UK posts mighty trade deficit in month of EU referendum August 9, 2016 The UK trade deficit ballooned to a huge £5.1bn in June, far ahead of expectations and raising more questions about how the UK's exporters and importers will fare after the referendum. The figures, released this morning by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), also showed imports reached their highest ever level in a single month [...]
Online sales grew in July as store sales fell – despite desperate discount offers from retailers August 9, 2016 Online sales performed well in the past three months, but store sales declined as retailers struggled to lure shoppers onto the high street with discount deals. In the three months to July, the online sales of non-food products grew 11.1 per cent as compared to the same period last year, according to research by the British [...]
Should Philip Hammond call an early Autumn Statement? August 5, 2016 The mighty economic salvo unleashed by the Bank of England yesterday has heaped pressure onto the government to pull its weight in supporting the UK economy in the wake of the Brexit vote. Mark Carney, George Osborne, the Labour Party and a host of analysts and businesses called on the chancellor Philip Hammond to step up [...]
Bank rate cut: Property investment crowned winner while savers lose out August 5, 2016 The Bank of England launched a massive stimulus package yesterday in a bid to save Britain from recession. The Bank’s monetary policy committee (MPC) voted unanimously to slash interest rates to an all-time low of 0.25 per cent. Take a look at the winners and losers of the rate cut: WINNER: Property investment The cut to interest rates is [...]
This Big Four accountant has just reduced its recruitment process after millennials whined August 2, 2016 Say what you like about millennials, but they know how complain. Big Four accountant KPMG has just revealed plans to cut the length of its hiring process, after millennials whined. Apparently, millennials (those born after 1980) said the interview process for graduate roles, which at KPMG involved a first interview, an interview at an assessment centre [...]
Petrofac auditors find “no evidence” to support bribery allegations August 1, 2016 Petrofac said today that an independent investigation had found no evidence it was involved in a global scandal over bribery and corruption on the oil industry. The FTSE 250-listed firm called in lawyers and accountants after leaked documents suggested Monaco-based Unaoil paid bribes on behalf of oil companies including Petrofac to win contracts. "The independent investigation has thoroughly investigated [...]
Trading in Unicredit shares suspended as investors digest bank stress tests August 1, 2016 Shares in Italian bank Unicredit were suspended from trading this morning as the lender plunged by eight per cent following the publication of stress test results on Friday evening. Its counterpart Monte dei Paschi, which came bottom of the results but managed to secure new terms on a potential bailout, climbed four per cent in the [...]
Interest rates could be about to get more interesting, with cut to 0.25 per cent widely expected next week July 31, 2016 Banks and savers alike will be bracing themselves for Thursday's Bank of England announcement, when it is largely expected interest rates will be chopped. The bank surprised many a few weeks ago when it opted to hold interest rates at its historically low 0.5 per cent level, where it has stuck since March 2009. Many [...]
RBS among worst performing European banks as stress test results are published July 30, 2016 Royal Bank of Scotland was the stand-out British performer in the European Banking Authority’s (EBA) stress test results. But not in a good way. The assessment of how European banks might perform in adverse conditions found RBS’s capital levels down 7.5 per cent, making it the third biggest faller of 51 lenders tested. Under the [...]
Leaving the EU only strengthens the case for expanding both Gatwick and Heathrow July 28, 2016 As MPs prepare to jet off on their summer holidays, there is one big decision that awaits their return: where to build a new runway in London and the South East. This is a decision that has now dragged on beyond all belief. When the Airports Commission published its final report over a year ago, we [...]