Finnish vote could delay Lisbon rescue April 17, 2011 PORTUGAL’S €85bn (£75bn) rescue could be delayed by a surge of anti-EU bailout fatigue in Finland, where the eurosceptic True Finns looked on course for a stunning result in elections last night. Finland is unusual among Eurozone states in requiring a majority parliamentary vote for major decisions regarding the EU, which would include contributing to [...]
Asking prices soar for London homes April 17, 2011 ASKING prices for London homes surged to their highest ever level this month, a Rightmove index reveals today. Sellers’ prices spiked 1.6 per cent in April, to an eye-watering average of £431,013, the property website said. Across the UK as a whole, average asking prices stand at £235,822, after an even sharper rise (1.7 per [...]
Chevron chief slams oil tax April 17, 2011 CHEVRON chairman and chief executive John Watson has slammed George Osborne’s Budget-day tax increase on oil and gas production in the North Sea. “It was very disappointing. It was done without consultation with the industry, it’s the third tax hike in 10 years, making the UK one of the more unstable investment climates for our [...]
Gloomy outlook for marketing April 17, 2011 A QUARTER of marketing executives cut their budgets in the first quarter of this year in the worst crisis of confidence since the height of the recession in 2009. Just 20 per cent increased their spending, according to a bellwether report for the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising. Almost 38 per cent of respondents to [...]
Mamut ploughs on with Nomos despite setback April 17, 2011 BILLIONAIRE oligarch Alexander Mamut is set to become a cornerstone investor in Russian private bank Nomos in its upcoming London share offering, despite failing to raise funds in an aborted stock market sale last week. The Moscow-based businessman, best known in Britain as the owner of blogging site Livejournal, has placed an order for tens [...]
Burberry boss plots growth for London April 17, 2011 LUXURY retailer Burberry plans to expand “aggressively” in London, in a bid to improve on what are set to be strong half-year trading figures out tomorrow. Burberry, expected to report on-track underlying sales knocked slightly by a fall in revenues from disaster-hit Japan, is set to ramp up its existing growth plans for London in [...]
Cameron: No UK ground troops for Libyan war April 17, 2011 LIBYAN rebels came under fire on the outskirts of Ajdabiyah yesterday, forcing them eastwards and denting hopes of an end to the war’s stalemate. One witness said he saw around a dozen rockets land near the western entrance to town, which rebels wanted to use as a staging post to retake the oil port of [...]
Return to home ground makes perfect sense for the UK’s traditional outfitter April 17, 2011 COMING after weeks of share price volatility following the Japan earthquake, Ahrendts’ enthusiasm for London could look like a miscalculated retrenchment, especially when Burberry’s Asian sales grew 50 per cent in the first six months of 2010. So has market uncertainty really spooked Ahrendts that much? The answer is a definite no. Far from turning [...]
UBS to learn fate of £340m headquarters April 17, 2011 UBS will find out tomorrow whether it has been granted planning permission for its new £340m headquarters, though lobbyists who want the Broadgate site to be granted listed status could get any approval overturned. The City of London planning committee has already recommended the 700,000 square foot campus for approval, but English Heritage could supersede [...]
City speaks out against Portugal bailout and Ed Balls’ political U-turn April 17, 2011 TWO THIRDS of our Voice of the City panel think that the UK contributing to a European bailout of Portugal is the wrong decision, with 41 per cent branding the move “completely wrong” and 23 per cent “somewhat wrong”. Just 12 per cent of respondents think the bailout is “completely right”. Comments submitted to the [...]
