GM car sales jump 11pc December 1, 2010 GENERAL MOTORS’ sales rose 11 per cent in the US last month, slightly less than industry-wide predictions but providing a sign of returning consumer demand. GM said yesterday its four core brands – Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac – clawed back some market share with a 21 per cent rise in sales compared with last [...]
Brewin says regulation hits profits December 1, 2010 BRITISH financial services group Brewin Dolphin yesterday said it posted a 25 per cent increase in underlying pre-tax profits during the year to 26 September as it brushed off the impact of higher regulatory costs. Brewin Dolphin said profits excluding redundancy costs, contract renewal payments and the amortisation of client relationships was £40.2m for the [...]
Accountant pay flat but bonuses up December 1, 2010 THE CHRISTMAS bonus season should be good for UK accountants, but their salaries look set to rise at below inflation rates, a new survey has found. Six in ten City businesses expect to pay their finance staff bonuses this year, the survey by recruitment consultancy Ambition found – and while accountants on average expect a [...]
Prudential plans to double sales in Asia December 1, 2010 PRUDENTIAL boss Tidjane Thiam unveiled his strategy for expanding the company in Asia in the wake of the firm’s botched bid for AIA, sending shares up 5.6 per cent to 600p yesterday. Thiam, who came under intense shareholder pressure to stand down following his £22.7bn bid for the Asian life insurer, told investors he aims [...]
Prudential December 1, 2010 TIDJANE Thiam’s disastrous attempt to acquire AIA hasn’t snuffed out his love affair with Asia. Already booking a third of sales in the region, Thiam wants to go much further by doubling Asian premiums over the next three years. Having tested shareholders’ appetite for a transformational acquisition – and found it wanting – Prudential will [...]
Sage reshuffles execs as profits rise 20 per cent December 1, 2010 SAGE marked expectation-beating results yesterday with a top-level reshuffle. New chief executive Guy Berruyer, who recently took over from long-standing boss Paul Walker, announced he will promote the two rivals he beat in the leadership race. Paul Stobart, head of the UK and Ireland, will take responsibility for the whole of Northern Europe and Paul [...]
Promising lift for industry helps US jobs December 1, 2010 INDUSTRIAL growth in the US still offers hope for an economic recovery, a survey released yesterday indicated. The ISM manufacturing index, which assesses the state of US industry, came in at 56.6 for November – displaying growth slightly above the rate expected by economists. There was a large dip in the rate of production growth, [...]
Industry bounces back in UK December 1, 2010 RECORD breaking statistics are pointing to a resurgent UK economy, according to authoritative data released yesterday. Jobs growth in manufacturing for November raced forwards at its fastest rate since 1992, when the Markit/CPI Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) began collecting data. And UK manufacturing growth hit a sixteen year high, after production rose for 18 months [...]
Indian factory output recovers well….. December 1, 2010 INDIAN industry continues to grow after suffering a decline in 2009, data accrued by HSBC revealed yesterday. In November industry growth rose to above the long-run average, accelerating for the second successive month. The Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) jumped to 58.4 in November, up from 57.2 in October. The volume of new orders and export [...]
…..but high inflation scares China December 1, 2010 HIGH inflation is haunting China’s industrial sector, data from HSBC showed yesterday. Input prices shot up at the fourth fastest rate in the history of the Purchasing Managers Index (PMI). Economists pointed to low supply of goods, and panic buying in the face of further price rises. Prices of cotton, grain, oil and steel all [...]
