Cyprus issues bailout warning August 1, 2011 Cyprus may soon have to seek an international bailout, becoming the fourth state in the euro zone to request a rescue if it does not take urgent action to repair its finances, the island’s largest commercial bank said on Monday. “With our inaction we are risking the ability of refinancing the state and the consequences [...]
HSBC axes thousands of jobs as profit hits £6.9bn August 1, 2011 HSBC has confirmed that it plans to axe up to 30,000 staff worldwide while announcing that half year profits were up seven per cent to £6.9bn. It said that growth across the US and Europe is likely to remain ‘sluggish’ with concerns that UK regulatory moves may contribute to slow growth. The bank also said [...]
UK manufacturing activity slows August 1, 2011 British manufacturing activity contracted in July for the first time since the country was in recession two years ago, data showed on Monday, adding to signs that the recovery is faltering and piling more pressure on the government to boost the economy. The Markit/CIPS manufacturing PMI headline activity index fell to 49.1 in July from [...]
Hammerson brushes off retail woes August 1, 2011 Anglo-French shopping centre owner Hammerson reported a 5.1 per cent rise in net asset value and flat underlying profit for the first half, seeing little impact from the recent rise in the number of UK retailers going into administration. The UK’s third-largest real estate investment trust, which owns or co-owns some of Europe’s most popular [...]
Senior boosted by aerospace recovery August 1, 2011 Aero engineer Senior reported a 17 per cent rise in first-half profit, helped by a ramp up in production by its largest planemaking customers who are seeing continued growth in demand for commercial aircraft. Senior, which makes components and systems for the aerospace, defence, land vehicle and energy markets, posted an adjusted pre-tax profit of [...]
Aldermore reaches break even August 1, 2011 New bank Aldermore has broken even, two years after its launch, and has accumulated total assets of more than £1bn, the company said on Monday. Aldermore said it now had loans of more than £800m for 9,500 customers, and had 42,000 deposit accounts. Aldermore and other new entrants such as Metro Bank, Haymarket Financial are [...]
Debt deal needs $2.4 trillion cuts August 1, 2011 ■ Three-stage plan to up debt ceiling ■ Balanced budget vote survives US LEGISLATORS moved towards a deal with the White House last night in a bid to tackle America’s $14.3 trillion (£8.7 trillion) debt pile. Though the final vote on a compromise plan was again pushed back, with the US Senate expected to pass [...]
50p tax rate causes fresh split August 1, 2011 DANNY Alexander blindsided his Tory colleagues yesterday by dismissing calls to abolish the 50p tax-rate as an idea from “cloud cuckoo land”. Asked if the top-rate tax should be cut, the chief secretary to the treasury said: “Anyone who thinks we’re going to shift our priority to reducing the tax burden for the wealthiest has [...]
Bad taste left by Tea Party August 1, 2011 WHILE the age-old war between Republicans and Democrats wages over the US debt crisis, conservative splinter group the Tea Party has threatened to bring the talks crashing down altogether. Tea Party cheerleader Michele Bachmann, an early front-runner in the race to oust Barack Obama, has shot to prominence with her persistent condemnation of the President [...]
Farewell to risk-free rates as delays hit US credibility August 1, 2011 WHETHER or not the deal being worked on intensively in Washington over the past few hours avoids a US downgrade, there is one matter on which all observers agree: the whole debt wrangling saga has dealt a lasting blow to America’s financial credibility. Credit ratings agencies might yet be persuaded to hold off on a [...]
