Banks and champagne are out, but the Tory big beast is still standing May 4, 2010 KEN Clarke has gone awol. He left the last campaign stop at the same time as his chief of staff, who has long since arrived, but is nowhere to be seen. “He insists on driving himself,” one aide tells me, with an exasperated look. Eventually, forty-five minutes after we’re supposed to meet, he storms into [...]
BP launches a relief plan to plug oil leak May 4, 2010 BP launched its campaign to prevent one of the world’s worst environmental disasters yesterday by stepping up efforts to stop oil from further flowing into the Gulf of Mexico. The British energy giant started drilling a relief well with hopes of intercepting and isolating the spillage. More than 200,000 gallons of oil have flowed into [...]
Aberdeen warns of a hung parliament as profits treble May 4, 2010 ABERDEEN Asset Management warned of the perils of a hung parliament yesterday even as it delighted markets by tripling its pre-tax profits. Chief executive Martin Gilbert told City A.M. the board was “very pleased” with the 181 per cent jump in underlying earnings to £92.6m in the six months to 31 March. But Gilbert said: [...]
Essar Energy makes lacklustre start to life on London markets May 4, 2010 FIRST-day trading in shares in Essar Energy was weak yesterday, leaving the closing price of the new stock at 389.5p, below an already reduced issue price of 420p a share. Dealers said that the group, which is 76 per cent owned by its Indian parent, had inadvertently chosen a bad day for first day dealings [...]
UK factory growth hits a 16-year high May 4, 2010 ACTIVITY in Britain’s hard-hit manufacturing sector grew at its fastest rate last month since September 1994 thanks to a sharp increase in the growth rate of new exports, a leading survey showed yesterday. The Markit/CIPS manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) showed that factory activity rose to 58 in April from 57.3, well above the 50 [...]
Recruitment rise set to spark return to City poaching May 4, 2010 THE recruitment market continued to improve in April, although the pace slowed after reaching a 12-year peak in March, according to a report published yesterday. In its job report, recruitment trade body the Recruitment & Employment Confederation (REC) and accountants KPMG said both permanent and short-term staffing continued to increase, showing clear signs of economic [...]
Shop prices rose last month but stability forecast May 4, 2010 SHOP price inflation rose to two per cent in April on a year earlier compared to 1.2 per cent in March, according the latest survey from the British Retail Consortium (BRC). Rising costs as a result of higher commodity prices were the main reason behind the increase. The BRC’s director-general Stephen Robertson said: “With commodity [...]
OECD inflation rate hits 2.1pc May 4, 2010 The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) yesterday published data showing that the rate of inflation in its 31 member states hit an annual 2.1 per cent in March. This small increase in inflation rates mainly reflected higher energy prices, which increased by 11.3 per cent in the year to March, compared with 8.4 [...]
German retail sales slip further May 4, 2010 German retail sales fell 2.4 per cent in March on the previous month but they were still 2.7 per cent higher than a year earlier. This was disappointing as retail sales will not support growth in the first quarte, according to Carsten Brzeski at ING. She said: “The March drop illustrates once again a sad [...]
US home buyers rush to sign May 4, 2010 Pending homes sales in the United States jumped 5.3 per cent in March on the previous month and in line with analysts’ expectations. Economists said that prospective buyers rushing to complete before the homebuyer tax credit ended on 30 April had given the figures a boost. As a result, April should also be another month [...]
