UK public finances go into surplus thanks to tax receipts August 19, 2011 The public finances posted an overall surplus in July as higher taxes and the bank levy boosted government receipts, bringing overall borrowing this fiscal year down and bringing the government closer to its targets. The Office for National Statistics said that public sector current budget swung to a surplus last month and net borrowing stood [...]
Dell slashes its revenue forecasts August 16, 2011 DELL slashed its 2012 revenue forecast as the outlook for technology spending this year weakened, sending its shares more than seven per cent lower. The personal computer maker yesterday lowered its estimate for full-year revenue growth to just one to five per cent, from five to nine per cent previously, adding that sales this quarter [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING August 14, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES FEARS RAISED AS “LACK OF CAUTION” FUELS COMMERCIAL PROPERTY VALUES Commercial real estate values have been spurred by a “lack of caution” on the back of an “astonishing” rebound in lending to the sector, according to one of the largest global fund managers. LaSalle Investment e, which manages $45bn (£27bn) of real estate [...]
Nestle raises full-year outlook August 10, 2011 THE world’s biggest food group Nestle raised its full-year forecasts yesterday, after strong demand for its Maggi and Nescafe brands in emerging markets helped it post a forecast-beating 7.5 per cent rise in underlying first-half sales. Sales grew in all regions, even in crisis-shaken Europe and North America, and the group managed to keep margins [...]
Varde in deal to take Crest Nicholson on August 7, 2011 HOUSING firm Crest Nicholson will be taken over by a US distressed debt specialist within the next few weeks, a source close to the firm confirmed yesterday. Minneapolis-based Varde Partners has been working for months with advisers Lazard and Bingham McCutchen to assess the options for the firm, which became 90 per cent owned by [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS August 7, 2011 Survitec Group The manufacturer and distributor for the marine, defence and aerospace survival technology industries that was bought by private equity firm Warburg Pincus in 2010 has appointed Paul Lester CBE as chairman. Lester, the former chief executive of VT Group and group managing director of Balfour Beatty, is currently chairman of Greenergy and non-executive [...]
Premier Foods profits fall as costs rise August 5, 2011 Food manufacturer Premier Foods said it was seeing an improving trend in its second half as it posted an expected 29 per cent fall in first-half profit, hit by higher commodity costs and a depressed consumer environment. The maker of Branston pickle, Bisto gravy and Hovis bread said Friday it made a trading profit for [...]
Asia boosts Robert Walters August 4, 2011 BRITISH recruitment firm Robert Walters has posted a 23 per cent increase in first–half net fees, boosted by international growth. Markets outside the UK contributed 74 per cent to its net fee income, with the company’s Asia Pacific business growing 29 per cent. Both China and Thailand enjoyed a doubling of net fee income, after [...]
BROCKET DIGS DEEP IN SPORTS CARS HUNT August 3, 2011 IT IS almost 13 years to the day since Lord Brocket walked free from Springhill open prison after serving two-and-half years for insurance fraud, and The Capitalist hears a party is potentially in the offing to mark the happy occasion. This will be no ordinary celebration though, if the outlandish suggestion actually becomes a reality [...]
Europe’s rich flood London’s house market August 1, 2011 THE price of luxury homes in central London has jumped by almost 10 per cent in the past year, driven by demand from wealthy Europeans looking to invest outside of the troubled Eurozone economies. Prime London property prices have risen 9.6 per cent since July 2010, and are more than 28 per cent higher than [...]