Sale of government’s £5bn Lloyds stake may begin this September July 19, 2013 The government is weighing the sale of its stake in Lloyds as soon as September, valued at approximately $7.6bn (£5bn), according to reports by Bloomberg.
China moves towards lending determined by markets forces, rather than government fiat July 19, 2013 China will remove its floor on lending rates tomorrow, and markets seem to be interpreting the move by the People's Bank of China as easing. See the reaction in the Australian dollar: Controls on bill discount rates and a ceiling on lending rates for rural credit co-operatives will also be scrapped, allowing banks more freedom [...]
US bellwether General Electric beats earnings forecasts July 19, 2013 US utility company General Electric has just beaten earnings forecasts, making $0.36 per share in the second quarter, rather than the $0.35 expected. Revenues less satisfying, making just $35.12bn as opposed to estimated revenues of $35.56bn. The company is often seen as an indicator of future economic performance in the US, and said that it [...]
JP Morgan will advise government on bank privatisation strategy July 19, 2013 UKFI, the body responsible for managing the government's stakes in RBS and Lloyds, has announced that it has appointed JP Morgan to advice on the return of these holdings to public hands. UKFI announces that it has appointed J.P. Morgan Cazenove as a privatisation strategy adviser under Lot 4 of the Framework for an initial [...]
How accurate is it for Osborne to say that the UK’s finances are improving? July 19, 2013 There are enough variations of today's public borrowing figures that you can twist them to fit almost any narrative you'd like. But can chancellor George Osborne really say that the deficit is shrinking? We've got some analyst reaction. Martin Beck, UK economist, Capital Economics: The public finances have yet to see much of a boost [...]
Regulator bans and fines former insurance broker £140,000 July 19, 2013 Regulator the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has banned Paul Cable from working in the financial services sector and fined him £140,000 for misleading a client. Whilst the sole director of Media and Entertainment Insurance Service Limited (M&E), Cable misled a client by telling them that he had arranged insurance policies for them when no such [...]
National debt at its highest level since the 1960s July 19, 2013 Public sector borrowing statistics for June have been released, and the ONS has the numbers in a variety of flavours, depending on your preferred measure (see below). Sky's Ed Conway reports that national debt is at its highest proportion of GDP since the 1960s: Britain's national debt has just gone through the £1.2 trillion mark. [...]
Italian industrial orders suggest the sector could be on its way to recovery July 19, 2013 We get a mixed picture from this morning's Italian industry figures. While industrial sales have fallen 5.2 per cent in the year to May, orders this month are looking better. Despite sliding by 1.1 per cent in the year to May, orders saw a rise of 3.2 per cent in May, from a 0.8 per [...]
Before the open – 19/07 July 19, 2013 The FTSE 100 is expected to open down after US companies including Google and Microsoft posted earnings missing for the second quarter. Asian markets saw some decline on profit taking before the election this weekend. ETX Capital #morningcall: FTSE100 down 30 points, the DAX lower by 40 points and the CAC40 off by 17 points [...]
Vodafone revenues drop on competition in Germany and the UK July 19, 2013 Vodafone revenues have dropped by 3.5 per cent in the quarter ended 30 June as competition intensity has increased, with declines of 5.1 per cent in Germany and 4.5 per cent in the UK (release). Elsewhere, conditions in southern Europe resulted in revenues falling by 17.6 in Italy and 10.6 in Spain. Vittorio Colao, chief [...]
