Novartis plans further job cuts October 25, 2011 Swiss drugmaker Novartis said yesterday it is slashing 2,000 jobs in Switzerland and the US to keep costs under control in the face of growing price pressures and the strong Swiss franc. The Basel-based group has already cut thousands of jobs and shut several sites, notably in Britain. The latest measures, which affect 1.7 per [...]
Bank lending on mortgages is on the rise October 25, 2011 MORTGAGE lending rose over the twelve months to September, according to figures out yesterday from the British Bankers’ Association, though at a slowing rate. Growth of 1.6 per cent was recorded in net mortgage lending over the last year. Gross mortgage lending came in seven per cent higher in September than a year ago, at £8.4bn. [...]
Can BlackBerry bury the hatchet over outage? October 25, 2011 LAST week I looked at YouGov’s BrandIndex data to see the immediate impact on consumer perception of the outage that caused a blackout of BlackBerry’s email, web and Messenger services. Now two weeks on from the crisis we can return to BrandIndex for signs of recovery. Focusing firstly on buzz, BlackBerry’s dramatic fall does appear [...]
Rising investment income drives fall in UK current account deficit, says ONS October 25, 2011 BRITAIN’S current account deficit narrowed to its smallest in more than three years in the second quarter, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed yesterday. The gap between imports and exports fell to £2.02bn between April and June from £4.12bn in the previous three months. The figure represents just a quarter of analysts’ forecasts for [...]
Families failing to plan for retirement or joblessness October 25, 2011 HALF of parents in the UK have no financial plans for retirement, sickness and unemployment, according to a survey published today by HSBC. Forty-eight per cent have no life insurance, whilst 59 per cent of childless adults are in the same position. Medical expenses come even lower down the list of priorities, with only 18 [...]
INDIA RAISES RATES YET GETS SET TO HOLD October 25, 2011 INDIA’S central bank raised interest rates yesterday for the 13th time since early 2010 but gave a strong signal it may be finished with its current tightening cycle as growth slows and it expects high inflation to ease from December. The Reserve Bank of India raised its policy lending rate, the repo rate, by 25 [...]
Bearish Canada keeps rates low October 25, 2011 The Bank of Canada took the prospect of interest rate hikes off the table yesterday with downgraded forecasts that showed some of the gloss coming off an economic recovery touted as the strongest in the G7. The central bank held its key interest rate steady at an ultra-low one per cent, as expected, but said [...]
Cautious Hungary maintains rate October 25, 2011 The central bank of Hungary left its interest rates unchanged at six per cent yesterday. The monetary board has kept rates at six per cent since the end of January this year. The bank released a cautious statement, warning of economic risks to Hungary.
Business morale down in Belgium October 25, 2011 Business confidence in Belgium has continued to tumble, according to data released yesterday. Registering a seventh straight month of decline, the National Bank of Belgium’s confidence index dropped one point to -10.4. “A breaching of the -10 level is generally consistent with a contraction in economic activity,” commented BNP Paribas in a note.
UK inflation expectations ease October 25, 2011 Inflation expectations have edged down to 3.4 per cent for the coming year, despite the consumer price index (CPI) spiking to 5.2 per cent in September. A YouGov survey also showed a decline in medium term (five to 10 year) expectations, to 3.4 per cent also.
