H&M bitten by higher costs March 31, 2011 Swedish fashion giant Hennes & Mauritz says its quarterly earnings fell more than expected as it was hammered by higher cotton prices and other costs it has not passed on to customers. Pre-tax profit at the world’s second-biggest fashion retailer by sales to 3.5bn Swedish krone (£347m) in the December-February period from SK5.06bn a year [...]
Keydata lands building society on the block March 6, 2011 ONCE a sleepy building society with branches scattered around the historic towns of East Anglia, Norwich & Peterborough has slumped since the collapse of Keydata. The sale of the Keydata’s life settlement bonds to more than 3,000 of its customers could ultimately bring it to its knees – and spark interest amongst buyers. Last week’s [...]
PM backs the City’s start-up business plans March 28, 2011 DAVID Cameron will today back a campaign launched by over 60 City firms to encourage people to become entrepreneurs. Firms including HSBC, Deloitte, Google, KMPG, BlackBerry, AXA, Coutts, Intel and Lloyds TSB are offering a package of £1,500 to every start-up that participates. Cameron will pledge his full support for the scheme and ask the [...]
PM backs the City’s start-up business plans March 28, 2011 DAVID Cameron will today back a campaign launched by over 60 City firms to encourage people to become entrepreneurs. Firms including HSBC, Deloitte, Google, KMPG, BlackBerry, AXA, Coutts, Intel and Lloyds TSB are offering a package of £1,500 to every start-up that participates. Cameron will pledge his full support for the scheme and ask the [...]
UK in manufacturing bounce back March 10, 2011 Manufacturing output rebounded more than expected in January to rise at its fastest monthly pace in 10 months, after firms made up for a weather-related drop in output in December, official data showed on Thursday. The Office for National Statistics said manufacturing output rose one per cent in January, more than reversing a 0.1 per [...]
ANALYST VIEWS: WHAT IS THE LIKELY EXTENT OF THE DAMAGE? February 22, 2011 ROBERT MUIR-WOOD | RMS UK Christchurch city was much closer to the epicentre and damage is reported to be significantly higher than last year. Two buses were crushed by collapsed buildings, contributing to the high death toll, and there are reports of landslides. House reconstruction costs are likely to exceed the Earthquake Commission’s ‘first loss’ [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING May 26, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES HSBC EMBROILED IN INTERNSHIP ROW HSBC has been accused of nepotism after its legal department implied it offered work experience only to the sons and daughters of its own executives. Richard Bennett, group general counsel, sent a letter rejecting a young woman who had sought unpaid work in his department. “HSBC does not [...]
WSP Group profit falls February 28, 2011 Building and environmental consultancy WSP Group yesterday posted a 24 per cent fall in its full-year pre-tax profit, as government spending cuts led to a weak performance at its transport business. The company, whose projects include the Shard and the World Trade Center Memorial in New York, also expects the UK market to remain subdued [...]
Don’t let builders be the only beneficiaries March 28, 2011 Housebuilding companies have rallied since news in last week’s budget that £250m would be made available to help first time buyers get onto the property ladder. Dubbed Firstbuy Direct, the scheme will give those below a certain income threshold access to a 25 per cent equity loan to cover the deposit on a new home. [...]
Construction activity hits eight-month high March 2, 2011 Construction activity grew at its fastest pace in eight months in February, boosted by new business, the monthly Markit/CIPS purchasing managers index showed. The headline activity index rose to 56.5 in February from 53.7 in January, confounding analysts’ forecasts for a fall to 52.9. The construction sector suffered a sharp downturn at the end of [...]