Booker defies economic gloom as sales surge in spite of Makro September 20, 2012 CASH and Carry giant Booker yesterday defied the economic gloom to report a surge in sales over the past quarter. The firm – which supplies almost half a million businesses including corner shops and pubs – said total sales were up 4.3 per cent in the quarter to 14 September compared to last year. Non-tobacco [...]
Visit England cpmpaign boosts M&C Saatchi September 20, 2012 ADVERTISING agency M&C Saatchi saw a 13 per cent rise in pre-tax profits in the first half of the year, driven by new business in Europe. The firm, which ran the Visit England campaign (pictured) over the summer, saw sales rise 15 per cent year-on-year to £83m.
Manufacturers under pressure as September orders collapse September 20, 2012 MANUFACTURERS’ order books continued to collapse in September, survey data showed yesterday, while economists today forecasted very weak economic growth in 2012 and 2013. Eight percentage points more firms reported declining orders than reported increasing orders, the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) said, while some 10 percentage points more reported falling export orders. These scores [...]
Mortgage lending slips as rents are pushed up to new record September 20, 2012 MORTGAGE lending slipped in August, while tenants were hit by still-climbing rents, two sets of data released yesterday showed. Gross mortgage lending fell one per cent into August, the Council for Mortgage Lenders (CML) revealed yesterday – meaning lending was four per cent lower than August 2011. “The housing numbers are far from strong,” noted [...]
Statistics show no retail boost from Olympics September 20, 2012 THE HOPE for an Olympic retail boom failed to materialise in August, as retail sales barely changed, despite heavy discounting in many sectors. Retail sales volumes edged down 0.2 per cent into August, the Office for National Statistics revealed yesterday, having crept up 0.3 per cent between June and July. The amount spent in shops [...]
Bearish data suggests recovery in US will be an uphill struggle September 20, 2012 THE US economy is stuck a rut, with sluggish growth and only slow improvement in employment, a tranche of data releases showed yesterday. Manufacturing expanded slowly in September, holding steady at 51.5 on Markit’s purchasing managers’ index. This makes the third quarter, on average, the worst since 2009. Philly Fed data also pointed to a [...]
China manufacturing declines for the 11th consecutive month September 20, 2012 MANUFACTURING output in China shrunk at the fastest rate in 10 months, as the sector was hit by numerous worldwide headwinds, a survey revealed yesterday. The Chinese manufacturing industry continued to slump in September, the purchasing managers’ index business survey showed, though at a slower rate than in August. But the output sub-index hit a [...]
Japan’s trade feels effects of world economy’s problems September 20, 2012 JAPANESE trade dived in August, data revealed yesterday, driven by a collapse in trade with its biggest trading partner, China. Both exports and imports slid in August, the Japanese ministry of finance revealed, as worldwide trade contracted. But it was trade with its most important partner, China, which had the biggest impact – imports from [...]
Volcker hits out at Fed-bashing September 20, 2012 ■ Former Federal Reserve chairman Paul Volcker believes it is a “troublesome time” for the US central bank as it becomes increasingly mired in political debates. In an interview with Reuters, Volcker said the Federal Reserve itself has not become politicised, but he warned that Fed-bashing from critics in Congress could diminish confidence in the [...]
Obama leads Romney in polls September 20, 2012 ■ President Barack Obama maintains a lead of five percentage points over Republican Mitt Romney as he solidifies his advantage in the US presidential race, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released yesterday. Obama leads Romney among likely voters by a margin of 48 percent to 43 per cent, the daily online tracking poll showed. Obama [...]
