Betfred’s bid boosted by cash strength June 3, 2011 BETFRED agreed to pay £265m to buy government-owned betting pool the Tote yesterday, a substantial step up from previous estimates of £230m. The sweetened offer gave the UK’s fourth-largest bookmaker victory in the race to own the 82-year-old Tote and exclusively operate the pool betting operations at all UK racecourses for the next seven years. [...]
Top tips for keeping the taxman out of your pocket May 25, 2011 BASED upon the latest government forecasts, the Adam Smith Institute is predicting Tax Freedom Day – the notional day when you stop working for the taxman and start filling your own coffers – will fall on Monday, making it three days later than last year. Fidelity International has translated this into the fact that basic [...]
THE TIPSTER May 24, 2011 A SURPRISE shortfall in tax receipts and news that the Chinese downgraded UK sovereign debt took the shine off sterling in yesterday’s trade, but there’s little reason to be cheering the euro now, either. Eurozone debt concerns remain high and even the release of some marginally better than expected economic readings from Germany isn’t going [...]
Landlords reap rewards as rents hit a record high May 19, 2011 LONDON rental prices have shot up by almost eight per cent over the last year, hitting their second-highest level on record and boosting landlords’ total annual returns above five per cent. The average monthly rent in London is now £988 – just £4 below its all-time high of £992 in November last year. Prices have [...]
BofA sells stake in BlackRock back for $2.5bn May 19, 2011 BANK of America (BofA) is selling its remaining BlackRock stake back to BlackRock for $2.5bn (£1.54bn), its latest step to prepare for new industry capital requirements. The sale further chips away at the relationship between the world’s largest asset manager and the biggest US bank by assets, but a senior Bank of America official will [...]
Vodafone sees profits surge May 17, 2011 VODAFONE saw its full-year profits surge despite taking a £6bn impairment charge on its businesses in Spain, Greece, Portugal, Italy and Ireland. It was buoyed by fast-growing markets in India, South Africa and Turkey, and the rapid uptake of higher-margin smartphones. Pre-tax profits grew 9.5 per cent to £9.5bn, on revenues up 3.2 per cent [...]
Osborne caught in a tangle over tax May 17, 2011 HEAD OF TAX, ACCA A YEAR on and coalition relations are distinctly less rosy than they were in the rose garden last May. But despite recent tensions the coalition has already made plenty of progress in reshaping Britain: radical reforms to welfare, education, and healthcare have all been initiated. From an accountant’s perspective though, one [...]
Taxpayers could get bank shares May 15, 2011 THE Treasury is considering plans to privatise its holdings in RBS and Lloyds by distributing their shares among all of the UK’s 45m taxpayers, City A.M. has learned. Under the scheme, put together by Portman Capital for the Centre for Policy Studies (CPS) and led by CPS chair Lord Saatchi, the government’s 41 per cent [...]
HSBC too risky for Hong Kong May 10, 2011 HONG Kong gave a stern warning that it might not welcome HSBC if it tries to move its headquarters from the UK after one of its leading regulators told City A.M. that the city state would be worried about the bank’s size. Speaking in one of his first UK interviews since being appointed to lead [...]
Micro Focus gains on update May 9, 2011 Micro Focus International gained 3.7 per cent to head Britain’s FTSE 250 risers yesterday after the IT firm issued a reassuring trading update. Micro Focus said its revenues and adjusted pre-tax profits for the 12 months ended 30 April were in line with market consensus. Micro Focus said on 26 April that it had received [...]