Westfield sales up February 17, 2010 SALES at Westfield shopping centre were up 11 per cent last month lifting some of the gloom from the retail market. The mall in West London’s Shepherds Bush also saw spending in the run-up to Christmas soaring by 18 per cent compared with the same period in 2008 when the UK was in the grip of [...]
Jarvis shares tumble after profit warning February 17, 2010 SHARES in troubled rail and plant firm Jarvis plunged more than 14 per cent after it today issued a profit warning to round off a “disappointing year”. The FTSE Fledgling company spooked investors with forecasts of a £5m operating loss this year following a “very considerable reduction” in the volume of rail and plant [...]
ING reports loss after bailout repayment February 17, 2010 DUTCH banking group ING has reported a fourth quarter loss after repaying some of its bailout funds. ING reported a loss of 712m euros (£621m) after giving back 930m euros to the Dutch government. However, the loss was less than the 3.71bn-euros it reported in the same quarter last year. The group will sell its [...]
Unemployment dips but benefit claimants up February 17, 2010 THE jobless total in the UK has fallen slightly but the number of benefits claimants has gone up, official figures have shown. Total unemployment stood at 2.46m for the three months to December, down 3,000 on the figure for the previous three months. The rate of unemployment was unchanged at 7.8 per cent, the Office [...]
BNP Paribas sees profits jump February 17, 2010 FRENCH bank BNP Paribas made a 1.37bn euros (£1.2bn) profit in the three months to December last year. The lender recorded a loss of almost the amount in the equivalent period the year before. BNP Paribas made total profits of 5.83bn euros for the whole of 2009 – up by 93 per cent from 2008. [...]
Vodafone: Google must be reined in February 16, 2010 VODAFONE boss Vittorio Colao yesterday called on policymakers to address Google’s dominance in mobile advertising “before it is too late”. He used his keynote speech at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona to launch a thinly-veiled attack on the internet search giant, arguing that its power could hinder consumer choice. Gesturing to a slide which showed [...]
RBS opens talks for US Sempra February 16, 2010 ROYAL Bank of Scotland has begun discussions with potential buyers for the US parts of its Sempra Commodities business after JPMorgan paid $1.7bn (£1.1bn) for the European and Asian arms. JPMorgan yesterday signed a deal for RBS Sempra’s global oil and metal trading operations, plus its coal and gas capabilities on the continent and in [...]
Greece told to cut deeper February 16, 2010 EUROPEAN ministers told Greece yesterday it may need to take further steps to bring a swollen debt under control and calm “irrational” financial markets, as wage cuts already announced by Athens sparked another strike. At a European Union meeting, finance ministers from Germany, Austria and Sweden led the charge, with Germany’s deputy finance minister saying [...]
Era of cheap money is gone forever February 16, 2010 THERE is one, overwhelming reason why interest rates are going up on products such as credit cards, even though the Bank of England’s base rate remains very low. It has nothing to do with greed, bonuses, rip-off Britain or conspiracy theories – and all to do with the costs associated with the massive amounts of [...]
Toyota’s troubles drag on February 16, 2010 CLASS action lawsuits are piling up against Toyota and could cost the carmaker billions of dollars in damages. Toyota owners are “charging gross negligence on the part of the automobile manufacturer,” following its decision this month to recall 8.5m cars. It is understood that 44 class action lawsuits have been filed and could amount to [...]
