Retail sales up on promotions drive from department stores July 18, 2013 BRITISH retail sales increased strongly in the second quarter of the year, the Office for National Statistics announced yesterday. Healthy June numbers show a 2.2 per cent rise in sales compared with the same month of 2012. And quarterly sales increased 0.9 per cent on the second quarter of last year. Online sales shot up 18.4 [...]
Business loans drop despite cheap funding July 18, 2013 BANK lending to British firms fell again in the three months to May, the Bank of England revealed yesterday. Net lending to all sizes of business dipped, bringing the total stock of loans down by £4.5bn in the quarter. That comes despite the Bank’s Funding for Lending Scheme (FLS), which is designed to offer cheap [...]
LSE shares soar as acquisition boosts revenues July 18, 2013 SHARES in the London Stock Exchange (LSE) topped the FTSE 100 yesterday, rising more than seven per cent after first-quarter revenues at the group beat expectations. Revenues in the three months to the end of June were £249.7m – 39 per cent higher than a year ago when they came in at £179m, and comfortably topping [...]
Inside track: When banks become unwelcome investors in property July 18, 2013 TWO INVESTMENT banks, Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank, will for the next few months be keeping a beadier eye than usual on the German property market. The pair have just emerged as holding a combined stake of around 13 per cent in Gagfah, the second-largest owner of German homes, as a consequence of not being [...]
Dexia bailout bill at €6.6bn July 18, 2013 THE RESCUE of nationalised Franco-Belgian bank Dexia has cost the French state around €6.6bn (£5.7bn) so far and the bill could grow, its public audit office said in a report yesterday. France and Belgium rescued Dexia, once the world’s largest municipal lender, last year over fears that a collapse of the crisis-hit banking group could [...]
Hobbs owner 3i sees chances July 18, 2013 VENTURE capital firm 3i said yesterday it had seen an increase in investment opportunities in the US and northern Europe, as it announced a boost in payouts to shareholders. 3i, owner of women’s fashion chain Hobbs, has spent the last year restructuring following shareholder frustration at its poor share price performance and weak results from [...]
Rise in profits at BlackRock as investors flock July 18, 2013 BLACKROCK, the world’s largest money manager, said yesterday that its second-quarter profit rose 32 per cent, citing strong global demand from its retail and institutional clients and growth in markets. Net income at the New York-based company totalled $729m (£479m), or $4.19 per share, up from $554m, or $3.08 per share, a year earlier. Excluding [...]
Arbuthnot to enter SME market with Bank of England funding July 18, 2013 ARBUTHNOT Banking Group yesterday announced its plans to enter the asset finance and invoice finance business, aided by cheap funds from the Bank of England’s Funding for Lending Scheme (FLS). The group, made up of Arbuthnot Private Bank and Secure Trust Bank, reported 64 per cent growth in underlying profits to £7.2m in the first [...]
Mixed results for Dentons and Travers July 18, 2013 LAW FIRM Dentons unveiled its first set of financial results since its merger yesterday, securing its place among the top 20 law firms in the world with revenues of £829.7m. Dentons, which was born out of a merger between SNR Denton, Canadian firm Fraser Milner Casgrain, and Salans, posted net income of £225.2m, but did not provide [...]
Sports Direct to pay staff £150m in shares bonus July 18, 2013 THOUSANDS of Sports Direct employees are set to share in a bonus pool worth over £150m after the sports retail giant posted record profits. Around 2,000 staff will next month receive an average of 12,000 shares each as part of a 2009 bonus scheme that – at yesterday’s share price – will be worth around [...]
