Inflation dips for first time in five months March 23, 2010 The headline rate of inflation slowed in February for the first time since September, raising hopes that inflation has now peaked. Utility price cuts and a slower rise in food prices helped to send the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) back down to three per cent in February, official data published yesterday revealed. In January, it [...]
RUGBY CHAT: DID MARTIN JOHNSON’S ENGLAND TURN THE CORNER AGAINST FRANCE? March 23, 2010 DUNCAN BROWN | MINSTER LAW SOLICITORS “I don’t think we were going to ever beat France, but it was a fairly good performance and I felt we turned the corner in many respects. The introductions of Ben Foden and Chris Ashton gave us impetus but Johnson needs to blood more like these.” PETER DAVIS | [...]
ANALYST VIEWS: DO YOU THINK INFLATION WILL FALL BACK TO BELOW TARGET THIS YEAR? March 23, 2010 SIMON WARD | HENDERSON Assuming no significant impact from Budget decisions, CPI inflation is projected to fluctuate in a 3.0-3.25 per cent range until mid-year before declining modestly during the second half, remaining well above the two per cent target. ALAN CLARKE | BNP PARIBAS “We expect inflation to be stable in the coming months, [...]
Spurs land starlet Sandro in £10.5m summer deal March 23, 2010 TOTTENHAM last night confirmed a deal to sign Brazilian midfielder Sandro, subject to a medical. The 21-year-old is due to arrive at White Hart Lane later this week with a view to completing an estimated £10.5m deal from Internacional. Sandro will not join the club, however, until the conclusion of the Copa Libertadores in August, [...]
Broadcasters agree on an even split for World Cup schedule March 23, 2010 THE BBC and ITV have confirmed an even split of matches for this summer’s World Cup in South Africa. While ITV will show two of England’s three group stage games, the BBC has first pick of last 16 and quarter-final ties. Both will then show the final and any semi-final featuring Fabio Capello’s side. The [...]
Babcock seals VT Group deal March 23, 2010 VT GROUP, the engineering services company, is bracing itself for job cuts at its Southampton headquarters after being acquired by Babcock International for £1.3bn yesterday. Chief executive Paul Lester told City A.M. there would be inevitable “casualties” among VT’s head office staff, but redundancies would affect a fraction of the merged group’s 27,000-strong workforce. Job [...]
High street shows continuing signs of growth with positive outlook for Easter March 23, 2010 THE UK high street has been unable to sustain its strong February sales growth this month, but the Confederation of British Industry’s (CBI) monthly distributive trades survey showed UK retailers still experienced an increase in sales volumes. Encouragingly, the CBI also said that retailers are expecting a similar pace of growth over the Easter period. [...]
SPORT | IN BRIEF March 23, 2010 Button’s eyeing Aussie success FORMULA ONE: World champion Jenson Button says McLaren can close the gap on their rivals at this weekend’s Australian Grand Prix. Button could only finish seventh in the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix a fortnight ago, while team-mate Lewis Hamilton was third. But Button said: “It’s a low downforce circuit which suits [...]
Shell and China National Petroleum sign gas deal March 23, 2010 ROYAL Dutch Shell and China National Petroleum Corp have signed a 30-year deal to develop natural gas in China, a day after launching a joint takeover bid for Australian gas producer Arrow Energy. The two firms will jointly develop tight gas deposits in the 4,000 square kilometre Jinqiu block in central Sichuan province, Shell said [...]
US home sales dip amid fragile market recovery March 23, 2010 Sales of previously owned US homes fell slightly in February, according to a trade group report yesterday that underscored the fragile nature of the housing market’s recovery. The National Association of Realtors said sales fell 0.6 per cent month-on-month to an annual rate of 5.02m units, the third straight month of declines in sales. January’s [...]
