France unveils tax raid on home owners, energy firms and banks July 4, 2012 FRANCE’S new socialist government announced tax rises worth €7.2bn yesterday, including heavy one-off levies on wealthy households and big corporations. In the first major raft of economic measures since Francois Hollande was elected president in May, the government singled out large companies and the rich. British owners of second homes in France are set to [...]
Troika lands to inspect Greece July 4, 2012 THE TROIKA met in Athens yesterday to check on Greece’s progress with their austerity package. Christine Lagarde, head of the International Monetary Fund – which makes up the Troika along with the EU and European Central Bank – commented that their purpose in Greece was not to renegotiate the bailout deal. This intention will not [...]
Monti-Merkel show unity July 4, 2012 MARIO MONTI committed Italy to budgetary discipline, in a joint press conference with Germany’s premier Angela Merkel yesterday. Though the estimate of Italy’s budget deficit for this year was revised up to two per cent, Merkel praised measures taken by Monti since he took over from Silvio Berlusconi. Monti touted the labour reforms he managed [...]
How readers make a big difference July 4, 2012 The City A.M. Christmas Appeal, which raised £1.5m in total, has enabled Opportunity International to expand its grassroots banking services to the south of Malawi. The southern region is one of the poorest areas in the country. I’m delighted to share with you how the City A.M. appeal is already making a big difference. What [...]
RUTH, THE HAPPY SHOPKEEPER July 4, 2012 Ruth runs the Yamikau Mulungu corner shop, which opened in 2001 at the edge of Nsanje market in southern Malawi. She sells a range of groceries and small household items. Ruth recently took out her first loan for £76. She used the loan to build up her stock. She also decided to diversify and buy [...]
Tullow is hit by $440m charge but sales surge July 4, 2012 TULLOW Oil said yesterday said it expected record first half revenues but also revealed that it would be hit by $440m (£281m) of writedowns on projects. Tullow said that it was on course to record revenue of $1.15bn (£734m) in the six months to 30 June, compared to $1.06bn the year before. The FTSE 100 [...]
Lord Sugar unveils set-top box YouView after years of delays July 4, 2012 AFTER years of delays, new set-top box YouView was yesterday unveiled by proud chairman Lord Alan Sugar. A joint venture by the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5, BT, TalkTalk and Arqiva, digital channel provider YouView will allow the user to flick back through seven days of missed TV shows as well as browse extra [...]
Topps Tiles enjoys uplift in sales despite a bank holiday setback July 4, 2012 TOPPS TILES, the tile and wood-flooring specialist retailer, yesterday posted a sales rise in the third quarter of the year despite seeing trade disrupted by the diamond jubilee weekend. Sales at stores open more than a year rose 2.1 per cent in the 13 weeks to 30 June compared with a 1.9 per cent decline [...]
ANALYST VIEWS | WHAT IS THE OUTLOOK FOR TULLOW IN 2012? July 4, 2012 JONATHAN JACKSON KILLIK & CO We remain positive on the company, which has an industry-leading exploration track record and has consistently created value for shareholders. In addition, we believe ownership of highly prospective assets leaves the group vulnerable to bid speculation in a consolidating industry. TONY SHEPARD CHARLES STANLEY The $2.9bn Ugandan farm-down has strengthened [...]
Taylor Wimpey predicts stable outlook for UK house market July 4, 2012 TAYLOR WIMPEY said yesterday the UK housing market remained “stable” despite wider uncertainty in the Eurozone and the global economy, as it continued to grow sales. In a first-half trading update, Britain’s second largest housebuilder said it sold 5,083 homes in the six months to 1 July, up from 4,707 the same time last year, [...]
