UK car sales slowed slightly in May June 4, 2015 Car sale growth slowed to 2.4 per cent in May, down from a rate of 5.1 per cent a month earlier, nevertheless economists said that this wasn't a cause for concern. Dealers registered 198,706 vehicles in May, marking 39 months of consecutive growth according to data released today by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). [...]
Insurance customers may be ripped off by poor sales information May 11, 2015 Insurance firms received a slap on the wrist from the City watchdog yesterday for failing to provide proper information to customers on the costs of various payment options. The Financial Conduct Authority’s study found that insurance sellers do not always make it clear how much customers will pay if they pick various different payment options. For [...]
Busy week of earnings ahead – New York Report April 19, 2015 INVESTORS attempting to determine whether US equities will rebound from Friday’s selloff or continue to sink will look to a deluge of earnings this week for a clearer picture of the economy. Equities lost ground after industrials Honeywell International and General Electric took hits from the strong dollar, while concerns over new trading regulations in [...]
Best month of car sales this century April 8, 2015 Nearly half a million new cars rolled on to Britain’s roads in March, the best month for new car registrations since 1999. Consumers and firms registered 492,774 new cars in March, up six per cent on the same month last year, according to figures released yesterday by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). [...]
Three reasons new car sales had their best month since 1999 April 8, 2015 Car dealerships across the country have been partying like it's 1999. They sold 492,774 new cars last month, which represents a six per cent increase from the same time last year, data released today by the Society of Motor Manufacturers has shown. It was the best March on record, as well as the best monthly performance since [...]
F1 prize money distribution unfair, says Max Mosley March 24, 2015 Former motor racing chief Max Mosley says he believes that Formula One’s £500m prize fund is unfair as it favours the top teams. F1’s prize money grew 6.1 per cent to a record £484m in 2014, yet this year many of the teams still need to boost their budgets with tens of millions of pounds [...]
Born in a barn, peer-to-peer lender Zopa is about to break £1bn in loans March 7, 2015 Peer-to-peer (P2P) is all the rage, with companies like TransferWise now all but household names and the descriptively named Lending Club, the largest US P2P company, recently becoming the first to IPO. What isn’t so well known is that Zopa, one of the peer-to-peer innovators, was founded in a barn, helping to spawn an [...]
The non-bank of Facebook, AliBay, and AI: The future of global fintech March 5, 2015 The global fintech industry has seen some remarkable developments since we launched Level39 two years ago. But what of the future? I’d like to suggest two possibilities for what might happen, and challenge one that, contrary to some current thinking, I don’t think will. FACEBOOK: THE NON-BANK BANK More than any other social media platform, [...]
Plunging inflation may knock deficit reduction February 17, 2015 Inflation fell to a record low in January, giving a welcome boost to hard-pressed households – but a group of economists warned the drop will harm the government’s finances, because tax receipts rise when prices go up. Prices rose by just 0.3 per cent in the 12 months to January, the Office for National Statistics said [...]
New car registrations speed to eight-year high February 5, 2015 The UK car industry made a roaring start to the year with sales soaring 6.7 per cent in January, the highest level for that month since 2007. The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said a total 164,856 cars were sold in January, compared to the 154,562 units shifted the same month a year [...]