UK car registrations hits four-year high January 7, 2013 New car registrations jumped 5.3 per cent in 2012, boosted by strong consumer demand, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). Over the year, 2.04m vehicles were sold, according to data out this morning, the highest figure since the recession started in 2008. In December, new car registrations rose by 3.7 per [...]
Ladbrokes in talks to acquire Betdaq January 7, 2013 Bookmaker Ladbrokes this morning confirmed it was in talks to buy Irish betting exchange Betdaq. “Ladbrokes enjoys a close commercial cooperation with Betdaq and can confirm discussions regarding a potential future acquisition,” the bookmaker said in a statement. Ladbrokes last year abandoned takeover plans with rivals 888 Holdings and Sportingbet.
Morrisons reveals worsening pre-Christmas sales January 7, 2013 Supermarket Morrisons posted declining sales in the run-up to Christmas this morning, as it admitted its sales were “disappointing”. Over the six weeks to 30 December, total sales excluding fuel were down by 0.5 per cent. Like for like sales suffered a larger drop, down by 2.5 per cent over the period, the retailer said [...]
UK house prices enjoy December rise January 7, 2013 UK house prices enjoyed a last-minute boost to 2012 and rose by 1.3 per cent in December, according to Halifax’s house price index out this morning. On an annual basis, house values edged down by 0.3 per cent over the year, the lender said. Overall, there were six monthly rises and six decreases during 2012. [...]
Bank rules eased to spur lending January 7, 2013 TOUGH new banking rules will be eased in an effort to stop red tape hitting lending and damaging the economic recovery, the world’s top regulators announced last night. Banks will get more time to build up their liquidity buffers and can use a wider range of instruments, making it easier for them to hit the [...]
City finance chiefs fear triple dip January 7, 2013 THE FRAGILE UK economy still has a two-fifths chance of sinking back into what would be a triple dip recession, chief financial officers warned today. Rocked by financial and economic uncertainty, which 93 per cent of finance chiefs judged above normal, firms surveyed by Deloitte in the fourth quarter of 2012 said there was a [...]
Zurich chief calls for tax breaks for long-term care January 7, 2013 THE GOVERNMENT will not be able to meet the crushing cost of long-term care for the elderly and must introduce tax breaks to avert the looming crisis, according to one of the UK’s leading insurers. Gary Shaughnessy, chief executive of Zurich’s UK life insurance business, told City A.M. that demand for long-term care is set [...]
Basel III at a glance January 7, 2013 ■ Banks are being forced to raise liquidity buffers to make sure they can survive a month of tough conditions without getting central bank help ■ Bank argue that diverting resources into that buffer could harm lending at a time when the economy is already weak ■ After yesterday’s meeting, banks will now been given [...]
What we really need is to reintroduce capitalism into banks January 7, 2013 REGULATORS are a bit like retired generals, always refighting the last war. It will take another economic catastrophe before we find out for sure whether the global banking reforms, agreed at Basel yesterday, are truly fit for purpose. I’m not optimistic – no centrally planned, crude attempt at making a complex system safer ever works [...]
Coalition plans £2,000 voucher for childcare January 7, 2013 A PLEDGE to drive down the cost of childcare for working parents is at the heart of today’s relaunch of the coalition. Policies could include a flat-rate childcare voucher paid through the tax system, worth up to £2,000 per child, and allowing childminders to look after more children. Details were vague last night but the [...]
