German delays over bailout fund July 16, 2012 The German constitutional court said yesterday that it would keep Brussels waiting for nearly two more months before announcing on 12 September whether the core Eurozone country can legally ratify Europe’s permanent bailout scheme and the fiscal pact for budget discipline. Constitutional experts see the court approving the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) and fiscal pact, [...]
Euribor rates hit new record lows July 16, 2012 Eurozone bank-to-bank lending rates hit new all-time lows yesterday, pulled down by record low ECB interest rates and its move to stop paying banks interest on their overnight deposits. The ECB’s overnight deposit rate, which it cut to zero on 5 July, acts as a floor for money market rates as banks only lend to [...]
Renters can’t afford to buy July 16, 2012 Prospective first time buyers in the UK are being squeezed out of the property market, according to a survey released yesterday. Over four in 10 (42 per cent) of renters are unable to save for a deposit, while just under a third (31 per cent) are spending over half their post-tax income on rent, the [...]
European woes lead to stalled growth at Sage July 16, 2012 BRITISH software group Sage yesterday said anticipated growth in mainland Europe had not materialised due to what it called a “toughening economic environment”. The company, which is Britain’s largest listed software firm based on market capitalisation, said trading in Europe had been flat and was below previous forecasts, although sales on the whole had been [...]
ANALYST VIEWS | WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD FOR SAGE? July 16, 2012 WILL WALLIS NUMIS While UK growth has been “good”, Europe overall is flat, implying that mainland Europe is into negative territory. It is appropriate to be cautious about Q4 and beyond and we pull our recommendation back to Hold from Add. JULIAN YATES INVESTEC While the US is slowly improving and emerging markets are solid, [...]
Tullow drops on well worries July 16, 2012 Tullow Oil yesterday said it had stopped drilling a well off the coast of Guyana due to safety concerns, adding that it had already discovered some oil in the shallower parts of the well, which the firm and its partners have spent five months drilling. Tullow’s shares fell 3.28 per cent on the news.
Glencore cleared for Viterra deal July 16, 2012 Glencore has won a Canadian regulator’s approval for its roughly C$6.1bn (£3.8bn) takeover of grain handler Viterra, bringing the deal a step closer to completion. Glencore in March offered to pay C$16.25 per share for Viterra, which owns the largest share of Western Canada’s grain storage and farm supply outlets.
Evraz reports fall in production July 16, 2012 Russian steel and mining group Evraz said yesterday steel production fell six per cent in the second quarter from previous three months, due to maintenance work at its mills and weaker demand in Europe and South Africa. FTSE 100-listed Evraz said in an update that prices for most steel products were marginally flat.
Menzies to cut aviation cargo arm July 16, 2012 John Menzies said its aviation services arm would shut cargo operations at four airports in the UK by next month and take a related charge of £3m. Menzies Aviation will exit its cargo operations at Glasgow, Birmingham, East Midlands and Manchester airports, to return its UK cargo business to profitability, it said yesterday.
Smiths sells stake in Cross Match for $77m July 16, 2012 ENGINEERING group Smiths said yesterday it had sold its interest in US biometric specialist Cross Match Technologies for $77m (£49.4m). The sale to Francisco Partners is part of Smiths’ move to offload non-core businesses. Smiths will receive $69m in cash on completion from the Florida-based private equity firm. A further $8m will go into an [...]
