Sants warns over regulation shake-up June 24, 2010 CHOPPY markets and growing European Union powers will pose big challenges for the country’s transition to a new financial supervisory system, a top regulator said. The government announced last week it would scrap the Financial Services Authority (FSA) and fold many of its powers into a new Bank of England subsidiary by 2012. The aim [...]
SPREAD BET GURU June 27, 2010 MARKET STRATEGIST josh@cityindex.com Q. Dear Josh, can you tell me how the markets reacted to the emergency Budget presented by George Osborne last week? A. The banks and the retailers all performed strongly in reaction to the budget while the pound also received a boost. We saw banking stocks such as RBS, Lloyds Banking Group [...]
Barclays warns on deals June 30, 2010 BRITISH titan Barclays yesterday warned of a slowdown in investment banking activity in the past two months, suggesting wilting confidence in corporate boardrooms is impacting on dealmaking revenues. Barclays finance director Chris Lucas told an analyst conference investment banking market conditions in May and June were “softer” than those seen in the first quarter, when [...]
World trade is continuing to recover July 28, 2010 WORLD industrial production has overtaken its pre-recession peak – that is the key finding from one of the world’s most useful economic surveys, produced monthly by the Dutch Statistics Bureau. The Netherlands are a key hub for world trade; local statisticians are experts at crunching the numbers. Ian Harwood, chief economist at Evolution Securities, is [...]
New Look profit rises – but silence on IPO June 2, 2010 BUDGET fashion retailer New Look posted a 17.7 per cent rise in annual profit but has remained silent about its ambitions for a stock market return after postponing its flotation in February. The chain, which blamed volatile financial markets for derailing an expected £1.7-£2bn listing, said higher taxes and unemployment, and a weaker pound, would [...]
COMPANY OF THE YEAR | The Shortlist September 12, 2010 IT has been another tough year for business. The sovereign debt crisis rocked already shaky market confidence, while uncertainty has kept consumers from splashing out. It is in hard times that reputations are made, though, and over the past year the best have bounced back. Both retailers on our list have, in their different ways, [...]
COMPANY OF THE YEAR | The Shortlist September 12, 2010 IT has been another tough year for business. The sovereign debt crisis rocked already shaky market confidence, while uncertainty has kept consumers from splashing out. It is in hard times that reputations are made, though, and over the past year the best have bounced back. Both retailers on our list have, in their different ways, [...]
WH Smith sees sales hit in ash cloud crisis June 8, 2010 WH Smith posted a fall in third-quarter sales as travel disruption due to the Icelandic volcanic ash cloud hit the firm’s airport business. The company said its financial position was in line with market expectations and although it was cautious about consumer spending it was confident in the outcome for the full year. WH Smith [...]
Tough economic climate and fiscal laxity to keep pressure on sterling March 3, 2010 JANE FOLEY RESEARCH DIRECTOR, FOREX.COM IN CONTRAST to last month’s meeting, today’s decision by the Bank of England has not been billed as a headline event. February’s meeting had a much higher profile, thanks to its coincident timing with the quarterly inflation report, which gives the central bank a fresh set of growth and inflation [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING July 11, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES CHINA BANKS FEAR FALLING CONFIDENCE Faltering confidence in the Chinese economy could threaten the plans of the country’s banks to shore up capital reserves, the head of China Construction Bank, has warned. On top of the projected $22bn initial public offering of Agriculture Bank of China, announced last week, CCB and Industrial and [...]