Bentley to create over 1,000 jobs July 23, 2013 LUXURY car manufacturer Bentley Motors today revealed its plans to develop a new model, which will create over 1,000 jobs in the UK. The Crewe-headquartered firm is developing an SUV – sports utility vehicle – that will go on sale in 2016. Bentley plans to invest more than £800m over the next three years. “This [...]
Help to Buy not for second homes, says Osborne July 23, 2013 THE EXTENSION of the Help to Buy Scheme will be closed to second home buyers, the chancellor confirmed today. George Osborne met with lenders and housebuilders at Number 11 to discuss the second stage of the scheme, which enables people to buy new homes with just a five per cent deposit. In addition to the [...]
Spanish GDP shrinks less in second quarter July 23, 2013 SPAIN’S GDP contracted by 0.1 per cent in the second quarter, an improvement from a 0.5 per cent downturn in the first quarter, according to data from the Bank of Spain today. The new figures showed that strong exports have boosted the struggling Eurozone economy, although not enough to bring it out of recession. The [...]
Premier Foods profits jump 50 per cent July 23, 2013 BRITISH food producer Premier Foods, which owns brands such as Hovis and Bisto, today reaped the rewards of its cost cutting strategy to report a 50 per cent increase in first-half trading profit. Profits rose to £47.4m over the period and full-year profit is expected to be around the top end of market expectations, the [...]
Lenders and housebuilders summoned for Help to Buy meeting July 23, 2013 CHANCELLOR George Osborne has summoned Britain’s housebuilders and mortgage lenders for a meeting today, to discuss the second phase of the Help to Buy Scheme. The scheme was first launched four months ago and allows people to buy new homes with just a five per cent deposit. The biggest lenders, including Lloyds, RBS, Nationwide and [...]
Netherlands woes hit Carpetright sales July 23, 2013 CARPETRIGHT today unveiled a 3.5 per cent decline in quarter sales, impacted by challenging trading conditions in the Netherlands. The carpet retailer said that like-for-like sales in the UK were down 1.9 per cent, while total sales declined by 10.9 per cent in mainland Europe. “Trading in our rest of Europe business continues to be [...]
UBS second-quarter profits beat forecasts July 22, 2013 UBS said today that its second-quarter profits rose to CHF 690m (£480m), beating analysts’ forecasts despite a CHF 865m charge to settle claims relating to US mortgage-backed securities and other matters. The Swiss bank said it has reached an agreement in principle with the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) over the mis-selling of government-backed bonds [...]
Duchess of Cambridge in hospital after going into labour July 22, 2013 THE DUCHESS of Cambridge has been taken to hospital in the early stages of labour, Kensington Palace announced today. The Duchess – formerly Kate Middleton – travelled by car to St Mary’s Hospital in Paddington this morning with her husband the Duke of Cambridge. She reportedly arrived at the hospital at around 6am, with an [...]
Bumi resumes trading July 22, 2013 TROUBLED miner Bumi has announced that it will resume trading today, after almost three months since the firm’s shares were suspended due to irregularities on its balance sheet. The company, which is currently undergoing a separation after a long-running feud between its co-founders Nat Rothschild and the Bakrie family, had to re-list this week or [...]
Japan stocks muted after Abe win July 22, 2013 JAPAN’S stock market barely moved after yesterday’s elections, which gave Prime Minister Shinzo Abe control of both houses of parliament for the first time since 2007. The election outcome shows a vote of confidence in ‘Abenomics’, the prime minister’s aggressive stimulus policies aiming to end deflation in Japan and boost growth. The Nikkei rose 1.2 [...]
