Confidence dip hits Italy again as 2013 rolls in January 28, 2013 ITALIAN consumer confidence fell back to an all-time record low as 2013 began, according to official data out yesterday. The headline indicator dropped to 84.6 in January, from 85.7 in December, according to official data from Istat, further below the 100 level that corresponds to the average sentiment recorded during 2005, hitting the lowest level [...]
Ryanair posts a profit and talks up Aer Lingus January 28, 2013 RYANAIR chief executive Michael O’Leary said yesterday he thinks his airline’s “radical and unprecedented” concessions will ensure success in its bid for Aer Lingus. The budget airline, which expects to hear back from the EU competition authorities in March, has offered to sell parts of Aer Lingus’ network to two buyers to help ease anti-trust [...]
Short sellers look to cash in on slump in European car market January 28, 2013 HEDGE funds are betting that companies relying on European car sales will plunge in value amid a sharp slump in new cars being sold across the region, data reveals. Italian car firm Fiat, which releases earnings tomorrow, has shot to the top of a list of most shorted stocks, with 8.7 per cent of shares [...]
Diageo strikes African beer deal as it waits for United Spirits call January 28, 2013 DIAGEO has formed a new South African joint venture with Vijay Mallya, the FTSE giant said yesterday, as it awaits approval to buy a majority stake in the Indian tycoon’s drinks business United Spirits. The owner of brands such as Johnnie Walker whisky and Smirnoff vodka, confirmed it has signed a £23m deal to buy [...]
Italy’s Lavazza poised to give UK high streets a caffeine boost January 28, 2013 ITALIAN coffee brand Lavazza is taking on the likes of Starbucks, Cafe Nero and Costa with plans to open up 400 shops across the UK over the next 10 years. Property agents Cushman & Wakefield said yesterday it has been hired by Lavazza to advise on the roll-out of its new coffee shops, called Lavazza [...]
BoAML clinches broker remit for insurer RSA January 28, 2013 BANK of America Merrill Lynch has beaten off strong competition from rivals, including Barclays and UBS, to become new joint brokers to RSA, the insurance giant. BoAML is replacing Deutsche Bank as joint broker alongside JP Morgan for the group which has changed its advisory line-up following the appointments of Simon Lee as chief executive and [...]
More closures expected in town centres January 28, 2013 THE UK high street’s woes will not let up in coming months, and rents will continue to fall, according to a survey out this morning. A glut of unoccupied floor space and continued weakness in retail demand will hold rents down, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) survey suggested. Some 22 per cent more [...]
Bond boom gathers pace as big firms tap markets for finance January 28, 2013 BRITAIN’S largest firms are issuing increasing levels of bonds, Bank of England figures showed yesterday, illustrating the sharp shift away from bank debt towards the markets. Corporate bond issuance came in just shy of £70bn in 2012, according to the Asset Purchase Facility (APF) quarterly report, from under £40bn in 2011 and under £30bn in [...]
80,000 face tripled stamp duty January 28, 2013 A tenth of home buyers in England and Wales may be clobbered with a tripling in stamp duty this year, London Central Portfolio said yesterday. Houses bought for over £250,000 face stamp duty of three per cent – versus just one per cent for those under the boundary. But the UK’s average house price climbed [...]
Fitch says AAA risk gone after deal January 28, 2013 The short-term risk to the US federal government’s vaunted AAA rating has dissipated after warring government bodies managed to pass a debt ceiling deal, Fitch said yesterday. But the ratings behemoth warned that the recent deal only solved the short-term issues, and reform remained necessary to “place public finances on a sustainable path.”
