Inflation-linked taxes worry retailers October 23, 2011 INFLATION-linked hikes in business rates will offset any gains from government plans to encourage local businesses, the British Retail Consortium (BRC) has said today. Business rates are set to increase by a “colossal” 5.6 per cent in April, the BRC has warned, as it is tied to September’s level of the retail price index (RPI). [...]
Households struggling as prices rocket October 23, 2011 THE SQUEEZE on Britons’ finances is showing no sign of relaxing, according to a downbeat report by Markit, released this morning, thanks to job losses and soaring prices. The outlook for household finances plummeted to its lowest level for six months, Markit’s index has shown. The measure of people’s expectations for their finances over the [...]
Global recovery is set to bypass Europe in 2012 October 23, 2011 GROWTH prospects for 2011 have been slashed, but Lloyds Bank Corporate Markets is forecasting a rebound into 2012 in its latest quarterly bulletin. Global GDP will have increased by 3.8 per cent in 2011, the bank’s quarterly report predicts, down from earlier forecasts of 4.1 per cent. The G10 countries lead the slowdown, revised from [...]
Bumi close to refinancing CIC debt deal October 23, 2011 BUMI, the Indonesian coal mining firm created by Nat Rothschild, is understood to be close to finalising a deal to refinance the first part of the $1.9bn debt owed by one of its subsidiaries to the Chinese sovereign wealth fund. It was reported yesterday that the FTSE 100 firm, which owns a 29.2 per cent [...]
UBS set to cut its return on equity target, says report October 23, 2011 UBS will cut its return on equity target by five percentage points to 10-15 per cent at an investor day next month when the Swiss bank is expected to announce shrinking its investment bank, a newspaper reported yesterday. The SonntagZeitung said the new target would be announced by Sergio Ermotti who took over as interim [...]
Fairholme president resigns as weak performance buffets firm October 23, 2011 THE president and co-manager of Fairholme Capital Management has resigned, as the $8.9bn (£5.6bn) mutual fund firm continues to suffer from bets on financial stocks and a real-estate development company. Charles Fernandez, who was also a director, stepped down on 17 October for what Fairholme chief Bruce Berkowitz said were “personal reasons”. Fred Fraenkel, the [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS October 23, 2011 Little Chef The roadside chain has appointed Graham Sims as its new chairman. Sims is currently chief executive of Qunatilis, a non-executive board member at the UK Border Agency, and chairman of Kensington Consultancy Group. Earlier in his career, he spent seven years at BP, rising from operations manager for Portugal to UK retail managing [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS October 23, 2011 BG GROUP Nomura rates the integrated natural gas company as a “buy” with a target price of 1750p, ahead of third quarter results on 25 October that could bring downward market revisions on production guidance and earnings per share for 2012. The broker says it is more positive on Brazil after the appointment of Fabio [...]
Chinese manufacturing data starts a busy week October 23, 2011 THIS is set to be a busy week as market participants get to grips with a pile of economic data, US corporate earnings and the second act of the EU summit this Wednesday. CHINA MANUFACTURING PMI The first thing to confront traders this morning will be China’s HSBC Flash Manufacturing PMI. This can be a [...]
WALL STREET WEEK AHEAD October 23, 2011 PROSPECTS for corporate earnings are dimmer in the coming quarters – even though reports so far this quarter have been relatively bright. Third-quarter reports among the big names have been reasonably solid, with Google, McDonald’s and others reporting strong results. But, unless there’s a turnaround in the outlook for the US economy, the next few [...]
