EBay outlook cautious as revenues rise October 20, 2011 EBAY reported profit that matched Wall Street estimates yesterday, but gave a restrained outlook for the rest of the year, sending its shares lower. Excluding stock-based compensation expenses and other items, the operator of the largest online marketplace reported profit of $628.2m (£398m), or 48 cents a share, in the latest period. Revenue climbed 32 [...]
Key tax ruling may hit UK non-doms October 20, 2011 INTERNATIONAL entrepreneur Robert Gaines-Cooper lost his UK residency appeal in the Supreme Court yesterday, in a case that could have repercussions for other non-domiciles facing back-dated tax bills. The court ruled in favour of HMRC that the millionaire must pay tax under UK law, despite having lived in the Seychelles since 1976. Commentators said the judgement [...]
Santander is downgraded October 20, 2011 MOODY’S downgraded five of Spain’s biggest lenders last night, including Banco Santander, following on from its downgrade of the sovereign state on Tuesday night. The other banks downgraded were BBVA, CaixaBank, La Caixa and Confederación Espanola de Cajas de Ahorros (CECA). The agency limited its actions to Spain’s biggest, systemically important banks because it said they [...]
AmEx profit up on record spend October 20, 2011 AMERICAN Express posted higher-than-expected quarterly net income on yesterday, as borrowers used their cards for more purchases. The New York-based credit card company said third-quarter net income was $1.2bn, or $1.03 per share — up from $1.1bn, or 90 cents per share, a year ago. That was above analysts’ average estimate of earnings of 96 [...]
Economic fears stalling US recovery: Beige Book October 20, 2011 THE US economic outlook grew dimmer in September, leading businesses to be wary of spending and of building up inventories ahead of the holiday sales season, the Federal Reserve’s Beige Book revealed last night. US stocks fell after the Beige Book was released, while Treasury debt prices rose on its glum economic outlook. In more positive [...]
Construction output growth falls in Eurozone October 20, 2011 CONSTRUCTION output growth suffered a major drop in August, data from Eurostat revealed yesterday. Eurozone construction production grew by 0.2 per cent in the month, according to initial estimates. The expansion represents a decline in growth from July’s 1.8 per cent increase in output. Across the whole EU, output did not grow at all in [...]
EC set to bolster infrastructure October 20, 2011 INFRASTRUCTURE spending across Europe could receive a €50bn (£43.6bn) boost from 2014 to 2020, if a European Commission (EC) proposal announced yesterday works as planned. The money will be spent on transport, digital communications and energy projects. A pilot phase in 2012 and 2013 will see €230m spent. A total of €32bn will go to [...]
Summit hope plummets on bailout rows October 20, 2011 FRENCH president Nicolas Sarkozy flew to Germany last night for crisis talks ahead of this weekend’s summit, which aims to address the Eurozone’s woes. He wants the European Financial Stability Fund (EFSF) to become a bank, tapping the European Central Bank (ECB) for funds to help governments. Germany and the ECB oppose the suggestion, leading [...]
Initial approval given for more Greek austerity October 20, 2011 A GENERAL strike failed to dissuade Greece’s socialist party from voting through new austerity measures last night, though more votes are required today to make the bill law. Around 100,000 protestors and strikers (pictured, left) gathered to oppose the measures. However, all 154 of the ruling socialist PASOK party’s deputies voted in favour of the [...]
CITY VIEWS: ARE YOU CONFIDENT THE EURO WILL SURVIVE? October 20, 2011 CHRIS GAZE | VERINT “No, I think the Euro has too many fundamental flaws and is too complex to survive. It was doomed to begin with and I would like to see it go.” PAUL SMITH | INCEPTA “Yes. As a group of countries we trade together, our economies are interdependent and it provides collective [...]
