UK borrowing up – but beats forecasts May 21, 2010 THE Government borrowed £9.96bn last month – the highest figure on record for April. Last year’s April figure was £8.8bn, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said. Meanwhile the annual total borrowed by the Government was revised down to £145bn, lower than the £156bn forecast. The figure is equivalent to 10.4 per cent of GDP. [...]
LSE profit up despite revenue dip May 21, 2010 THE London Stock Exchange has ended up in profit for the year despite a drop in revenue. It recorded a net profit of £90.4m – compared with a loss of £338m last year. Meanwhile revenue for the year to the end of March fell 6.4 per cent to £628m. LSE lost market share to rivals [...]
Senate approves Wall Street shake-up bill May 21, 2010 The US Senate has passed a historic bill to shake-up financial regulations. The bill – which passed by 59 to 39 votes – creates new mechanisms for identifying financial risk. President Obama said Americans would never again pay “for Wall Street’s mistakes”. There will be further votes before the bill becomes law. However, the vote [...]
BA in record £531m loss as new strike looms May 21, 2010 BRITISH Airways has reported a record annual loss of £531m. Lower passenger numbers and the impact of strike action contributed to the bleak figures. The results – the worst since BA was privatized in 1987 – were issued as BA faces 15 more days of strike action by cabin crew after the High Court overturned [...]
Markets face huge annual losses May 20, 2010 STOCK MARKETS worldwide plunged for the third consecutive day yesterday amid growing fears that the European chaos could lead to a financial collapse on the scale of the 2008 banking crisis. The FTSE 100 flirted briefly with the 5,000 point mark, eventually finishing the day down 1.7 per cent at 5073.13, while the French CAC [...]
…AS MERKEL BASHES BANKS May 20, 2010 ANGELA Merkel yesterday made an impassioned plea for a “signal of strength” from world leaders and insisted that the time had come to agree on tougher regulations for banks and financial markets. Speaking in Berlin, ahead of today’s EU talks on measures to shore up the plunging euro, the german chancellor promised to campaign for [...]
Coalition papers over cracks May 20, 2010 THE NEW Liberal Conservative coalition government has launched a huge number of commissions and reviews, kicking uncomfortable party differences into the long grass. Prime Minister David Cameron and his deputy Nick Clegg yesterday launched six commissions and 28 reviews into virtually every area of government policy, from the Human Rights Act to long-term care for [...]
Sovereign crisis now the biggest risk May 20, 2010 DOWN, down, down – that is how it has felt in the markets over the past few days. Once again, politicians are making matters worse, with Angela Merkel’s obsession with bashing financial institutions especially disturbing. If she is unhappy with the disastrous state of the Eurozone, she ought to consider focusing her ire on her [...]
Vodafone Egypt in £3bn talks to sell its holding May 20, 2010 VODAFONE could be poised to sell off a majority stake of its Egyptian business, as the telecoms giant is understood to have been approached by one of its rivals in the region. The talks, which are still in the early stages, could see Telecom Egypt acquire more than 50 per cent of Vodafone Egypt valuing [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING May 20, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES BOOK PUBLISHERS FEAR THREAT OF DIGITAL PIRACY Publishers have warned that the fight against illegal copying of digital books could impose a huge cost on the industry, raising fears of a new wave of online piracy. Gail Rebuck, chairman and chief executive of The Random House Group, part of Bertelsmann, said illegal copying [...]
