New man is from the Leahy mould April 19, 2011 THE son of a Tesco store manager in the Wirral, Philip Clarke has moved into the hot seat 36 years after he did his first shelf-stacking shift for the supermarket as a schoolboy. Like his predecessor Sir Terry Leahy, who also grew up in Liverpool, he has been one of the backbones of the company [...]
SABMiller tops forecasts thanks to growth in emerging markets and US April 19, 2011 BREWER SABMiller beat forecasts with a three per cent rise in beer volumes in the first three months of 2011, led by emerging markets in Africa and Asia as all its regions except the United States saw growth. The world’s second-largest brewer and maker of Miller Lite, Peroni and Grolsch, said yesterday underlying beer volumes [...]
Redrow plans Scottish divestment as sales rise April 19, 2011 UK-BASED housebuilder Redrow said yesterday that because of its positive sales so far this year, it plans to offload its Scottish operations to focus more on the South-East and London markets. Britain’s sixth largest housebuilder by market value said it averaged 0.70 sales per site since the start of 2011, compared with 0.65 per week [...]
Firms demand more reforms for tribunals April 19, 2011 PROPOSED reforms to employment tribunals are flawed and will not help businesses, the Institute of Directors (IoD) said today. The IoD is calling on the coalition government to bolster its plans in order to protect companies from costly, spurious claims. “Being timid will get us nowhere,” said IoD director-general Miles Templeman. “Employment tribunals need radical [...]
Boost for US housing as permits for new units rise April 19, 2011 US HOME building and permits for future construction rebounded strongly last month from February’s weather-depressed levels, but analysts warned a glut of housing on the market will make further gains difficult. The Commerce Department announced a 11.2 per cent monthly jump in the annualised number of permits for new housing units. New housing starts in [...]
Huge jump in Canadian inflation April 19, 2011 Canada’s annual inflation rate shot up in March to its highest level since September 2008 and above the central bank’s target range, official data showed yesterday. The consumer price index soared by 1.1 per cent last month, to an annualised 3.3 per cent. Food and energy were the main drivers behind the spike, with core [...]
Steady factory growth in China April 19, 2011 Chinese manufacturing grew at a modest yet steady pace this month, according to a preliminary purchasing managers’ index (PMI) conducted by HSBC. The index stuck at 51.8 for April, the same level as the previous month. However, the output index dropped to a nine-month low of 51.6, down from 53.5 in March.
Japan’s consumer morale plunges April 19, 2011 Japanese consumer confidence worsened at the fastest pace on record in March, after the devastating earthquake and tsunami. A sentiment index came in at 38.6 in March, down from 41.2 in February. A reading below 50 suggests consumer pessimism.
Polish industrial expansion slows April 19, 2011 A troublesome day for the Polish central bank saw industrial growth slow to seven per cent while producer prices rose by 8.2 per cent (both year-on-year). An interest rate hike is expected in May.
UK Coal chair slams losses as costs spiral April 19, 2011 UK COAL, the country’s biggest coal miner, saw its shares fall off a cliff yesterday after its own chairman slammed last year’s pre-tax loss of £124.6m as “woeful”. The company narrowed its losses by three per cent in 2010 but has lost a total of £269.3m and 90 per cent of its market value in [...]
