FTSE breaks eight day streak on jitters over China and Euro July 6, 2011 THE FTSE 100’s eight-day winning streak came to a halt yesterday as worries over debt contagion in Europe and the demand outlook in China hit banking and commodity stocks. The top share index closed 21.11 points or 0.4 per cent lower at 6,002.92, having risen more than six per cent in the previous eight sessions [...]
Advertisers snub Murdoch tabloid July 5, 2011 A string of top companies yesterday said they could pull advertising from the News of the World as the phone hacking crisis engulfing the newspaper continued to escalate. Ford said it will not place adverts in this weekend’s edition and companies including nPower, Halifax and Everything Everywhere say they are considering cutting ads in light [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING July 4, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES PAULSON ENJOYS $500M LEHMAN BOOST AS VALUE OF BOND RECOVERS Paulson & Co, the hedge fund that made billions from betting on a collapse in mortgage-backed securities during the financial crisis, has made more than $550m from a recovery in the value of bonds it bought in failed investment bank Lehman Brothers. BRUNSWICK [...]
Price war sees petrol tumble July 3, 2011 PETROL prices fell by over two pence per litre last week, according to data seen by City A.M. A combination of supermarket price wars and a sharp fall in the global price of oil saw the average price of unleaded drop from over 136p per litre to 133.82p. Diesel declined from almost 140p per litre [...]
Tesco to push its bank this year June 27, 2011 Tesco, the world’s third-biggest retailer, will make its long-awaited push into banking this autumn, and will not do so by buying Lloyds branches or bidding for state-owned Northern Rock, its head of retail services Andrew Higginson told a conference yesterday. He said the firm was focused on growing its own business. “Certainly we will be [...]
RETAIL BANK OF THE YEAR | The Shortlist day seven June 27, 2011 Retail banking in Britain is in the throes of monumental change this year, as the big-name players grapple with the reforms being drawn up by the Independent Commission on Banking. The shifting landscape has also allowed newcomers to gain a foothold in the market, giving our list of top retail banks this year a fresh [...]
FTSE up but investors jittery over Greek crisis June 27, 2011 The FTSE 100 was up this morning but investors remained wary ahead of yet another chapter in the Greek financial crisis. Greek MPs are due to debate a fresh package of austerity measures later. The euro slipped as confidence in the eurozone continued to be sapped by Greece’s debt pile. Meanwhile France’s Christine Lagarde was [...]
Mary Portas to meet Tesco boss June 26, 2011 Mary Portas, the TV celebrity retail expert appointed by the government to oversee a review of Britain’s changing high streets, will this week meet with the UK chief executive of Tesco. Portas, best known for her Mary Queen of Shops TV series, will meet with Tesco UK boss Richard Brasher to examine the future of [...]
Micro Focus falls after a weak outlook June 23, 2011 TROUBLED Micro Focus dived more than seven per cent yesterday after disappointing investors with a weaker than expected profits forecast for the coming year. Revenue inched up nearly one per cent to $436.1m (£273m) but adjusted operating profit fell almost nine per cent, in line with forecasts. The slow forecast comes as another blow for [...]
Electrical retailers face bleak future June 22, 2011 LOCATING the source of Kesa’s woes is fraught with difficulty, but its problems aren’t particularly new. Electrical retailers have been trading on wafer-thin margins for many years now, a fact that was disguised by the boom years when the property bubble meant TVs and white goods sold by the lorry load. When the crisis hit, [...]