The Government has announced this week that 2.5 million students will pay 0 percent interest on student loans from September. However, this slashes the hope that student loans, which are linked to the Retail Prices Index which has fallen to -0.4 percent, would mean that loans would be reduced accordingly. The Student Loans Company has [...]
As part of its 125th birthday celebrations, Marks and Spencer will go back to its original roots as a penny bazaar and offer a range of 20 products that are available for just 1p in a three day sale. Sir Stuart Rose, the M&S chairman, said that the chain has been at the centre of [...]
Japanese electronics giant Sony has today announced its first annual loss in 14 years. The group reported a loss of 98.9 billion yen (£685 million) for the year ended 31 March, against a profit of 369.4 billion yen the previous year. Following the company’s first back to back loss since 1958, Chief Executive Officer, Howard [...]
The central bank of South Korea has maintained interest rates at a record low of just 2 percent for the third consecutive month, in a bid to maintain the economy. The Bank of Korea Governor, Lee Seong Tae, said that the bank has forecast marginal positive quarterly growth over the coming period and the 2 [...]
The 1,000 megawatt wind farm planned in the Thames Estuary near London has been given the go ahead by E.ON UK, DONG Energy and Masdar, and will help the UK meet its carbon reduction target as the Prime Minister Gordon Brown welcomed the development. Frank Mastiaux, Chief Executive of E.ON Climate and Renewables, said that [...]
Today the government has announced a £9 billion scheme that will install a new smart energy meter in every UK home. Both the Department for Energy & Climate Change and the energy companies believe that the measure will result in savings for consumers. The meters are electronic and available for both gas and electricity and, [...]
As part of a new deal brokered with the French energy provider EDF, Centrica will help build new nuclear power stations in the UK with at least four new generation reactors planned, most likely close to existing sites in Sizewell in Suffolk, and Hinkley Point in Somerset. Centrica, which owns British Gas, announced this morning [...]
Steel producer Corus may cut 2,000 jobs at its Teesside Cast Products plant after four international slab buyers, Marcegaglia, Dongkuk Steel Mills, Duferco Participations Holding and Alvory, have terminated a 10-year supply contract. As their main customers, the consortium have failed to fulfil their part of the contract which has been signed for ten years [...]
British factory gate inflation fell to a 5-year low in April as raw materials costs fell at their fastest annual rate in 7 years. According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), producer output price inflation fell to 1.2 percent in April from 2 percent in March, bringing it to its lowest since April 2004 [...]
Individual insolvencies are at a record high with an average of 330 people going bust everyday, with the latest insolvency data for the first three months of 2009 showing a 19 percent year-on-year rise inclusive of Individual Voluntary Arrangements (IVAs) and bankruptcies. KPMG has stated that 51 per cent of people entering into IVAs are [...]
According to the Financial Times, Deutsche Telekom, which owns T-Mobile, is under pressure to leave the UK market after disappointing financial results. The two main shareholders are the German government and the private equity group, Blackstone, are calling for the UK mobile telephone operations to be sold as they are under performing in an ever [...]
India’s exports for March have fallen by a record amount as the country missed a revised export target of $175 billion. In 2007-08, the country posted export growth of 23 percent valued at $155.51 billion. According to figures released by the ministry of commerce in March exports were valued at $11.52 billion, which is down [...]
The Brazilian central bank has cut interest rates by 1 percent to 10.25 percent, while the move was widely expected, many investors are disappointed that the reduction was not greater with a 1.5 percent rate cut being mooted. This was evidence that the central bank has reduced their policy of monetary easing, although the benchmark [...]
In April, German unemployment increased for the sixth consecutive month, by 58,000 to 3.46 million, which takes the unemployment rate to its highest level in nearly two years. April’s official figure, released by the Federal Labour Agency, is better than analysts have predicted with 70,000 job cuts predicted in the latest poll. Frank-Juergen Weise of [...]
According to Alan Barrett, a research professor at the Economic and Social Research Institute, Irish ministers should move to nationalise banks and end the uncertainty instead of buying property loans. The focus needed is to end the uncertainty and Finance Minister, Brian Lenihan, plans to clean up banks by removing the bad debt built up [...]
BSkyB has reported a 7 percent increase in adjusted revenues for the last 9 months with adjusted operating profit increasing by 13 percent to £589m, as the company added a further 80,000 new customers in the first quarter of this year and 243,000 customers opted for the Sky+HD package. Despite the company saying that the [...]
Crippled van maker LDV, owned by Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, announced yesterday that the company had applied to go into administration on 6th May, but trade unions are calling for the government to give a £4 million bailout sum, in order to keep the manufacturer going while rescue talks are underway. LDV is faced with [...]
The BrandZ Top 100 survey, conducted by market research consultancy Millward Brown, has found Google to be the at the top spot of the Most Valuable Brands table. Google, the search engine giant, has become the first $100bn name and 6 of the top 100 are UK brands with Vodafone in the top 10. The [...]
As expected the New Zealand central bank Governor, Alan Bollard, has cut interest rates for the seventh consecutive time, as the recession has slowed exports and reduced business investment on the island. The Reserve Bank of New Zealand has officially cut interest rates by 0.5 percent to a record low of 2.5 percent. After 18 [...]
Auto-enrolment too expensive for micro-firms
The Association of Consulting Actuaries (ACA) has called for the government to re-consider auto enrolment for the smallest firms, who might struggle with the costs of administering the scheme. From 1 October the largest companies have been required to automatically enrol workers in a pension scheme unless they chose to opt out. The scheme will [...]
Barclays increases provision for PPI claims to £2 billion
Barclays has set aside another £700 million to cover claims for mis-sold payment protection insurance (PPI) after claims reached unexpectedly high levels. This is on top of the £1 billion set aside in 2011 and the £300 million provision made in the first three months of 2012. By the end of September, the bank had [...]
Mortgage lending slowed in September
Despite more mortgages being available, mortgage lending dropped to £11.6 billion in September, a fall of 10 per cent from August and 15 per cent lower than September 2011’s figure. The availability of mortgages was boosted by the new Funding for Lending Scheme, but there was little demand from either first time buyers or people [...]
RBS initiates talks with Virgin Money over branches
Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is seeking a new buyer for 316 branches after a deal with Santander fell through, and is believed to have approached Virgin Money. RBS is required the sell the branches under the EU conditions attached to the £45 billion bailout it received from the government when it came to the [...]
Government to legislate on uncollected debt
The Government is planning to introduce new laws allowing its departments to share information on individuals and companies that owe them money. The proposal follows a review by the Cabinet Office’s Fraud, Error and Debt taskforce. Around £20 billion is owed to the Government and more than £7 billion is lost each year through unpaid [...]
The rate of inflation on the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) fell to 2.2 per cent last month according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), its lowest level since November 2009. In August, CPI inflation, which excludes mortgage interest payments, stood at 2.5 per cent. The Retail Prices Index (RPI) measure of inflation, which includes [...]
Pot-follows-member reform could hit retirement income
Proposals to allow workers to move their workplace pension to a new scheme each time they move employment have been criticised by pension and consumer groups. The Department for Work and Pensions is introducing the ‘pot follows member’ approach to avoid the potential problem of workers having several small pots when they reach retirement age, [...]
Accident numbers fall but whiplash claims still rise
The number of claims for compensation for a whiplash injury sustained in a motor accident has continued to increase despite a fall in accident numbers, the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries has revealed. The Institute reported a 20 per cent drop in the number of injuries reported to the police in accidents between 2006 and [...]
Consumer spending power weakens
Annual income growth fell to 1.7 per cent last month, its lowest level since December 2010, according to Lloyds Banking Group’s Spending Power Report for September. This was largely responsible for a 0.9 per cent fall in real discretionary spending power, with the amount consumers have to spend on non-essential items falling around £8 per [...]
Funding for Lending scheme prompts mortgage cuts
Mortgage brokers have attributed moves by several lenders to cut their mortgage rates to the Bank of England’s recently launched Funding for Lending scheme. Ray Boulger of mortgage brokers John Charcol said that the Funding for Lending scheme was the key to the cuts. “Wholesale borrowing rates have fallen quite quickly since the scheme was [...]
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