Next bucks the gloom and sets sights on China July 30, 2012 NEXT is to launch its website in Chinese this autumn as Britain’s second largest clothes retailer steps up its expansion overseas. The company will update the market on its online growth plans alongside its half-year results on Wednesday, with its catalogue and online Directory business again expected to have offset a fall in sales at [...]
High street’s unlikely innovator July 30, 2012 ONCE again it looks like Next will buck the depressing high street trend on Wednesday, as analysts predict a much more rosy set of results from the retailer than we’ve seen from its rivals. The chain’s garish bling-trimmed kit for Team GB may not have been a resounding success, but when it comes to business [...]
HSBC is facing new questions on tax evasion July 30, 2012 HSBC yesterday faced further questions about its compliance procedures following allegations that British customers of its Swiss private bank may have evaded at least £200m of tax. HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) is investigating account holders at HSBC Private Banking Holdings (Suisse) and has secured one conviction for tax evasion. But the Bureau of Investigative [...]
Engineering firm Weir tops list of most shorted stocks July 30, 2012 ENGINEERING firm Weir Group remains by far the most shorted stock in the FTSE 100 according to data released today, suggesting investors continue to feel unease over the firm’s exposure to the US gas fracking industry. Figures from Markit, the financial information provider, show Weir’s stock is three times more shorted than outsourcing firm Serco, [...]
Jigsaw to close down sister brand Kew after £10m loss July 30, 2012 THE COMPANY behind high street chain Jigsaw is to close its younger brand Kew after the group sank to a £10m loss. Accounts for Jigsaw’s parent company Robinson Webster Holdings show that Kew’s 22 stores made a loss of £6.8m in the year to 1 October after it failed to capture the younger crowds. The [...]
HSBC Bank Oman posts profit rise July 30, 2012 HSBC Bank Oman, recently formed by a merger of HSBC’s Oman unit and Oman International Bank, posted a 4.3 per cent rise in net profit for the first six months of 2012, the bank said yesterday ahead of HSBC’s group results today. Net profit of 7.2m rials (£11.9m) compares to the 6.9m rials the bank [...]
US warns Assad over attacks July 30, 2012 Increasingly bloody attacks on the Syrian city of Aleppo are putting the nail in the coffin of President Bashar al-Assad’s government, according to US defence secretary Leon Panetta. He renewed calls for a united international effort “to bring the Assad regime down”. Last night Syrian troops said they had recaptured a district of Aleppo, after [...]
MPC unlikely to drop rate or up QE, say analysts July 30, 2012 ANALYSTS expect the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) to hold fire on Thursday, when it decides whether to increase quantitative easing (QE) or reduce the bank rate, or both. “In terms of immediate policy changes, August’s meeting of the MPC appears to be a non-event despite much sharper than expected GDP contraction of 0.7 per cent [...]
Fund sales double during 2012 July 30, 2012 RETAIL fund sales figures ballooned to over £8bn for the six months ending in June – almost double the levels recorded for the second half of last year, statistics from the Investment Management Association show. Data released on Friday shows net retail sales were £8.1bn between January and June this year, up from £4.4bn between [...]
Asset managers say new euro rules are a threat to business July 30, 2012 RULES governing alternative investment firms will shut the door on overseas fund managers operating in London and make Europe less competitive, a major study of UK asset managers finds today. The Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD) will be implemented by European policymakers next July to regulate private equity, hedge fund and real estate managers. [...]
