Windows phones overtake Blackberry as UK’s third largest platform September 30, 2013 Windows based phone sales accounted for 12 per cent of units in the UK in the three months to August, and in the past year has surged past rival Blackberry to become the third largest platform by sales. New figures from the Kantar Worldpanel ComTech show that Windows has posted its highest ever sales share [...]
Osborne promises budget surpluses – but deficit reduction is flatlining September 30, 2013 It's easy to offer up promises of budget surpluses at a party conference, but chancellor George Osborne's track record in government offers something more tangible. While the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) does forecast that net borrowing will fall to 6.5 per cent of GDP by the end of the coalition government, the UK is [...]
GlaxoSmithKline sells thrombosis brands to Africa’s largest drugs company September 30, 2013 GlaxoSmithKline announced today that it has agreed to sell its thrombosis brands Arixtra and Fraxiparine and the Notre-Dame de Bondeville manufacturing site to South African pharmaceuticals company Aspen Pharmacare for £700m. The cash proceeds after tax and transaction costs are estimated to be £600m. David Redfern, chief strategy officer, GSK, said: Arixtra® and Fraxiparine® are [...]
Government plans fuel duty freeze until 2015 September 30, 2013 Chancellor George Osborne has announced that the coalition government plans to freeze fuel duty until 2015. He said that relies upon the government being able to find the savings necessary. Osborne slammed Labour leader Ed Miliband's plan for energy sector price controls, saying that they would simply see bills increase in the short and the [...]
Economists see jobless recovery in the Eurozone September 30, 2013 30 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News have estimated that unemployment in the Eurozone stayed at a record high of 12.1 per cent in August. Tomorrow the EU's office of statistics will publish the jobless numbers at 11am. Unemployment is predicted to reach 12.3 per cent in the last quarter of this year and may remain [...]
Telecom Italia up on news that CEO Bernabe could leave this Thursday September 30, 2013 Telecom Italia is one of the only stocks moving up in Italy today – as market rumours suggest that CEO Franco Bernabe is set to resign this Thursday. Most of Italy's FTSE MIB is in freefall – but Telecom Italia is trading over three per cent above its previous close. Earlier this week Bernabe told [...]
US medical device tax may face repeal in debt-ceiling negotiations September 30, 2013 The controversial medical device tax may face repeal in the heat of US debt-ceiling negotiations. Over the weekend Republicans in the House of Representatives passed a bill to keep the Federal government running past midnight on Monday by adding two amendments. The first was the delay to the implementation of Obamacare by a year, the [...]
Goldman Sachs warns US government shutdown will hit growth September 30, 2013 Goldman Sachs has warned that a two day shutdown of the US Federal government could reduce fourth quarter GDP (annualised) by 0.1 percentage points, and that a shutdown as long as one week could see GDP take a 0.3 percentage point hit. Over the weekend Republicans in the House of Representatives passed a [...]
Mortgage numbers rise to February 2008 highs September 30, 2013 Mortgage numbers have swelled in the UK this August – hitting 66-month highs. They're up from 60,624 to 62,226 in a single month, above analyst estimates of a rise to 61,500. That's before the accelerated second stage of Help to Buy even kicks in. Yet at 62,226, mortgage approvals stand at 73.5 per cent of [...]
Cost of CO2 regulation provides auto suppliers with new opportunities September 30, 2013 Analysts at Macquarie Equities Research have concluded that the global trend of tougher regulation on carbon dioxide emissions is producing significant cost for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and consumers in the automotive sector, but is creating revenue opportunities for supplier industries. The EU has the strictest emissions standards, which has lead to European consumers seeing the highest [...]
