Belgian confidence gets a boost February 22, 2011 Business morale in Belgium continued to rise this month, its central bank said yesterday. The headline business confidence index surprised economists by leaping from 4.5 last month to 5.8 in February – its highest level since July 2007. Belgium’s construction sector bounced back to a positive score of five points in the index, from January [...]
Inside Track February 21, 2011 IT’S been a good few days for some of the world’s investment banks, with merger mania hitting the stock exchanges, the final consummation of the drugs merger between Sanofi-Aventis and US biotech firm Genzyme and then yesterday’s £1.3bn spirits bid from the drinks group Diageo. It’s not quite an unrestrained takeover environment but it certainly [...]
Large firms plan on jobs expansion February 21, 2011 BIG companies are more likely to offer new job opportunities than their smaller counterparts, according to research by Barclays Corporate, released yesterday. Firms with turnover in excess of £500m were the most positive, with 85 per cent looking to create new full time positions this year. However, less than half (41 per cent) of businesses [...]
Morale hits record high in Germany February 21, 2011 GERMAN business confidence surprised observers by rising to another record high in February, the well regarded Ifo index showed yesterday. The measure of business climate in the Eurozone powerhouse upticked to 111.2, from 110.3 last month. It marked the ninth straight month of private sector pick up, and bodes well for German GDP. “After its [...]
FTSE falls to two-week low as chaos in Libya unsettles traders February 21, 2011 THE top share index fell yesterday as tensions in oil producer Libya sent crude prices sharply higher and jolted investors out of riskier assets such as banks and miners. The FTSE 100 index ended down 68.19 points, or 1.1 per cent, at 6,014.80, its lowest close since 4 February. It pulled back sharply after a [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS February 21, 2011 Chalsys Capital Partners Chalsys Capital Partners has appointed General Sir Mike Jackson as a special adviser, effective immediately. Jackson will provide specialist advice on renewable energy investments at the investment firm focused on clean tech, green infrastructure and natural resources. Jackson served as the UK’s chief of the general staff 2003-2006 after 45 years in [...]
Coalition losing its way on tax wars February 20, 2011 IT is starting to look as if the British government has completely lost the ability to fight back against its critics, especially when it comes to tax. Instead, it keeps trying to appease them, attempting to move to the left of Labour on the issue and failing to understand that such a strategy is doomed [...]
Osborne: banks had to pay February 20, 2011 GEORGE Osborne has given up mooted plans to ban banks from offsetting their tax liabilities against past losses, saying that his £2.5bn bank levy has rectified the problem of banks “not paying enough tax” under Labour. The chancellor was responding to the row over Barclay’s 2009 UK corporation tax bill of £113m. But despite Osborne having [...]
Why I don’t believe rates should be going up February 20, 2011 The Bank of England releases its latest minutes this week and so the great rate debate continues. Will anybody have joined Andrew Sentance and Martin Weale in voting to hike? Many argue raising domestic rates can’t curb imported inflation but Sentance points out it might strengthen sterling, which would help. In practice, every currency analyst [...]
All change for the owners of mid-cap City stockbrokers February 20, 2011 MID-MARKET City brokers have had a tough recession, and it shows in a series of M&A deals reshaping the sector. Two hit the spotlight for different reasons last week: Brewin Dolphin received much acclaim for selling its 55-man broking arm to Spanish investment manager N+1 for £5m, leaving it free to focus on its asset [...]