Miner ENRC unveils a board revamp but keeps chairman September 28, 2011 KAZAKH miner ENRC yesterday announced an overhaul of its board following a three-month governance review triggered by a boardroom row, which resulted in the exit of two well-known directors. The FTSE 100 miner, which has been subject to long-running tensions between the group’s founder shareholders and some board members, confirmed that Johannes Sittard will remain [...]
Spanish government postpones privatisation of national lottery September 28, 2011 SPAIN has suspended the planned float of its state lottery due to the parlous state of the stock markets. It had hoped to raise up to €9.5bn (£8.3bn) and help convince markets its public finances are in order. What would have been Spain’s biggest-ever initial public offering had met with fierce resistance from the People’s [...]
FPC: Eurozone crisis could freeze credit September 28, 2011 THE ECONOMIC threat from the Eurozone crisis yesterday prompted the Bank of England’s new regulatory body to urge banks to boost lending. While praising the banks’ recent record in building up buffers of capital, the Financial Policy Committee (FPC) said that bonuses and dividends should be cut in order to release sufficient credit to businesses. [...]
BEHIND THE LINES | WE ANALYSE THE FPC STATEMENT September 28, 2011 “Banks should take any opportunity they had to strengthen their levels of capital… without constraining lending… This could include raising long-term funding whenever possible and ensuring that discretionary distributions reflected any reduction in profits. ” The Financial Policy Committee is happy with banks building up their liquidity levels to protect themselves from future shocks – [...]
London defies house price slump September 28, 2011 House prices in London rose by 0.5 per cent in August, the Land Registry said yesterday – despite prices dipping by 0.3 per cent across the rest of the UK. The average house in the capital now costs £348,686, more than double the national average.
Inflation expectations still sticky September 28, 2011 Stubbornly high inflation is here to stay, according to a survey released by YouGov yesterday. Inflation expectations for the year ahead stuck at 3.5 per cent in September, while respondents expect price pressures to be slightly higher (3.8 per cent) over the next five to 10 years.
Wages could edge up next year September 28, 2011 Over a third of human resources professionals expect to boost pay awards in 2012, a poll by Incomes Data Services revealed this morning. “Over half intend to make the same level of pay award in 2012 as they made in 2011,” the report said, with only 13 per cent expecting to reduce pay settlements.
US firms ramp up investments September 28, 2011 US businesses stepped up investment spending in August, in a rare positive sign for the country’s economy. Non-defence capital goods orders excluding aircraft, a proxy for business spending, increased 1.1 per cent after falling 0.2 per cent in July.
Barroso calls on EU to finish integrating September 28, 2011 EUROPE needs to embrace fiscal union to save the euro, according to European Commission (EC) president José Manual Barroso. Addressing the European Parliament yesterday, Barroso declared: “We need to complete our monetary union with an economic union. We need to achieve the tasks of Maastricht. It was an illusion to think that we could have [...]
Finland gives its backing to EFSF extension September 28, 2011 THE FINNISH parliament yesterday backed extending the powers of the Eurozone bailout fund as members of the ruling coalition sought to keep the country on a pro-Europe course. Lawmakers comfortably supported the new powers for the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF), with 103 in favour, 66 against and 30 absent from yesterday’s vote. The Finnish [...]
