Mortgage approvals from UK high street banks remain low March 23, 2011 MORTGAGE approvals for house purchases remained near their lowest level for two years, the British Bankers’ Association (BBA) reported yesterday. The 29,923 mortgage approvals in February were just a slight upgrade from the 29,159 in January and the 23 month low of 29,029 in December. Mortgage approvals were down about 11 per cent on the [...]
Slowdown in sales growth at Sainsbury’s March 23, 2011 SAINSBURY’S said yesterday that its sales growth was slowing with fears over the economy draining consumer confidence. Chief executive Justin King said that the company was performing well considering the challenges facing retailers. Like-for-like sales for the fourth-quarter were up by one per cent, below market expectations, and against growth of 3.6 per cent in [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING November 22, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES NOMURA STEPS UP ASSET SALE PLANS Nomura has approached big private equity firms about the possible sale of domestic businesses, including its real estate arm, as the Japanese bank moves to shore up its capital buffers. Several people familiar with the preliminary talks with parties including KKR and TPG said the bank was [...]
German consumer outlook rises February 22, 2011 German consumer confidence has risen for the ninth straight month, the widely regarded Gfk survey revealed yesterday. The forward-looking index rose from 5.8 this month to six points for March – its highest reading since October 2007, prior to the financial crisis. “While Germany’s recovery has been driven largely by exports and investment, consumer spending [...]
German consumer outlook rises February 22, 2011 German consumer confidence has risen for the ninth straight month, the widely regarded Gfk survey revealed yesterday. The forward-looking index rose from 5.8 this month to six points for March – its highest reading since October 2007, prior to the financial crisis. “While Germany’s recovery has been driven largely by exports and investment, consumer spending [...]
Pressure on personal finances rises February 1, 2011 The proportion of people saying they “have no spare cash” has risen to 27 per cent, according to the latest consumer confidence survey, released today. This was six percentage points higher at the end of 2010 than a year earlier and the highest since the survey began in 2005, according to the Nielsen Company and [...]
Giving ninety per cent of its tickets away is P&G’s winning 2012 strategy October 5, 2011 COUNTDOWN TO THE LONDON 2012 OLYMPIC GAMES 295 DAYS TO GO Irwin Lee explains why being the Proud Sponsor of Mums makes business sense for Procter & Gamble Q.WHAT WAS YOUR BRAND’S PRIMARY REASON FOR BEING INVOLVED WITH THE GAMES? A.Our first involvement with the Olympics came in Vancouver with the 2010 Winter Games. We [...]
Fastest Eurozone jobs gain since 2008 could be halted by weaker economies September 16, 2011 EMPLOYMENT growth accelerated in the Eurozone in the second quarter, Eurostat announced yesterday, but the European Commission (EC) cut its growth forecasts for the rest of 2011. Official figures point to a 0.3 per cent increase in Eurozone employment in the three months from April to June, while the 27 EU nations as a whole [...]
Wm Morrison sales up on record customer numbers September 8, 2011 Supermarket chain Wm Morrisons has shrugged off the retail sector gloom to post an almost nine per cent rise in its pre-tax profits in the first half as a record number of shoppers visited its stores. Morrisons attracted 11.5m customers on average each week, adding 2.2 per cent to its like for like sales excluding [...]
Begbies warns over companies on the brink April 13, 2011 The number of British companies in serious financial distress soared in the first quarter with restaurants, professional services businesses and the leisure industry in particular difficulty, a report showed. Begbies Traynor, a corporate recovery company that helps wind up or restructure firms, said its Red Flag Alert database showed 186,554 UK businesses were facing significant [...]