Are you excited by the prospect of a 4G mobile? September 11, 2012 JOHN LEESE GHANA INTERNATIONAL BANK I work in IT so have a vested interest, but not quite at the moment. Until the tech stabilises and becomes more widely available, I’m going to wait for the market. CRAIG ROBERTS INITIAL I live in Northamptonshire in a rural location and we don’t have 3G there so I [...]
MPC dove says rates will go up before QE is cut September 11, 2012 THE BANK of England will wind down its “exceptionally expansionary” policy by bringing interest rates back up from their historic lows, before selling its assets purchased through the quantitative easing (QE) programme, policymaker David Miles revealed in a speech yesterday. Rather than selling the government bonds it bought in the now-£375bn QE scheme, the Bank [...]
PPI complaints soar as banks struggle under weight of claims September 11, 2012 COMPLAINTS over banks’ slow or unsatisfactory responses to PPI complaints soared over the first six months of 2012, according to data published yesterday by the financial ombudsman service (FOS). The mis-selling scandal has seen banks and other financial institutions pay billions in compensation to customers, and shows little signs of slowing down. The FOS received [...]
New MPC member McCafferty fiercely defends independence September 11, 2012 FORMER CBI chief economist Ian McCafferty yesterday denied he is still part of the business lobby, telling members of the Treasury Select Committee that he only holds pro-business views when they match the interests of the economy. The new Monetary Policy Committee member showed a relatively dovish stance on quantitative easing, but withdrew his earlier [...]
IMF says bank divis to be cut September 11, 2012 INCREASED regulation and rules on capital ratios will force banks to raise interest rates and cut pay and dividends, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned in a report published yesterday. But overall lending should not be hit, while improved bank safety should counter some of the rise in interest rates, it found. Competitive pressures on [...]
HMRC squeezes more from rich September 11, 2012 THE EXCHEQUER has bagged an extra £500m in tax from Britain’s wealthiest under a new scheme, it announced yesterday. HM Revenue & Customs said its high net worth unit has exceeded collection targets since being set up three years ago. The office probes the tax affairs of the 5,000 richest people in the UK – [...]
Burberry drops as slowdown knocks sector September 11, 2012 BLUE chip fashion retailer Burberry issued a profit warning yesterday, as analysts warned the whole luxury sector may be hit by the global economic slowdown. Shares in the FTSE 100 company plunged 20.87 per cent in trading yesterday to close at 1,088p. The group, which has been hit previously by falling sales in China, said [...]
Luxury loses some sparkle but the champagne should flow on September 11, 2012 LUXURY has looked East in its hunger for growth lately, but as the Chinese miracle takes a big fat bite of the reality sandwich, is it time to pack up the Fortnum’s picnic basket and head home? It is certainly true that Burberry was not the only one taking a beating in the market yesterday. [...]
Trend-bucking sales increase at SuperGroup September 11, 2012 RETAILER SuperGroup yesterday posted a 10 per cent rise in sales, bucking the downward trend on the UK high street. Sales across the group, which owns the Superdry fashion brand, were up to £59.7m in the quarter to 29 July, despite an unseasonably wet summer. Total UK sales over the first quarter were £40.2m, a [...]
Were supergroup’s results as super as you hoped? September 11, 2012 WAYNE BROWN | CANACCORD GENUITY SuperGroup’s Q1 trading update is very strong with a better performance in the UK and the underlying run-rate in wholesale is already ahead of the whole of the first half last year. Despite the shares being up 21 per cent relative over the last month, we feel strong momentum will [...]
