Businesses lose out as bank lending slumps even further July 3, 2012 LENDING to businesses dropped in May, according to banking industry data published by the Bank of England yesterday. Equity fund-raising also dipped, as did commercial paper issuance. Consumers were also hit – although credit rose slightly overall, mortgage approvals remained low and the overall market is sluggish. Net business lending fell £1.7bn in May, reversing [...]
Price pressures ease as food inflation slows July 3, 2012 THE SQUEEZE on consumer finances eased again in June, retail industry figures showed today, with shop price inflation falling to its lowest level in two and a half years. Inflation dropped to 1.1 per cent in the year to June from 1.4 per cent in May, according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC) – a [...]
Eurozone hikes taxes to fill big budget holes July 3, 2012 TAX rises may be on the way in Spain and France, say government ministers, who are under pressure to make budget targets. The French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault yesterday promised a 75 per cent tax band on earnings above €1m, but confirmed that the government would reverse a sales tax increase due to begin in [...]
Cameron backs banking union as Barroso hits out at Tory MEPs July 3, 2012 PRIME Minister David Cameron yesterday gave his support for further integration in the Eurozone, while elsewhere on the continent his party’s MEPs were subjected to a stinging attack from European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso. A banking union and closer fiscal ties among euro area states would not necessarily affect the UK’s position, Cameron told [...]
IMF WARNS OF TEPID AMERICAN RECOVERY July 3, 2012 THE International Monetary Fund (IMF) yesterday cut its US growth forecast to two per cent expansion this year (from 2.1 per cent) and 2.25 per cent next year (from 2.4 per cent). Its head, Christine Lagarde, warned that another “fiscal cliff” may sap the recovery.
US factory orders and car sales up while retail sales growth slows July 3, 2012 American factory orders jumped above expectations in May, according to data released by the Commerce Department yesterday. New orders for manufactured goods climbed 0.7 per cent, well above the consensus forecast of 0.2 per cent. This came as car sales climbed to an annualised rate of 14.5m, based on generous incentives and a slide in [...]
Producer price deflation in euro area shows slumping production July 3, 2012 Eurozone industrial producer prices edged down compared to April, though they were up on May last year. Eurostat data shows a 0.5 per cent fall in the producer price index this month for the Eurozone, with a 0.7 per cent fall for the entire EU. In April prices had inched up 0.1 per cent in [...]
Chairman and chief executive of N Brown exit July 3, 2012 N BROWN announced yesterday that both its long-standing chairman, Lord Alliance of Manchester and chief executive Alan White will be retiring from the catalogue and online shopping group. Lord Alliance, the Liberal Democrat peer and the founder of textile company Coats, said the retailer “had come a long way” since he bought the Manchester-based mail [...]
St Modwen says net asset value lifted by housebuilder demand July 3, 2012 REGENERATION SPECIALIST St Modwen yesterday said that a strong appetite for new homes, particularly in London and the South East, helped lift its net asset value (NAV) in the first half of the year. Chief executive Bill Oliver said despite the on-going challenges in the economy it had delivered “a strong set of first half [...]
Vodafone gets green light for CWW deal July 3, 2012 VODAFONE yesterday won approval from the European Commission for its £1bn takeover of Cable & Wireless Worldwide. Five weeks after the deal was submitted to Brussels for approval, the Commission ruled that the merger of the companies would not lead to any antitrust issues. “The Commission concluded that the transaction would raise no competition concerns, as [...]
