Olympus insists brand will remain June 28, 2012 An Olympus executive said yesterday at the firm’s annual meeting that despite ongoing talks for a capital tie-up with several firms, it would maintain an independent brand. “We understand we need to consider an increase in capital as one of our key management issues. The main premise is to fully preserve our Olympus brand,” Yasuo [...]
Pension black hole gets bigger at FTSE 250 firms in spite of funding June 28, 2012 THE PENSION deficit black hole within FTSE 250 firms more than doubled last year, according to research released yesterday. Figures from JLT Pension Capital Strategies showed that schemes are £11bn short overall, compared to a total deficit of £5bn last year. The surge came despite firms piling £1.5bn into funding deficits over the last year, [...]
US consumer spending growth slows but economy is in line June 28, 2012 THE US economy’s growth slowed as expected in the first quarter, but a less robust pace of consumer spending and export growth than previously estimated could dampen the economic outlook for the current period. American GDP increased at a 1.9 per cent annual rate, the US Commerce Department said in its final reading yesterday, unchanged [...]
UK house price drop worsens as London gains June 28, 2012 THE DROP in house prices in the UK accelerated in June, as weakness from the Eurozone and the expiry of the stamp duty holiday took their toll, Nationwide said yesterday. Prices were down 0.6 per cent on the month, as part of a 1.5 per cent slide since June 2011 – the biggest year-on-year fall in [...]
IS THIS LATEST HOUSE PRICE SLUMP A SURPRISE? June 28, 2012 ANDREW GOODWIN ERNST & YOUNG ITEM CLUB Given the state of the economy, Nationwide is looking at a very low number of transactions in computing their data, which throws some doubt on the representativeness of their data. The general trend seems to show a general downward drift of roughly one per cent per quarter. CRAIG [...]
Bank warns borrowing costs will rise June 28, 2012 BRITISH banks expect to significantly raise borrowing costs for businesses and home-buyers over the next three months as the cost of their funding rises, the Bank of England said yesterday. The Bank’s latest quarterly credit conditions survey shows the challenge faced by the central bank and the coalition to lower the cost of credit to [...]
Consumer confidence stays low June 28, 2012 UK consumers remained down in the dumps about the economy last month, according to the latest GfK confidence figures. The survey showed an index score of -29 for the economy, in line with May’s reading and slightly down on the -25 figure seen this time last year. Brits are even gloomier about the country’s finances [...]
Irish retail sales fall further June 28, 2012 Irish retail sales volumes fell 0.1 per cent in May and 2.1 per cent on the year, Central Statistics Office figures showed yesterday. Final figures for April showed a monthly fall of 0.8 per cent and an annual drop of 1.8 per cent – an improvement on earlier data that showed falls of 1.5 per [...]
Egypt tops emerging equities June 28, 2012 Egyptian stocks topped returns on emerging equity markets in the first six months of 2012 with a rise of 30 per cent, well above the broader MSCI emerging stock index, where spectacular first quarter gains crumbled under the impact of the euro crisis. MSCI’s dollar-based emerging equity index has fallen one per cent in the [...]
WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS June 28, 2012 BAE Systems Tom Arseneault has been appointed executive vice president, product sectors, and chief technology officer of the defence giant. He most recently served as president of BAE’s electronic systems sector, and joined the company in 2010. Additionally, Larry Prior, current executive vice president, service sectors, will become chief operating officer. Mercer Aled Jones has [...]
