Poland: Europe’s economic dynamo – CNBC Comment December 8, 2014 Having just returned from a week in central and eastern Europe, I thought I would share a few thoughts about one of the countries I visited, Poland. As Europe’s sixth largest economy, it is the only EU country to border both Russia and Ukraine. Yet despite geopolitical tensions in the region — and a slow-to-no [...]
BP could cut jobs to cope with falling oil prices December 7, 2014 Oil giant BP is being cut down to size by tumbling oil prices, according to reports. The Sunday Times has reported that the company is to axe middle managers and freeze projects, just days ahead of a day-long presentation to the City next Wednesday in which BP is expected to lay out its exploration [...]
Oil price drop: How does it affect Russia, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, the US, the UK and the Eurozone? December 5, 2014 The price of Brent crude oil has dropped by around 40 per cent since June, at one point falling to its lowest level in more than four years. It's now stablising at around $70 a barrel, but speculators think it could fall further – perhaps down to $65, maybe even as far as $60 [...]
Tui Travel posts soaraway profits in final results before merger December 4, 2014 UK TRAVEL operator Tui Travel yesterday reported a higher profit for its last financial year driven by strong demand in the UK, Germany and Netherlands for its higher margin “unique holidays”. The Thomson and First Choice owner said it had also halved losses from its French tour operating business. In its last set of results [...]
This time last year Foxtons was an investor favourite – what happened? December 4, 2014 It was just over a year ago that London estate agent Foxtons became the darling of the London Stock Exchange with a stonkingly successful IPO. Having floated at 230p, valuing it at £649m, shares in the company rose sharply to a peak of 285.5p in its first day of trading. By the end of February, [...]
Tui share price rises ahead of merger with German parent December 4, 2014 Tui Travel has reported a three per cent rise in pre-tax profits to £472m ahead of its merger with parent company Tui AG. The travel company behind Thomson and First Choice posted operating profits of £612m, up four per cent on last year and an increase of 11 per cent to £654m on a constant [...]
Autumn Statement 2014: Overdoing austerity would be self-defeating – don’t expect balanced budgets soon December 3, 2014 The chancellor issued his election manifesto yesterday, in the form of the Autumn Statement. And the good news for him is that the economic narrative is strong. GDP is now some 3.4 per cent above where it was before the crisis; we have been growing faster than any of our developed competitors. The Office for [...]
The UK is getting less corrupt (and, FYI Fifa, it beat Qatar and Russia) December 3, 2014 Good news for those Britons who don’t include bribery among our hobbies. The UK is getting less corrupt. That’s according to the annual Transparency Index, which was published today. In 2014, the UK was ranked 14th with a corruption score of 78. Last year it got 76 and the year before it was 74. The [...]
Here is everything we know about the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant accident in Ukraine December 3, 2014 Ukraine’s Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk has confirmed there has been an accident at one of the country’s major nuclear power plants today. The reactor affected is Zaporizhia NPP – the largest power plant in Europe, which is in the South East of the country. “I know that an accident has occurred at the Zaporizhia NPP,” Yatsenyuk said. Ukraine’s energy [...]
These five charts show why Russia is edging towards recession December 3, 2014 It's not been a good year for Russia. Yesterday the country revealed it had lowered its growth forecasts, and is now expected to enter recession in the first quarter of 2015 – the first time in five years. The deputy economic development minister Alexei Vedev announced the drop – from 1.2 per cent growth [...]