FTSE buoyed by retailers as investors eye Budget March 21, 2012 THE FTSE 100 headed up in early trading as retailers regained some momentum while investors were turning their attention to the Chancellor’s budget speech. George Osborne is expected to rejig taxes while seeking to keep his austerity plan on track. However figures showing that that public sector net borrowing hit a record for February cast [...]
Greece clinches vital debt deal March 8, 2012 THE VAST majority of private sector Greek bondholders agreed to take a massive writedown on their investments last night, opening the way for the second bailout to go ahead. Around 95 per cent of creditors said they will swap their holdings into a mixture of cash and long-term debt worth a fraction of the bonds’ face [...]
Greece clinches vital debt deal March 8, 2012 THE VAST majority of private sector Greek bondholders agreed to take a massive writedown on their investments last night, opening the way for the second bailout to go ahead. Around 95 per cent of creditors said they will swap their holdings into a mixture of cash and long-term debt worth a fraction of the bonds’ face [...]
THE WEEK AHEAD February 20, 2012 Today At this morning’s results for Bluetooth technology firm CSR, investors will be looking at how much value the company’s acquisition of peer Zoran in August last year brings. CSR is guiding that revenue for the first quarter will be between $230m and $250m (£145m and £158m), but analysts have a more cautious forecast of [...]
Nightmare for Dreams as insurer pulls cover despite refinancing August 7, 2011 BED retailer Dreams has been hit with a vote of no confidence from the insurer of its suppliers, which suspended its cover of about a fifth of Dreams’ suppliers last week. Euler Hermes, which insures suppliers against their customers going bankrupt, put Dreams’ suppliers on notice that its cover would end in 30 days, leaving [...]
Devastating pensions crisis requires companies to take a more inventive approach January 30, 2012 DEFINED benefit (DB) pension schemes are rarely out of the news these days – the latest headlines being from Shell, which has become the last of Britain’s biggest companies to scrap its final salary scheme for new entrants. And while the death of DB – which has been predicted from as far back as 2004, [...]
State banks to post losses February 20, 2012 TAXPAYER-owned banks Lloyds and RBS are expected to report huge losses of up to £6bn this week as they unveil their full-year results. The consensus estimate for Lloyds alone is a loss of some £4bn, putting the 41-per cent taxpayer-owned bank back in the red after a £281m profit last year. The huge loss is forecast [...]
THE TIPSTER TRADERS HOPING TO BOOK SUITE OF PROFITS February 20, 2012 RESULTS last week from Intercontinental Hotels pointed to a resurgence in bookings outside of the beleaguered Eurozone, so investors in Millenium & Copthorne will be hoping that the company can replicate its larger peer’s success in areas such as China and the US. The operations in these areas should benefit from continuing economic growth, so [...]
Banks and miners stall FTSE rally March 19, 2012 The FTSE 100 edged lower today as last week’s rally was ended by investors steering away from banking and energy stocks. Banks have led the market higher over recent sessions following a deal over Greek debt and improving market sentiment toward the stocks which have been hit by market volatility over the past year. They [...]
FTSE breaks through 5,900 mark on Greek bailout deal February 13, 2012 BRITAIN’S leading shares index closed higher yesterday, led by commodity and financial stocks, after Greece moved a step closer to securing an international bailout and avoiding a messy default. At the close, the FTSE 100 index was up 53.31 points, or 0.9 per cent, at 5,905.70, in volume just 70 per cent of the 90-day [...]