Relief rally fails to cheer Italy’s banks July 12, 2011 INVESTORS surged back into Italian banks yesterday but still failed to lift their shares above levels seen before Monday’s dramatic sell-off. Overall, Italy’s main lenders have seen their share prices plunge over the last week since political infighting sparked a panic over the country’s debt levels. UniCredit rose 6.2 per cent yesterday but is down [...]
Early summer sales tame UK inflation July 12, 2011 EARLY summer sales in British stores saw consumer price inflation tamed down to 4.2 per cent in June, yet analysts still expect the index to rise above five per cent in the coming months. “With surplus stock to shift, this year’s summer sales appear to have started relatively early, and perhaps with bigger price cuts [...]
Greencore to buy rival Uniq in £113m deal July 12, 2011 GREENCORE has made a £113m offer for rival food company Uniq as it paves the way for a delisting in Ireland ahead of joining the London market. The Dublin-based company, which is one of Britain’s biggest providers of ready meals, said its 96p per share offer has received the backing of Uniq’s board, which put [...]
Markets flee risk over eurozone debt contagion July 12, 2011 Fresh fears that the eurozone sovereign debt crisis could spread to states such as Italy and Spain sent shockwaves through stock markets today. The FTSE 100 fell rapidly this morning on fears that the debt contagion could engulf Italy, which is heavily indebted with a sluggish economy. It and other European markets recovered a little [...]
Eurozone uncertainty drags down markets July 12, 2011 The FTSE 100 dived on opening today after a meeting tabled to thrash out issues related to the Eurozone debt crisis failed to bear fruit. London’s drop mirrored steep falls on Wall Street and in Asia as investors remained unconvinced by the 16-country bloc’s strategy for steering through the crisis. Eurozone leaders gathered with the [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS July 11, 2011 Begbies Traynor Group The professional services consultancy has appointed Mark Fry as head of insolvency and restructuring. Fry joined the group in 2005 as a partner in its Insolvency and Restructuring division, rising to become both managing partner of the group’s London office and regional managing partner for London and the South East. His recent [...]
FTSE solid as investors eye US jobs data July 8, 2011 The FTSE 100 started out on the front foot today as investors awaited key US jobs data to assess the strength of the country’s economic recovery. Positive performances on Asian markets and on Wall Street buoyed sentiment in London with the non farms payroll figures to set the tone for trading later. Greece will also [...]
DTZ blames poor UK sales for annual loss July 7, 2011 REAL-ESTATE consultant DTZ Holdings reported a full-year loss yesterday, as its core markets in UK and Ireland continued to struggle from the effects of the economic downturn. DTZ’s pre-tax loss before exceptional items was £0.6m for the year to April 2011 compared to profits of £3m a year earlier. Revenues fell 4.1 per cent to [...]
FTSE breaks eight day streak on jitters over China and Euro July 6, 2011 THE FTSE 100’s eight-day winning streak came to a halt yesterday as worries over debt contagion in Europe and the demand outlook in China hit banking and commodity stocks. The top share index closed 21.11 points or 0.4 per cent lower at 6,002.92, having risen more than six per cent in the previous eight sessions [...]
Banks in retreat after Portugal downgrade July 6, 2011 The FTSE 100 lost ground on opening today after Moody’s cut Portugal’s credit rating to “junk” sending banking shares down. As the Eurozone crisis deepened investors abandoned risky equities as banks’ exposure to the crisis in the eurozone came under the spotlight. The euro fell sharply after the Moody’s four-notch downgrade to Ba2, with the [...]