Maybe ITV would do better without a chief exec October 14, 2009 CRISIS? What crisis? That was the line that Michael Grade, the outgoing executive chairman of ITV, took when being questioned by a House of Lords committee yesterday. Hitting out at media coverage of the broadcaster’s bungled attempts to find a replacement chairman and chief executive, he said ITVwas a business in fine fettle. In a [...]
Belgian bank set to make loss selling off its British brokerage September 20, 2009 BELGIAN bank KBC has put its London brokerage and corporate finance house, KBC Peel Hunt, up for sale. The struggling bank has had to borrow around €7bn (£6.3bn) from the Belgian government, and is now likely to make a huge loss on its investment by selling the brokerage. KBC bought Peel Hunt in a deal [...]
Sellers raise asking prices September 20, 2009 THE average asking price for a UK property rose 0.6 per cent in September on the previous month, trimming the annual decline to 1.5 per cent as a shortage of stock boosted sellers’ expectations. According to figures from property website Rightmove published today, sellers are now asking an average of £223,996 for their homes as [...]
Barclays seals deal to buy StanLife Bank October 26, 2009 BARCLAYS yesterday agreed to pay £226m for the banking division of Standard Life, allowing the Edinburgh-based life insurer to refocus on its core business. The relatively modest deal will add £5.5bn in deposits and 287,000 new accounts to Barclays’ massive base of 15m current account customers. The banking unit last year became a thorn in [...]
US housing results bring down stocks October 20, 2009 US stocks retreated from 12-month highs yesterday as disappointing housing and inflation data prompted investors to book recent gains despite strong results from bellwethers including Apple and Caterpillar. New construction of US homes rose less than expected in September and US producer prices posted an unexpected decline, both pointing to an anemic economic recovery. DuPont [...]
US housing results bring down stocks October 20, 2009 US stocks retreated from 12-month highs yesterday as disappointing housing and inflation data prompted investors to book recent gains despite strong results from bellwethers including Apple and Caterpillar. New construction of US homes rose less than expected in September and US producer prices posted an unexpected decline, both pointing to an anemic economic recovery. DuPont [...]
If you’re getting a bonus, then bricks and mortar are still best October 8, 2009 IT MIGHT not be the most popular thing to say right now, but people are going to get bonuses this year. In the years preceding 2008, the bonus season meant one thing in London – a boost to the buy-to-let property market as bankers sunk their money into bricks and mortar. The world has changed [...]
If you’re getting a bonus, then bricks and mortar are still best October 8, 2009 IT MIGHT not be the most popular thing to say right now, but people are going to get bonuses this year. In the years preceding 2008, the bonus season meant one thing in London – a boost to the buy-to-let property market as bankers sunk their money into bricks and mortar. The world has changed [...]
Sales outlook starts to improve for DSG… September 2, 2009 DSG, the electrical retailer behind Currys, Dixons and PC World, yesterday posted a smaller-than-expected fall in quarterly sales and said that the outlook had improved slightly. The firm also confirmed it had sold its loss-making Polish division for a nominal €1 (60p) to IDMSA Brokerage House, following the shedding of its other loss-making Swedish and [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPER SAY THIS MORNING October 25, 2009 THE SUNDAYSThe Sunday TelegraphHOUSEHOLDS LOSE 13PC OF WEALTHThe huge impact of the economic turmoil on the British public has been revealed by new figures that show household wealth in Britain fell by £844bn between 2007 and 2008, driven by sharp falls in house prices and the collapse of the stock market. It is expected to [...]