UK manufacturing does not need favours – but it deserves a better press March 11, 2012 BRITAIN’S greatness was built upon the brains and brawn of our industrial revolution. Excepting sporadic flourishes of genius, we hit our stride when great minds turned their energies to the tasks of extracting, designing, building and moving the world’s wants. Machines replaced the labour of men, so those born poor could work their family out [...]
RWE to scale back its asset sell-off plans March 6, 2012 RWE, Germany’s second-biggest utility, plans to sell fewer assets after finding another €1bn (£834m) of cost cuts and raising its capital as it positions itself for a future without nuclear power in its home market. The company, which owns British utility NPower, reported a 45 per cent drop in 2011 net profit yesterday. It now [...]
Boris: Britain must resist EU red tape March 4, 2012 BORIS Johnson has called on the government to boost transport spending, launch a crackdown on people dodging stamp duty and for Britain to pay less attention to EU rules. The London Mayor said economic growth “revolves around” improving the transport system, despite the pressure on public spending, and called on the Treasury to tackle the [...]
Brakes on for GM Chevy Volt March 4, 2012 GENERAL Motors has announced it will temporarily shut down production of the Chevy Volt, its innovative electric car. GM will also temporarily lay off 1,300 employees who work on the Volt’s production line between 19 March and 23 April, Detroit Free Press reported. The company cited the need to “align our production with demand” for [...]
FTSE flat as ECB pours in more funds February 29, 2012 The FTSE 100 was flat this morning with investors awaiting another injection of cash from the European Central Bank, aimed at propping up the Eurozone. The ECB is expected to pump about 500bn euros (£422bn) into the Eurozone’s financial system to fight the region’s debt crisis, enabling banks to tap as many of the ultra-cheap, [...]
CRH bullish as its profits beat forecast February 28, 2012 BUILDING materials group CRH said yesterday that full-year profits came in ahead of forecasts for its debut results as a FTSE 100 company. CRH said the outlook for 2012 is positive despite rising energy costs and a weaker economic picture in Europe. The Irish company is strong in the US, where it is the major [...]
The energy policy paradox: cheap tariffs for the savvy mean higher bills for most February 26, 2012 AT A time when energy bills are soaring, many families will be angry that British Gas reported profits last week of over £500m. It follows the news ten days ago that EDF’s profits rose to almost £1.6bn and announcements from the other “Big Six” energy firms are due in the coming weeks. But politicians and [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING February 20, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES US CORPORATES SHY TO OFFER GUIDANCE US companies are more uncertain about the future than at any point since the financial crisis, with just one in five of the country’s biggest corporations making any predictions as they published fourth-quarter results. TRANSOCEAN WILL NOT PROPOSE A DIVIDEND Shares in Transocean, the owner of the [...]
US inflation rises February 17, 2012 US petrol prices jumped 0.9 per cent in January, pushing overall consumer prices up at their fastest pace in four months and offering a reminder of the risks energy costs could pose to the economic recovery. The Consumer Price Index rose 0.2 per cent, according to figures from the Labor Department is unlikely to ring [...]
Inflation drops to 3.6pc February 14, 2012 British inflation fell sharply in January, supporting Bank of England forecasts for a hefty decline in 2012, after a rise in sales tax a year earlier dropped out of the data, official figures showed on Tuesday. The Office for National Statistics said that consumer price inflation fell to 3.6 per cent in January from 4.2 [...]