manufacturing orders have fallen at their fastest rate since January 1992 this month, a survey showed yesterday, disappointing hopes for a speedy recovery in the sector. The Confederation of British Industry’s (CBI) industrial trends survey showed the order book balance fell to -59 in July from -51 in June, below analysts’ expectations of a [...]
World trade set to shrink 10 per cent during 2009 July 22, 2009 ASIA is leading a recovery in global trade, but world trade volumes are still expected to shrink 10 per cent this year, the World Trade Organisation (WTO) said yesterday. The WTO’s forecast for 2009 world trade, which confirmed recent comments by its director general Pascal Lamy, is a revision from a previous forecast of a [...]
No up-turn until mid-2010 July 22, 2009 Battle-damaged by a year of recession and plagued by poor liquidity, the UK’s largest firms will be unable to respond to the economic upturn when it emerges, according to research by Roland Berger Strategy Consultants. It found companies do not anticipate recovery until next year, but hit by poor turnover, an ongoing credit shortage, late-paying [...]
EasyHotel boosted by London July 22, 2009 Budget hotelier easyHotel, founded by entrepreneur Stelios Haji-Ioannou, yesterday posted buoyant trading in its London premises as it progresses with plans to expand overseas. The company said like-for-like occupancy at its hotels in the capital rose to 94 per cent in the second quarter compared with 90 per cent occupancy in the same three months [...]
