Soaring services sector drives business activity to record high August 5, 2013 HOPES that the recovery is picking up steam were lifted further yesterday, after the UK’s businesses reported the strongest month of growth since records began. Markit’s surveys of the services, manufacturing and construction sectors in July got the most positive responses ever, bolstering recent signs that the economy is returning to sustained expansion. The unparalleled [...]
Legal bills drag down Deutsche Bank’s earnings July 30, 2013 GERMAN lender Deutsche Bank saw profits plunge on soaring litigation fees in the second quarter, the institution announced yesterday, while it had to announce further cuts to operations to hit new regulatory capital targets. Net income fell 50 per cent to €335m (£291.5m), despite net revenues rising two per cent to €8.2bn. Corporate banking and securities [...]
Jenkins slashes jobs and pay to shore up profit February 12, 2013 BARCLAYS shares soared as the bank announced a major cost-cutting plan yesterday, shutting four business units and shaking up another 32 of its 75 units to streamline the institution and shore up profits in the face of a weak economic outlook. Chief executive Antony Jenkins announced 3,700 job cuts – well above the 2,000 expected [...]
November saw accelerating house prices January 15, 2013 THE HOUSING market heated up in November, according to the most comprehensive official data, released yesterday. The Office for National Statistics’ house price index climbed 2.1 per cent in the 12 months to November 2012, up from the 1.5 per cent growth recorded in the year to October. This overall acceleration was driven by soaring London prices, [...]
Bright signs can also be an indication of danger ahead November 12, 2012 THERE were glimmers of optimism from the housebuilders yesterday. Bovis Homes reported its average selling price up from £180,100 in 2011 to £190,000 and its operating margin expected to be 13 per cent, up from 10 per cent in 2011. Redrow and Taylor Wimpey also both backed the picture of a sector facing tough but [...]
Gold spikes as Fed turns on the taps September 13, 2012 THE FEDERAL Reserve launched a third round of quantitative easing (QE3) last night, with Ben Bernanke pledging to buy an extra $40bn (£24.8bn) of assets every month until the economy recovers and unemployment falls in earnest. The Fed will also keep extending the average maturity of its asset holdings through the rest of this year, [...]
Grazie, Mario September 6, 2012 THE EUROPEAN Central Bank (ECB) is gearing up to spend billions of euros on supporting troubled governments, ECB boss Mario Draghi announced yesterday, sending markets soaring. As long as indebted governments ask the official bailout mechanisms for help and put in place strong plans to get their finances back on track, the ECB will consider [...]
Top London house prices rise by £1,200 every day December 13, 2011 PRIME central London prices are still soaring, according to the Knight Frank index, while the Financial Services Authority (FSA) yesterday revealed mortgage interest rates declined in the third quarter of 2011. Prime prices in central London rose one per cent in November and 12.6 per cent in the last 12 months, taking the average price [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING November 2, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES LENOVO FOUNDER LIU STEPS DOWN AS CHAIRMAN The man who founded Lenovo and built it into the world’s second-biggest PC maker by sales has retired as chairman, handing over to his chief executive, in a sign of confidence that its recent turnround is on track. The retirement of Liu Chuanzhi came as Lenovo’s [...]
Cheap loans aid house prices October 11, 2011 HOUSE prices increased in August compared with July, but are still down on levels seen 12 months ago, according to figures out yesterday from the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG). Meanwhile, statistics from the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML), also out yesterday, showed homeowners taking advantage of low interest rates as remortgage levels [...]