Investors eye Pru dividend growth rate August 1, 2010 PRUDENTIAL will be under pressure to maintain its rate of dividend growth next week as chief executive Tidjane Thiam tries to recover from the insurer’s failed bid for AIA. Investors will be looking for at least five per cent growth in the interim payout, in line with the past three years, to 6.6p. The number [...]
Insurers set to raise dividends in results week August 1, 2010 THE INSURANCE sector earnings season is expected to deliver growing profits and dividend increases this week, though uncertainty over new European rules could dampen forecasts, according to analysts. Legal & General is set to kick off on Wednesday with a widely tipped dividend rise. Analysts have forecast operating profits of up to £412m for the [...]
PMI data will show growth slowing down August 1, 2010 LEADING economic surveys are expected to show this week that the UK continued to grow at a solid pace in July, though economists warned it was unlikely that we would see a repeat of the blistering pace of growth recorded between April and June. All three purchasing managers’ indices (PMIs) to be reported this week [...]
Experts split on dangers of hike in interest rates August 1, 2010 AS the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) looks set to keep interest rates at 0.5 per cent for another month, economists are divided on when the loose monetary policy should finally be tightened. There is increasing pressure to raise interest rates for the first time since March 2009 to try and halt inflation, [...]
ECONOMIST VIEWS: WHAT DO YOU EXPECT FROM THE PMIS THIS WEEK? August 1, 2010 JONATHAN LOYNES | CAPITAL ECONOMICS “Services output is estimated to have risen by 0.9 per cent in the second quarter but the sharp drop in the business expectations balance in June suggests that the headline activity index could have fallen further in July.” DAVID PAGE | INVESTEC “The manufacturing and services PMIs are likely to [...]
Claridge’s owner is close to loans deal August 1, 2010 THE OWNER of the five-star Claridge’s, Berkeley and Connaught hotels is close to a deal to refinance its £600m debts. Maybourne Hotel Group is in talks with Westbrook Partners, an American real estate investor, and another unidentified firm over selling a £200m stake in the hotelier. Maybourne has spent months seeking investors for the refinancing, [...]
Spotlight turns to US over huge budget deficit August 1, 2010 THE debt spotlight seems to be panning across the Atlantic from Europe to the United States. The Congressional Budget Office in the US has warned that – unless politicians act fast – growing budget deficits will cause public debt to rise to unsupportable levels. In fact, it points out that US government debt has grown [...]
Spaceship hotel gets the green light August 1, 2010 A SIX-STAR hotel on the bank of the Thames near Blackfriars was granted planning approval by the City of London on Friday. The £250m, seven-storey hotel, dubbed The Spaceship, is to be built at Puddle Dock on the site of the existing Mermaid Conference Centre, by Malory Clifford’s development firm Blackfriars Investments. The Will Alsop-designed [...]
Greek trucker strike ends August 1, 2010 Greek truckers yesterday ended a six-day strike, handing a victory to the socialist government in its efforts to liberalise the recession-hit economy. Truckers had walked off the job on Monday to protest against plans to open up their sector, a reform required by a multi-billion euro EU/IMF bailout plan. Taking an unusually tough stance, the [...]
Rank to grow casinos chain August 1, 2010 GAMING firm Rank Group is planning to spend £50m to expand its casino operations by a third. The company is understood to be aiming to build at least five casinos in northern and central England over the next two years at a cost of £23m, with another five to be rolled out later. Rank, which [...]
