Ashstead helped by weather March 6, 2012 Plant hire group Ashtead yesterday reported record third quarter pre-tax profits. For the three months to 31 January the group saw profits of £21m compared with a £2m loss the same period a year ago. Improved weather conditions helped the company as more outdoor building work was possible. Meanwhile revenue rose 21 per cent to [...]
Lib Dems and Labour back industry aid March 6, 2012 LEADING politicians from Labour and the Liberal Democrats yesterday promised manufacturers they will resurrect the idea of an active industrial policy, using the government’s influence and funds to support British business. Labour leader Ed Miliband told the EEF conference that spending money to boost jobs, rather than just supplying good public services, is a patriotic [...]
Inflation slows across world thanks to cooling energy prices in late 2011 March 6, 2012 INFLATION across the developed world dropped again in January as energy price rises slowed, figures suggested yesterday. Data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development showed inflation fell to 2.8 per cent in the year to January across its 34 member countries. That represents a small decline from the 2.9 per cent seen in [...]
House price slump not finished yet March 6, 2012 HOUSE prices fell again in February, reversing January’s rise and continuing the slow downward trend of the year. Prices dropped 0.5 per cent in the month, following January’s 0.6 per cent rise, taking the average price to £160,118. Over the last three months, prices are down 1.1 per cent, and 1.9 per cent on February [...]
Do you think the UK is becoming more protectionist? March 6, 2012 Ed Miliband has called for a new “Made in Britain” label to encourage people to buy British. The government has asked British firms to stop hiring foreign workers instead of British ones. And multinational firms say they are finding it hard to bring in talent from abroad due to the immigration cap. So what do [...]
CITY VIEWS: WOULD YOU BE MORE LIKELY TO BUY SOMETHING MADE IN BRITAIN? March 6, 2012 MARK WILLIAMS | PEEL HUNT “No. What an absurd idea. Items should be made in countries that have a competitive advantage. Making goods in the UK is ridiculous, unless they are specialised high-value items.” RICHARD THOMAS | GATEHOUSE BANK “No. It might work for tourists but it is unlikely to appeal to British consumers. For [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS March 6, 2012 Peel Hunt The independent full-service broking and advisory house has announced the appointment of Charles Batten. Batten is a highly regarded name in UK mid and small cap corporate advisory with over 30 years’ experience in M&A, corporate broking and equity capital markets at Lehman, Dresdner Kleinwort and Investec. He said: “Since the buy-out in [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS March 6, 2012 TRINITY MIRROR Deutsche Bank has cut its recommendation on the newspaper group from “buy” to “hold” with a target price of £40, and says it expects the company’s ad trading environment and structural challenges to remain severe. The broker also expects there to have been a widening of the pension deficit in recent months, and [...]
FTSE sees biggest fall since November over Greek drama March 6, 2012 BRITAIN’S top share index ploughed down through support levels yesterday as slowing global growth and Greece’s dithering over its debt swap plan intensified pressure on riskier assets, prompting a flight to safety and sparking fears of a deeper sell-off. London’s blue chip index, which is heavily weighted towards riskier banking and commodity stocks, posted its [...]
Dow drops more than 200 points March 6, 2012 THE Dow dropped more than 200 points yesterday, handing Wall Street its worst day in almost three months on renewed fears of a disorderly default in Greece and concerns that China’s slowdown would hit global growth. Analysts have expected a pullback for weeks, citing an overstretched market. Despite the day’s decline, the S&P 500 is [...]
