Dijsselbloem elected to succeed Juncker as Eurogroup president January 21, 2013 JEROEN Dijsselbloem, Dutch finance minister, will succeed his Luxembourger counterpart Jean-Claude Juncker as Eurogroup president, after a vote yesterday. The 17 Eurozone finance ministers chose the widely-tipped 46-year-old after they managed to convince French delegate Pierre Moscovici, seen as the only member with misgivings about the appointment. The Netherlander, in only his 12th week of his [...]
Fitch says southern European banks in for another hard year January 21, 2013 THIS year will be another one of struggle for southern European banks, Fitch said yesterday, as it put the sector on a negative outlook. Banks in Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece and Cyprus will be kept in a tight grip by continued macroeconomic weakness and sovereign debt crisis. Lenders’ ratings are closely correlated with their governments’ [...]
Mortgage market is stagnating well below pre-crisis peak level January 21, 2013 MORTGAGE lending barely budged in 2012 despite hopes that the economy could be recovering and government-led efforts to improve credit conditions, the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) revealed. Total lending came in at an estimated £143bn for the year as a whole, hardly up on the £141bn recorded in 2011. But the industry body estimates [...]
Lloyds pledges £6.5bn for first time buyers through this year January 21, 2013 LLOYDS is increasing its mortgages to first time buyers to its highest level since the group was dragged down in the financial crisis and had to be bailed out, indicating it is edging closer back to health. The banking group has promised to lend £6.5bn to 60,000 first time buyers in 2013. That is an [...]
Fed easing assumptions attacked January 21, 2013 The assumption that monetary easing can slash US unemployment is based on a false assumption that all unemployment is cyclical, ING researchers argued yesterday. The Federal Reserve is radically loosening monetary policy as it believes unemployment is due to the downturn – but actually much of it is structural, the ING note argues – meaning [...]
UK workforce facing 3.1m shortfall January 21, 2013 The UK’s workforce will be short of 3.1m skilled workers by 2050 if it fails to boost skills or loosen controls on its borders, a recruiter said yesterday. If the UK’s population rises to 74.5m by 2050, as expected, even with an employment rate at pre-crisis levels of 71.6 per cent, just 32.3m out of [...]
Goldman chief backs China January 21, 2013 Goldman Sachs Asset Management chairman Jim O’Neill yesterday said China should be ditched from the “Brics” concept he originally coined because it had grown too important. Speaking at the London School of Economics, O’Neill said China was so far ahead of its “Brics” counterparts – Brazil, Russia and India – it should not be included. [...]
Stobart shakes up board after profit warning January 21, 2013 STOBART Group has taken the unorthodox step of appointing an executive chairman to help the haulage firm get back on course. A week after the FTSE 250 firm warned its profits would be below forecasts, Stobart Group said yesterday that deputy chief executive Avril Palmer-Baunack will become executive chairman with immediate effect. The Cumbria-based firm [...]
UK moves closer to Urenco sale as Toshiba and Areva mull bids January 21, 2013 FRANCE’S Areva and Japan’s Toshiba are considering bids for nuclear fuel producer Urenco, but British, German and Dutch authorities disagree over what to do with the ultra-secret firm, industry sources said. Britain is keen to sell its 33 per cent stake, and German utilities RWE and E.ON are talking to potential buyers over their combined [...]
EADS sees 2012 sales improvement January 21, 2013 European aerospace and defence group EADS achieved a “very significant improvement” in revenue and operating profit in 2012, chief executive Tom Enders said yesterday. “All four of our divisions have delivered good performances in 2012, all exceeding our objectives,” he said at a New Year media event. The firm, whose units include Airbus, space division [...]
