Thatcher saved UK from slow decline April 12, 2013 When Margaret Thatcher won the 1979 election, Britain was a country on its knees, a discredited, impoverished post-imperial nation in seemingly terminal decline, with ruthless union bosses imposing their will on a gutless establishment, cripplingly high inflation, a tax regime that forbade entrepreneurship and ambition, and an antiquated class system still in full sway. Dozens [...]
UK branches of Cypriot banks reassure savers March 29, 2013 CYPRIOT banks with British operations reassured customers yesterday that their deposits were safe, with at least some savings covered under guarantee schemes. The Bank of Cyprus UK, which has three branches in London and another in Birmingham, said there would be “no effect on deposits” for its UK account holders, describing itself as a “separately [...]
London is most expensive place for finance firms March 13, 2013 TAXES and fees are making London by far the most expensive location in the world to set up a financial firm, according to figures released this morning. Looking at rents alone, Hong Kong tops the table of world cities for locating a company in the financial sector, Savills said, but including the impact of fees [...]
New chair for Kazakhmys as earnings drop March 2, 2013 LONDON-LISTED Kazakh miner Kazakhmys posted a more than 30 per cent drop in 2012 core profit yesterday, excluding the impact of its share in rival ENRC, as weak prices hit revenue and failed to offset rising costs. The miner, which owns 26 per cent of rival ENRC, also said it might have to write down [...]
Growth fears push Wall St down again February 22, 2013 NEW YORK REPORT US stocks fell for a second straight day yesterday and the S&P 500 posted its worst two-day loss since November after reports cast doubt over the health of the US and Eurozone economies. But a late-day rally helped stocks erase some of their losses with most of the pullback concentrated in the [...]
New York Report: M&A activity lift shares near record levels February 19, 2013 US STOCKS rose yesterday as this year’s ongoing surge in merger activity suggested investors were still finding value in the market even as indexes closed in on all-time highs. Office Depot Inc surged 9.4 per cent to $5.02 after a person familiar with the matter said the number two US office supply retailer was in [...]
Orders soar as margins grow at Rolls-Royce February 14, 2013 ENGINEERING giant Rolls-Royce was the biggest blue-chip riser yesterday after it posted a 23.5 per cent rise in underlying pre-tax profits to £1.43bn. Rolls-Royce’s order book grew four per cent to £60.15bn last year, and revenues excluding currency changes rose eight per cent to £12.2bn. The gains mark Rolls-Royce’s tenth straight year of profit growth. [...]
Amec beats forecasts but warns revenue growth is set to slow February 14, 2013 SHARES in oil engineer Amec sank yesterday as it warned revenue growth this year would be lower than expected. Strong growth in conventional oil and gas markets would be offset by softening demand in the mining market and reduced oil sands revenue, the FTSE engineer – which designs and builds infrastructure for the oil and [...]
Harvey Nash lifts dividend as profits grow February 13, 2013 GLOBAL specialist recruiter Harvey Nash said yesterday it plans to increase its final dividend by 10 per cent after it posted a slight increase in full-year profits, adding that its full-year results would be ahead of expectations. Pre-tax profit at the firm, which specialises in technology and IT service roles, is expected to rise to [...]
Burberry board change as chief of finance quits February 7, 2013 BURBERRY finance chief Stacey Cartwright is to step down from the luxury group in a management shake-up that will also see the creation of a chief operating officer role. Cartwright, a widely respected industry figure who has been at the fashion house for nine years, is to leave in July “to pursue other interests”, Burberry [...]