Bonuses slashed at Sainsbury’s and M&S June 7, 2012 The chief executives of major retailers J Sainsbury and Marks & Spencer have both taken cuts in their bonuses after failing to meet targets and as recession forces them to scale back growth plans. Philip Clarke, head of rival Tesco, last month forewent his annual bonus, paying the price for a weak performance in the [...]
China cuts interest rates in bid to accelerate growth June 7, 2012 China has cut its key interest rates in a move to try to increase the pace of growth in its economy. The one-year loan rate – seen as a benchmark – was cut by a quarter of one per cent to 6.31 per cent. The People’s Bank of China also cut deposit rates from 3.5 [...]
Interest rates and QE left unchanged June 7, 2012 The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has kept interest rates unchanged while no further quantitative easing will be pumped into the economy this time round. The Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has held rates at its current record low for more than three years. Meanwhile the bank’s QE stands at £325bn.
Spain sees strong demand at bond auction June 7, 2012 Spain met strong demand when it sold 2.1bn euros (£1.68bn) of medium- and long-term bonds, passing a key test of its ability to tap investors after a minister said earlier this week the country was being cut off from the markets. The Treasury sold 638m euros of a two-year bond, 825m euros of a four-year [...]
House price rise 0.5pc in May June 7, 2012 House prices rose by 0.5 per cent in May, rebounding from a 2.3 per cent decline in April, but prices were still slightly lower on the year, figures from mortgage lender Halifax showed on Thursday. The Halifax house price index showed house prices were 0.1 per cent down in the three months to May compared [...]
UK services industry in solid growth June 7, 2012 Britain’s services sector continued to grow at a steady pace in May, confounding expectations for a slowdown, and increasing uncertainty over whether the Bank of England will inject more stimulus. The headline activity index of the Markit/CIPS purchasing managers’ survey out on Thursday came in at 53.3 for May, the same as in April and [...]
Vodafone and Telefonica to set up shared 4G grid June 7, 2012 Mobile operators Vodafone and Telefonica announced plans to create one shared grid in Britain to improve existing coverage and speed the roll out of superfast broadband networks. The two groups, who already had an agreement to share new network sites, said they would strengthen their partnership by pooling their basic network infrastructure to take their [...]
Johnson Matthey pays special dividend June 7, 2012 The chemicals company Johnson Matthey said robust truck sales in North America helped drive a 23 percent jump in full-year underlying profit, prompting the world’s largest supplier of catalytic converters to pay a special dividend. The British speciality chemicals company said that underlying profit before tax for the year to the end of March rose [...]
Australia approves Glencore takeover of Viterra June 7, 2012 Australia’s competition regulator approved a friendly takeover bid by Swiss commodities trader Glencore International of Viterra, clearing another hurdle for the biggest deal in years in the global agricultural sector. Glencore offered Viterra C$16.25 per share, or C$6.lbn, in March for the company, which owns the biggest share of Western Canada’s grain storage and farm [...]
Over to you, Merkel June 6, 2012 Europe’s political leaders must act now to restore confidence and stop their ravaged economies from collapsing any further, European Central Bank (ECB) boss Mario Draghi insisted yesterday as he again refused to cut interest rates. Draghi stressed the Eurozone’s problems could not be solved by monetary policy, and that politicians must stop hesitating and take [...]
