Mortgage approvals rise in March May 2, 2012 Mortgage approvals for home loans in Britain rose unexpectedly in March, suggesting the housing market continued to recover despite the end of a tax exemption for first-time buyers, Bank of England data showed. The bank said mortgage approvals climbed to 49,860 in March from 49,029 in February, confounding analysts’ forecasts for a fall to 48,000. [...]
Mortgage approvals rise in March May 2, 2012 Mortgage approvals for home loans in Britain rose unexpectedly in March, suggesting the housing market continued to recover despite the end of a tax exemption for first-time buyers, Bank of England data showed. The bank said mortgage approvals climbed to 49,860 in March from 49,029 in February, confounding analysts’ forecasts for a fall to 48,000. [...]
FTSE shored up by strong blue chip results May 2, 2012 The FTSE 100 was flat in early trading as better than expected US manufacturing figures were offset by the bleak picture in the Eurozone. US manufacturing expanded at its fastest pace for 10 months fuelling confidence in the recovery of the world’s largest economy. However, the Eurozone’s manufacturing sector slipped further into decline last month, [...]
FTSE shored up by strong blue chip results May 2, 2012 The FTSE 100 was flat in early trading as better than expected US manufacturing figures were offset by the bleak picture in the Eurozone. US manufacturing expanded at its fastest pace for 10 months fuelling confidence in the recovery of the world’s largest economy. However, the Eurozone’s manufacturing sector slipped further into decline last month, [...]
Home Retail profit slumps by 60pc May 2, 2012 Home Retail, the country’s biggest household goods retailer, posted a 60 per cent slump in year profit and axed its final dividend as its cash-strapped consumers bore the brunt of the economic downturn. The owner of catalogue-based Argos stores and the Homebase do-it-yourself chain said on Wednesday it remained cautious about the consumer outlook and [...]
Home Retail profit slumps by 60pc May 2, 2012 Home Retail, the country’s biggest household goods retailer, posted a 60 per cent slump in year profit and axed its final dividend as its cash-strapped consumers bore the brunt of the economic downturn. The owner of catalogue-based Argos stores and the Homebase do-it-yourself chain said on Wednesday it remained cautious about the consumer outlook and [...]
Standard Chartered in single digit income growth May 2, 2012 Standard Chartered said its first-quarter income grew by less than its previous 10 percent target, as the strength of the US dollar against Asian currencies impacted income growth. London-based Standard Chartered, which gets about four-fifths of its income in Asia, earns much of that income in local currencies, which translates to fewer dollars when the [...]
UBS first quarter profit down May 2, 2012 UBS said first-quarter profit more than halved, dragged down by a 1.16bn Swiss franc (£788.76m) hit to profit due to charges on its own debt. The Swiss bank struck a cautious note for the second quarter, saying economic worries rattling wealthy clients such as the eurozone debt crisis, concern over Europe’s banks and the US [...]
BSkyB reports record results May 2, 2012 Pay-TV group BSkyB posted record nine-month operating profit as an increasing number of subscribers turned to the group for broadband and phone services. Showing little effect from the fallout of a failed bid by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp to seize full control of the group, BSkyB posted revenues up 5 percent to £5.1bn and earnings [...]
Moody’s says Olympics will give UK economy minor boost May 1, 2012 The Olympic Games in London this summer will likely provide only a temporary boost to corporate earnings, credit ratings agency Moody’s said. Britain, which went back into recession at the start of 2012, has spent nine billion pounds building the Olympics venues in east London and hopes the Games will be a catalyst to help [...]
