IoD: cut taxes and red tape February 6, 2011 TWO dozen policy changes to encourage growth could be made by the government at no extra cost to taxpayers, the Institute of Directors recommended today. The proposed reforms fall under 10 main areas for the coalition to focus on, the IoD said. The inherent tendency of governments to over-regulate requires a “game changer” in civil [...]
Glaxo sells Quest stake for £1bn February 2, 2011 PHARMA giant GlaxoSmithKline sold its stake in contract research firm Quest Diagnostics for $1.7bn (£1.05bn) yesterday. The sale buoyed hopes the company would restart a share buyback programme to bolster its share price, following the lead of competitors such as AstraZeneca, which is repurchasing $4bn of stock. But the sale also freed up cash for [...]
Autonomy stock soars after record sales and profits February 1, 2011 SOFTWARE specialist Autonomy’s shares gained more than six per cent to close at 1,590p yesterday after it reported record profits and revenues for 2010. Double-digit sales rises for its key servers and cloud computing systems generated an 18 per cent growth in revenue to $870m (£547m), from $740m in 2009. Full-year pre-tax profits of $379m [...]
Tax fines to rise sharply January 31, 2011 OFFSHORE tax evaders will see the penalties they face double under new rules announced by HM Revenue & Customs. HMRC’s decision to raise the penalty from 100 to 200 per cent of the amount evaded from 6 April this year is designed to push offshore money into more transparent and cooperative jurisdictions. The penalty for [...]
THE TIPSTER January 31, 2011 IN JUST under two years the fashion designer Ted Baker has seen its share price more than double. It has also surpassed its 642p high of 2007 to reach a record 673p in December 2010. Since the firm was floated in 1997, earnings have grown by 10 per cent each year, which is always a promising [...]
Cameron needs to listen to business January 24, 2011 GOOD on Sir Richard Lambert, the usually mild-mannered outgoing boss of the CBI, for taking the government to task over its abject lack of pro-growth policies. It is a shame he didn’t say as much in such strongly worded terms a few months ago, but better late than never. Crucially, the CBI doesn’t object to [...]
CFD research clarification January 24, 2011 In yesterday’s paper we ran a story headlined “Investors beat tax by using CFDs”, in which we reported that contracts for difference (CFD) are capital gains tax exempt. This was incorrect and was not sourced from research published by Tabb Group. Contracts for difference do not incur stamp duty, however they are subject to capital [...]
Property experts say stamp duty hike will not hinder sales January 20, 2011 HIGH-END property buyers will not be put off by the looming rise in stamp duty, according to research seen by City A.M. Though the OECD warned yesterday that the tax places unfair barriers on the housing market for some, 52 per cent of property professionals surveyed by Investec thought the 25 per cent duty hike [...]
Goldman earnings prompt FTSE sell-off January 19, 2011 A surprisingly sharp sell-off on the FTSE this afternoon pushed the index below the 6,000 mark, to close down 79.73 points or 1.32 per cent, at 5,976.70. A bigger than expected fall in earnings at leading US investment bank Goldman Sachs sparked a rout among investors across all sectors. Earlier in the day, more bad [...]
BP deal with Russia sparks controversy January 16, 2011 CONCERNS grew yesterday about the political implications of BP’s $16bn (£10bn) share swap with Russia’s state-owned oil firm Rosneft. Shadow justice minister Chris Bryant said in an interview that BP needs “a strong anti-corruption” strategy to work with the company. Labour leader Ed Miliband said he was “pretty worried” about the environmental aspect of the [...]