Investment slumps in second quarter but remains up on 2011 September 25, 2012 INVESTMENT slumped between the first and second quarters of 2012, data from the Office for National Statistics revealed yesterday, as investors fled corporate securities. Total net investment by insurance firms, pension funds and trusts was £20.6bn in the second quarter, down from £37.6bn in the first quarter, the data showed. This reflected small increases in [...]
UK more gloomy in September September 25, 2012 Gloom about the state of the British economy deepened slightly in September, according to data released today by Ipsos Mori. Fourteen per cent of respondents said the UK economy was in good shape, down from 15 per cent last time Ipsos asked the question. This made the UK optimistic compared to Japan, France, Italy and [...]
Economy set for slow recovery September 25, 2012 The UK economy will shrink in 2012, before growing marginally in 2013, Davy Research predicted yesterday, echoing reports from other forecasters. GDP will fall 0.5 per cent for 2012 as a whole, the Irish stockbroker said, before recovering 0.8 per cent next year. Exports will grow faster than the economy as a whole, Davy predicts, [...]
Britons fail to get on their bikes September 25, 2012 UK citizens proved reluctant to get on their bikes last year, with the volume of internal migration inching down despite the lingering recession. Around 2.6m moves were completed in the year to June 2011, in England and Wales, a one per cent fall on the previous 12 months. Despite London’s relative resilience during the slump, [...]
Olympus execs plead guilty in £1bn fraud trial September 25, 2012 JAPANESE camera and medical equipment maker Olympus Corp and three of its former executives pleaded guilty yesterday over charges related to a $1.7bn (£1.05bn) accounting cover-up in one of Japan’s biggest corporate scandals. The scandal was exposed last October by chief executive Michael Woodford, who was sacked by the Olympus board after querying dubious deals [...]
BlackBerry outage hampers RIM’s bid to bounce back September 25, 2012 IF Research in Motion could have chosen a day to have a second BlackBerry outage in less than a year then last Friday, when Apple’s record-breaking iPhone 5 hit the shelves in the UK, would probably not have been first choice. Yet that is what transpired. Last year RIM suffered an outage that went on [...]
Rentokil catches US pest firm to become world’s third-biggest September 25, 2012 PEST CONTROL firm Rentokil Initial yesterday announced it had snapped up US firm Western Exterminator for up to $115m (£70.9m), in a move that will make it the world’s third-largest company of its kind. The move continues Rentokil’s strategy of expanding into North America, Latin America and the Middle East. “This acquisition significantly increases Rentokil’s [...]
Quintain deputy chief executive steps down to start up new firm September 25, 2012 QUINTAIN announced yesterday that its deputy chief executive Becky Worthington is to step down after 14 years with the developer to set up her own firm. Worthington – Quintain’s finance director until her promotion in May – will leave the company on 31 October. Some of her duties will go to Richard Stearn, who was [...]
Stobart picks KPMG for audit September 25, 2012 LOGISTICS business Stobart Group, the company behind the iconic Eddie Stobart lorries, yesterday appointed KPMG as its new auditors, ending a decade long relationship with the incumbent Ernst & Young. The Carlisle-based lorry firm, listed on the FTSE 250, appointed KPMG Audit after it beat off Ernst & Young and another unidentified professional services firm [...]
TNK-BP seals $675m finance September 25, 2012 RUSSIA’S third-largest oil company TNK-BP has signed a $675m loan with a group of banks, falling short of its targeted $750m after one bank was unable to commit to the financing, banking sources said yesterday. The firm, which is in the middle of a tug-of-war between the Kremlin and shareholders BP and AAR, will use [...]
