Renewable energy output fuels SSE’s profit rise and offsets 20pc slump in retail division May 16, 2012 ENERGY giant SSE yesterday reported a two per cent rise in full-year profit supported by higher renewable energy output which helped offset a drop in customer numbers and lower energy demand. The utility company’s adjusted profit for the year ended March 2012 came in at £1.34bn. It said operating profit at its wholesale business unit [...]
Tullow to step up its Guiana drill operation May 16, 2012 OIL explorer Tullow yesterday said it was stepping up work on its Zaedyus discovery in French Guiana. The FTSE 100 company, which has a 17 per cent stake in the project, said a drill ship would start work next month, in a trading update covering 1 January to 16 May. An appraisal will be carried [...]
World economy shows signs of improvement May 16, 2012 THE GLOBAL economic recovery is back on despite the Eurozone crisis, according to new survey data published yesterday. North America is expected to see economic growth of 2.4 per cent in the next year, according to the Ifo Institute’s world economic climate indicator, while Asia is set to return to its trend rate with GDP [...]
Stamp duty deadline stimulates surge in March mortgage loans May 16, 2012 MORTGAGE lending soared throughout the housing market in March, industry data showed yesterday, as the stamp duty holiday fuelled an escalation in buying. First-time buyers were exempt from stamp duty on properties worth under £250,000 until the end of the month resulting in a 74 per cent monthly rise in the number of first time [...]
US booms with strong utilities May 16, 2012 US industrial production posted its fastest growth in over a year last month, official figures showed yesterday, boosted by surging output at utilities and a rebound in manufacturing. Output grew 1.1 per cent in April, the Federal Reserve revealed, the most since December 2010 and more than twice the 0.4 per cent forecast by economists. [...]
Oz rate cut improves confidence May 16, 2012 Australian consumer confidence increased slightly after the central bank cut interest rates at the start of the month, an influential index showed yesterday. The Westpac index rose 0.8 per cent to 95.3, from 94.5 in April. The Reserve Bank of Australia cut interest rates by 0.5 percentage points to 3.75 per cent at the start [...]
WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS May 16, 2012 Brooks Macdonald The private client investment manager has announced the appointment of Justin Woolf to its intermediary sales team. He joins as an intermediary sales manager from Zurich Intermediary Group, where he was a senior broker consultant. Woolf has over 15 years’ experience in the financial services industry. Thomas Miller Investment The investment management firm [...]
BEST of the BROKERS May 16, 2012 GLENCORE UBS has downgraded the commodities giant from “buy” to “neutral” and lowered its target price from 475p to 400p following Glencore’s first quarter trading update. The bank said it still sees Glencore as the most dynamic company in EU mining over the next three years, but is concerned about the operational leverage of its [...]
Stocks sink to lowest level of 2012 after liquidity scare weighs on FTSE May 16, 2012 BRITAIN’s benchmark FTSE 100 index fell to its lowest closing level in more than four months yesterday, as new fears about the Greek banking system killed off a brief afternoon rally on the market. The FTSE 100 fell by 32.37 points, or 0.6 per cent, to 5,405.25 points – above a 5,400 point resistance level [...]
Euro fears see fourth day of falls on the S&P May 16, 2012 US stocks closed lower in a choppy session yesterday, with the S&P 500 logging its fourth straight decline as investors worried about Greece’s future as a member of the Eurozone. Early US gains were erased after the European Central Bank said it had stopped providing liquidity to some Greek banks that had not been recapitalised. [...]
