Barclays to axe 3,000 jobs as profit falls August 2, 2011 Barclays will cut about 3,000 jobs this year as the industry grapples with tougher regulation and the impact of a spreading sovereign debt crisis on investment banking operations. First half profits at the bank fell by a third after a drop in bond trading activity at its investment bank and a charge to compensate customers [...]
US pulls back from the brink August 1, 2011 US POLITICIANS moved one step closer last night to approving an eleventh-hour deal to raise the country’s debt ceiling, and hope to avoid the prospect of a default that would throw global markets into chaos. Members of the Republican-controlled House of Representatives voted 269-161 in favour of the proposed plan, which will lift the debt [...]
HSBC plans a jobs cull in Europe August 1, 2011 EUROPE is set to lose thousands of jobs to higher-growth markets in Asia as HSBC slashes its headcount by 30,000 in the next two years. That includes 700 jobs cut in the UK alone in the first half of this year, with more to come as the bank refocuses its business eastwards. It has also [...]
UK factories slump in July August 1, 2011 GEORGE Osborne’s hopes of a manufacturing-led recovery were dealt a blow yesterday, after a survey suggested factory output had contracted in July for the first time in two years. The manufacturing purchasing manager’s index (PMI) fell to 49.1 in July from a revised 51.4 in June – the first time it has been below the [...]
Relief over debt deal is short-lived August 1, 2011 It didn’t take long for the relief caused by Sunday evening’s US debt plan to dissipate. First, there’s the dawning realisation that the plan itself, passed by the House late last night, is unlikely to help the US avoid some sort of debt downgrade. Nor is it likely to repair the wounds caused by weeks [...]
NI ordered email deletion August 1, 2011 NEWS International asked a technology firm to delete a large number of emails from its system nine times in 15 months, a technology firm told MPs probing the hacking scandal. In a letter to the Home Affairs Committee from India-based HCL Technologies, the firm said that it noticed nothing “abnormal or untoward” about the requests [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING August 1, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES FOXCONN LOOKS TO AN AUTOMATED FUTURE WITH 1M ROBOTS BY 2013 Foxconn, the world’s largest contract electronics manufacturer by revenue, plans to have as many robots as workers in its China factories within three years, according to Terry Gou, chairman and chief executive. Foxconn, China’s biggest employer, produced Apple’s iPad and other electronic [...]
Cable to reveal copyright change August 1, 2011 Business secretary Vince Cable is expected to unveil reforms to UK copyright laws tomorrow, freeing up those who make copies of their own music and film collections for personal use from potential lawsuits. In the UK, it is still illegal to make personal copies of bought content. Cable is expected to say he will abolish [...]
Xchanging profits plummet August 1, 2011 Pre-tax profits at back office services group Xchanging plummeted 95 per cent in the first half of 2011. The sponsor of the Oxford-Cambridge boat race said that in the six months to the end of June, profits before taxation fell to £812,000. The company parted ways with its chief executive David Andrews and cancelled its [...]
Europe’s rich flood London’s house market August 1, 2011 THE price of luxury homes in central London has jumped by almost 10 per cent in the past year, driven by demand from wealthy Europeans looking to invest outside of the troubled Eurozone economies. Prime London property prices have risen 9.6 per cent since July 2010, and are more than 28 per cent higher than [...]
