S&P revises Lloyds TSB rating outlook due to profit forecasts November 8, 2012 CREDIT rating agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) yesterday downgraded its outlook on Lloyds TSB to negative from stable, citing the additional £1bn provision for payment protection insurance (PPI) mis-selling claims which the bank made at last week’s third quarter results. S&P said the additional provision makes it likely that Lloyds will see a pre-tax loss [...]
Was the Boe right to hold interest rates and QE? November 8, 2012 CHARLES DAVIES | DBS VICKERS No. I don’t think it’s right. I think for the economy to function correctly interest rates should be kept around four per cent.” TERAS ULAKHOVICH | BARCLAYS CAPITAL I don’t know. Whatever you do with the interest rates, it won’t change the economy.” JOHN STAMPER | JUDICIUM I don’t know. [...]
Federer downs Ferrer to race into Finals last four November 8, 2012 WORLD No2 Roger Federer is relishing the chance to win his seventh end of season championships, after yesterday becoming the first player to qualify for the last four of the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals with a straight sets victory over David Ferrer. The 17-time grand slam champion faced 10 break points against the world [...]
FTSE 100 recovers after sharp falls yesterday November 8, 2012 The leading share index was up in trading this morning, after falling sharply yesterday. Miners led the bounceback, helped by a recovery in copper prices. Russian-focused oil firm Ruspetro added 7.4 per cent in early deals, as it reported a well in Siberia was on track to meet its full-year targets. Healthcare provider BTG was [...]
How the result might affect UK companies November 7, 2012 As the dust settled on President Obama’s second-term victory, share prices were quick to react yesterday to the impact of another four years of his reign. Financial shares lost ground as any hopes the Volcker rule, part of the Dodd-Frank reforms, curbing proprietary trading by Wall Street banks in securities and derivatives, would be repealed [...]
WANDisco leaps on patent win November 7, 2012 Sheffield software firm WANDisco saw shares rise more than 10 per cent yesterday as it said US officials had approved a request for its technology to be patented. The approval boosts WANDisco’s position in the fast-growing Big Data market. The newly-patented “active:active replication” technology underpins much of WANDisco’s business collaboration software, which is used by [...]
Johnson orders above inflation fare increases November 7, 2012 MAYOR of London Boris Johnson yesterday unveiled increases to the cost of public transport in the capital for 2013 – amid accusations that the timing of the news was planned to coincide with the US election result. Fares on the Underground, DLR, buses and suburban rail services will rise by an average of 4.2 per [...]
Murray hopes of home triumph smothered at O2 as Djokovic digs deep in epic contest November 7, 2012 BRITAIN’S Andy Murray rued missed chances after his titanic tussle with world No1 Novak Djokovic left him one defeat away from a premature exit from the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London yesterday. Murray, who beat Djokovic in an epic US Open final to win his maiden grand slam earlier this year, took the [...]
BDO and PKF in talks for audit merger deal November 7, 2012 BDO and PKF are in advanced talks to merge their UK operations, the accountancy and advisory firms revealed yesterday. A tie-up, which is expected to take place early next year, would give the group extra firepower to compete with Grant Thornton for mid-market audit and business advisory clients. The firms said the enlarged company would [...]
Mobile traffic drives up sales at Shop Direct November 7, 2012 SHOP DIRECT, the home-shopping group owned by the billionaire Barclay brothers, yesterday said sales through mobile devices such as the ipad and smart phones helped boost annual sales. The company behind Littlewoods, isme and very.co.uk reported that overall sales grew 0.4 per cent to £1.6bn in the year to 30 June. Online sales grew by [...]