BATTERED BROWN QUELLS REBELLION June 8, 2009 PRIME Minister Gordon Brown last night appeared to have staved off a full-blown rebellion, despite a stormy meeting of the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) where he faced calls to stand aside. Speaking just hours after Labour suffered its worst humiliation in a national election for decades, with its share of the popular vote dwindling to [...]
Boris gets ready for Tube strike June 8, 2009 BORIS Johnson yesterday revealed plans to keep London rolling, even if tonight’s proposed 48-hour tube strike goes ahead. The industrial action on London Underground (LU), which comes after a pay dispute between union RMT and LU, is due to begin at 7pm this evening. Both parties were last night locked in talks. If the strike [...]
BRC: retail upturn slows June 8, 2009 RECOVERY in the UK retail sector slowed in May, as sales volumes returned to normal following a stellar April, according to the latest figures from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and accountancy firm KPMG. Retail sales in May fell 0.8 per cent on a like-for-like basis and rose just 0.8 per cent on a total [...]
Workspace rises on higher NAV June 8, 2009 Workspace Group, the small business landlord, reported a wider full-year pre-tax loss on a decline in commercial property values, but shares of the company rose as its net asset value per share came in ahead of market estimates. The firm posted a pre-tax loss of £360.4m for the year to the end of March, compared [...]
Iata: airlines will lose $9bn in 2009 as downturn bites June 8, 2009 AILING airlines across the world face losing $9bn (£5.7bn) by the end of the year, the International Air Transport Association (Iata) said yesterday, almost doubling the estimate it made in March. Iata’s director general Giovanni Bisignani said it was “the most difficult situation the industry has faced”. British Airways’ chief executive used the data to [...]
McDonald’s sees May sales fall June 8, 2009 The world’s largest fast food restaurant, McDonald’s, yesterday missed analyst targets for its May sales, sending shares of the hamburger chain plummeting. The group said like-for-like sales were up 2.8 per cent in the US, but that trade was significantly slower than the 6.1 rise in April.
WHAT IS THE OUTLOOK FOR RETAIL SALES AND CONSUMER SPENDING? June 8, 2009 VICKY REDWOOD CAPITAL ECONOMICS“It was always likely there would be some fall in like-for-like retail sales in May after the boost from Easter dropped out. Factors impacting spending, particularly a weaker labour market, are taking effect and high street spending, which has been surprisingly resilient so far, is easing back in line with overall consumer [...]
Braveheart acquires rival Inkopo June 8, 2009 Investment management firm Braveheart said yesterday it had acquired Inkopo, a specialist Yorkshire-based investment business. Aim-listed Braveheart will pay an initial consideration in cash and three tranches of shares over the next two years, up to a maximum value of £1.31m. Inkopo operates the Viking fund, headed by its chief executive Andrew Burton.
BoE extending QE to aid firms June 8, 2009 THE Bank of England (BoE) plans to widen its quantitative easing programme to offer further help to sound firms that are unable to access working capital. Firms will be able to offload their high-quality short-term debt backed by assets such as trade receivables, equipment leases and short-term credit to consumers for cash. BoE officials said [...]
Air France-KLM traffic down June 8, 2009 Air France-KLM unveiled an 8.1 per cent drop in May passenger traffic yesterday, and said cargo data confirmed activity stabilised in recent months and capacity was adjusting to demand amid a global economic crisis. Europe’s biggest airline said it carried 6.1m passengers in May while it cut seat capacity by 5.7 per cent. Its load [...]
