Aussie rate hike hangs in the balance February 28, 2010 ONE major central bank will have a difficult decision to make this week but it is not the Bank of England. The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) faces a finely balanced decision tomorrow between keeping rates on hold at 3.75 per cent or hiking by 25 basis points. The RBA had surprised markets last month [...]
Economist views: will the rba decide to hike interest rates this week? February 28, 2010 GABRIEL STEIN | LOMBARD STREET RESEARCH On balance the data does not spell out a strong case for a rate rise in March. Strong housing loan growth might tip them into hiking but it is very difficult to call. If the RBA doesn’t hike this month then it will almost certainly do so in April. [...]
Reader’s Digest optimism is high for possible bidder February 28, 2010 READER’S Digest could be saved by a potential buyer after the iconic magazine’s UK arm went into administration last month. Moore Stephens was appointed as administrator for the British arm of the US based company on 17 February and said that negotiations with interested parties have already begun. “While we are reasonably optimistic, it is [...]
Germany agrees pay increase February 28, 2010 GERMANY’S public sector union Verdi agreed over the weekend to a 1.2 per cent rise this year for roughly two million federal government and local authority workers, government and union leaders said. The agreement for 2010, which is the cornerstone of a 26-month deal from January 2010, was reached at a final day of talks [...]
AIM-listed Vane in early stages of uranium drilling February 28, 2010 VANE, the exploration company, said it will start the “commercialisation” of its Wate uranium deposit in Arizona following the completion of research undertaken by a consultant. The deposit will be used to supply the growing US nuclear power industry. Chief executive Steve Van Nort said: “The results of SRK’s model construction, resource calculation and conclusions [...]
Sovereign Capital buys drain experts Euro Environmental in £20m deal February 28, 2010 SOVEREIGN Capital has acquired drain and sewer company Euro Environmental Group (EEG) after paying £20m for the Scottish company. The private equity firm, which specialises in buy and build transactions, announces its management buy-out of EEG today and will acquire the company’s operations across the Scotland and England. The acquisition is significant for Sovereign Capital [...]
London hotels outstrip their country rivals February 28, 2010 LONDON’S hotel sector is beginning to see signs of economic recovery after taking a hit from the recession, while the UK’s provinces continue to experience difficulties. According to new research by professional services company PricewaterhouseCooper (PwC), revenue per available room is projected to grow by three per cent this year and five per cent in [...]
Be bold, George, and watch the poll lead grow February 28, 2010 So in the end Britain did climb out of recession in the 4th quarter, with the figure revised up to 0.3 per cent from the initial 0.1 per cent estimate. This was better than most forecasts but the Treasury was right to be cautious post announcement. For a start the quarter on quarter numbers looked [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS February 28, 2010 ARCHANT The media giant has appointed Mike Walsh, a leading figure in the worlds of advertising, brand marketing and charities, to its main Board as a non-executive director. Walsh is currently a director at advertising agency Ogilvy and Mather South Africa and a non executive at global brand identity and design company, The Brand Union. [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS February 28, 2010 LLOYDS BANKING GROUP Standard and Poor’s has maintained its hold recommendation on Lloyds Banking Group following better than expected results last week. This was driven by strong trading income, while expenses and impairments came in about in-line with our estimates. Notwithstanding a sharp estimated decline in impairments, the bank will still be loss making in [...]
