Crunch easing for euro banks January 11, 2012 THE EUROPEAN Central Bank (ECB) has succeeded in kick-starting bank funding markets, prompting a rush to issue debt that has reached levels not seen since before the latest credit crunch took hold. Funding costs for banks on the continent have plunged to their lowest level since April on the back of a flood of new [...]
Shard could signal crisis, claims BarCap January 11, 2012 THE DEVELOPERS of the Shard skyscraper could be forgiven for having pre-completion nerves yesterday, after a pair of gloomy research papers cast a pall over the tower. The Shard will be entering a rough rental market when it completes in May, according to research by BNP Paribas Real Estate. Last year, take-up of office space [...]
E&Y tops gay-friendly survey January 11, 2012 BIG four accountancy firm Ernst & Young was yesterday named as the most gay-friendly employer in the UK, topping the annual index of the best firms for lesbian, gay and bisexual staff. Ernst & Young moved up from third position last year to take the top spot in Stonewall’s workplace equality index, which considers criteria [...]
I’LL BEAT THE DROP January 10, 2012 Mark Hughes promises to focus on short-term challenge of survival after being confirmed as manager of struggling QPR NEW Queens Park Rangers manager Mark Hughes insists the club cannot afford to look beyond preserving their Premier League status despite the ambitious plans of owner Tony Fernandes. Hughes’ appointment as Neil Warnock’s successor was confirmed yesterday [...]
£33bn rail scheme faces legal threat January 10, 2012 LOBBY groups said yesterday that legal challenges to a high speed rail link between London and Birmingham are already in the pipeline, after the controversial new route was given the green light by the government. Campaigners against the planned rail link, dubbed High Speed 2 (HS2), will attempt to place the Department for Transport’s approval [...]
Commodities spur FTSE 100 gains as banks bounce bank January 10, 2012 COMMODITY stocks led the FTSE 100 top share index higher yesterday, after Alcoa kicked off the US earnings season with an upbeat outlook and data from China lifted sentiment, while retailers rallied after some encouraging updates. London’s blue chip index rose 84.44 points, or 1.5 per cent to 5,696.70, making up for the 1.5 pe [...]
Cameron should follow Jesus on executive pay January 10, 2012 DAVID Cameron and Ed Miliband agree that corporate chief executives earn too much. If they earned less, the world would be a better place – or, more precisely, it would be a fairer place. The alleged victims of this injustice are those who earn far less. In an interview with the BBC on Sunday, Cameron [...]
Resource stocks stoke FTSE gains January 10, 2012 The FTSE 100 saw solid gains this morning as resource and energy stocks were boosted by upbeat forecasts from US aluminium giant Alcoa and figures showing growing demand from China. Alcoa, the largest US aluminium producer, reported fourth-quarter revenue that beat Wall Street expectations, even though it registered a loss. The earnings news had a [...]
There’s no let up in City’s race to consolidate January 9, 2012 IT seems there is going to be no slackening of the consolidation process taking place in the financial advisory sector. Evolution has already been swallowed up by Investec, with fairly unpleasant consequences for many of its employees; Collins Stewart Hawkpoint is busy sorting out the finer details of its deal with the Canadian group Canaccord, [...]
Germany may be in recession despite a wider trade surplus January 9, 2012 HIGHER exports have bolstered Germany’s trade balance, official data showed yesterday, widening the Eurozone heavyweight’s surplus. The positive economic news was short-lived, however, after separate data showed a decline in German industrial output — prompting some economists to state that the core Eurozone nation could already be in the midst of a double-dip recession. And [...]