Housing market is looking healthier June 28, 2010 THE long upwards run for house prices has ground to a halt. The recent history of UK house prices has confounded many commentators: values plunged when the credit crunch hit, albeit not as much as in the US, then regained over half of their losses over the past year. The present return to stagnation makes [...]
CITY VIEWS: WILL ENGLAND’S FOOTBALL FAILURE AFFECT THE ECONOMY? June 28, 2010 BEN WISE LLOYD’S REGISTER “I would have thought that it will affect the economy positively, as fewer people will be taking the day off work to watch the matches. Beer sales will be down, and retailers with special offers might lose a bit, but the impact won’t be great – we would have only played [...]
P&G increases its European market share June 24, 2010 PROCTER & Gamble, the maker of Gillette razors, said yesterday that new product ranges and cheaper versions of existing brands were boosting its market share in Europe in a particularly difficult economic climate for retailers. The world’s biggest consumer goods group has launched new automatic dishwasher and stain removal products over the last two years, [...]
BAA lowers earnings forecast by £10m June 24, 2010 AIRPORT operator BAA has lowered its 2010 earnings forecast by £10m reflecting the impact of the volcanic ash cloud, strikes by British Airways cabin crew and bad weather. BAA, which is owned by Spain’s Ferrovial, forecast that its 2010 adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation would be £946M based on its expectation of [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING June 23, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES NISSAN’S GHOSN TOPS JAPAN PAY LEAGUE Nissan’s Carlos Ghosn has taken top spot on a list of Japan’s best-paid executives after the carmaker revealed it paid its Brazil-born chief executive Y890m ($9.9m) last year. Nissan and other quoted Japanese companies are being forced to report the compensation of individual executives for the first [...]
ACTOR KEVIN SPACEY ENJOYS A RETURN TO THE TRADING FLOOR June 23, 2010 ACTOR and Old Vic artistic director Kevin Spacey is becoming quite the dab hand on the trading floor, if reports from our Stateside friends are to be believed. Bankers at Citigroup in New York were astonished last week when Spacey popped into their offices to do a spot of research for his new movie, Margin [...]
Great progress on the deficit – but far too many unnecessary tax hikes June 22, 2010 WE?were told to expect a tough Budget, with lots of pain, and that was exactly what we got. Many of the policies announced were necessary; others, however, are clearly misguided. On balance, however, this Budget will leave Britain in a stronger position –?not something that could usually be said of the previous government’s efforts. George [...]
Retailers warn tax hike threatens sales recovery June 22, 2010 RETAILERS yesterday warned the rise in VAT would dent a recovery on the High Street, but won an important concession by convincing the Treasury to delay its introduction until 4 January. Treasury sources said the chancellor had taken into account the “hoo hah” experienced by the industry when the last change in VAT was enacted almost [...]
What to look out for in the Budget June 21, 2010 THE ECONOMY/PUBLIC FINANCES • The newly-created interim Office for Budgetary Responsibility (OBR) released forecasts last week for growth and public borrowing. But these were based on the policy decisions of Alistair Darling’s Budget and are likely to change in response to moves made by the new chancellor. • Previously, the OBR said GDP?growth is expected [...]
Jupiter stock bounces in first session June 21, 2010 FUND manager Jupiter returned to the London stock exchange yesterday, riding buoyant markets to debut 15 per cent above the price set in an initial public offer (IPO) last week. Jupiter raised £220m to pay off debt and secured a £33.5m windfall for its current owners in its IPO, which priced at 165p. By mid-morning, [...]