Consumer confidence in Germany, which is the euro zone’s largest economy, has fallen due to ongoing fears about the weak currency and the austerity measures which many nations have implemented to reduce their debt. GfK research group said its latest German consumer climate indicator forecasted a value of 3.5 points for June, following a value [...]
A survey by GfK NOP for the European Commission revealed a fall in consumer confidence for April. It was the second consecutive month that morale was low – as uncertainty surrounds the economy ahead of next week’s general election. The consumer confidence index gave an overall score of -16, a fall of one point from [...]
The latest survey from the Nationwide Building Society has revealed a sharp fall in UK consumer confidence for the month of March. The building society’s consumer confidence index plunged to 72 last month – the lowest level since December and down from a two-year high of 81 reported in February. According to the Nationwide, its [...]
Fashion chain Next has today announced its pre-tax profits for the 2009 year rose 18% to £505.3 million. The retailer said annual revenues rose to £3,406 million, from £3,271.5 million the previous year. Chairman of the fashion chain, John Barton, described 2009 as “an extraordinary year” and added it had seen a “marked improvement” in [...]
The Federal Reserve has announced borrowing by American consumers grew for the first time in a year in January. According to the central bank, consumer credit rose 2.4% or $5 billion (£3.3 billion) compared with the previous month to a total of $2.45 trillion. It was the first increase after a record 11 months of [...]
Fears over US consumer spending were raised today after retailing giant Wal-Mart reported weaker than expected sales. The company, which is the world’s largest retailer, reported a 22% rise in its fiscal fourth-quarter profit, but sales at stores open at least 12 months disappointed the market. Quarterly sales fell to $113.65 billion – slightly below [...]
Fashion chain Next has today reported better than expected sales figures for the Christmas period. The fashion retailer Next said like-for-like sales at Next Retail were up 3.2% in the 22 weeks to Christmas Eve. Its mail order business, Next Directory, said sales increased by 6.8% compared with a year earlier. As a result, it [...]
A survey by GfK NOP for the European Commission has revealed a fall in consumer confidence for December. It was the second consecutive month that morale was low – the last time confidence fell for two consecutive months was in July 2008. The consumer confidence index fell from -17 in November to -19 in December [...]
The Government recently unveiled plans to crackdown on credit card and store companies, which will see a change in the order of priority for credit card repayments, so that the most expensive debts are paid off first. The proposals are being put out to consultation by the Department for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS). The [...]
The Government’s Car Allowance Rebate System (CARS), branded the “cash for clunkers” scheme, is believed to have contributed to the fall in US consumer spending, which fell for the first time in five months in September, and was the largest decline since December. According to the US Commerce Department, spending fell 0.5% in the month, [...]
Eurostat today announced that consumer prices fell in the euro zone in September by a faster rate than they had in the previous month. Furthermore, prices fell further than had been expected by economists after Eurostat said the inflation rate fell to -0.3% in the 12 months to September, from -0.2% in the year to [...]
Hopes of an early exit from the recession today boosted the US after the Commerce Department revealed that the world’s no.1 economy shrank at a far slower rate in the second quarter than previous estimates showed. According to the Commerce Department, the US economy contracted by 0.7% between the April and June period rather than [...]
Despite positive comments from Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke that the US recession is very likely over and President Barack Obama saying the economy is improving, it seems US consumers are not sharing their optimism after confidence fell unexpectedly in September. The closely-monitored Consumer Confidence Index from the Conference Board fell from a revised 54.5 [...]
According to the Recruitment and Employment Confederation and KPMG Report on Jobs, there is some good news for the UK jobs market . The index for firms’ hiring of permanent workers rose from 46.1 in July to 50.6 in August – tipping over the 50 mark which indicates growth. The report shows that for the [...]
The latest Nationwide Consumer Confidence index suggests that the worst of the recession is over after its index rose from 61 in July to 63 in August – the highest reading since May 2008. According to the Nationwide, all of its measures of confidence rose during August with consumers feeling more positive about the current [...]
After a recent run of good news in the US, the Conference Board has today revealed a dip in consumer confidence this month. The news came as a bit of a shock since the latest University of Michigan’s index of consumer sentiment rose from 68.7 in May to 70.8 in June – the highest level [...]
The University of Michigan’s index of consumer sentiment rose from 68.7 in May to 70.8 in June, raising hopes that the world‘s largest economy is picking up. June’s figure of 70.8 represents the highest level since February 2008 and is the fourth consecutive rise this year. Meanwhile, the Commerce Department reported that US consumer spending, [...]
In its latest Quarterly Bulletin, the Bank of England estimates that between 700,000 and 1.1 million UK homeowners are in negative equity. Negative equity occurs when the market value of a house is below the outstanding mortgage. With house prices falling by around 20% between autumn 2007 and spring 2009, the Bank estimates that between [...]
Consumer confidence is at a six month high, but remains fragile, Nationwide reported this week. Nationwide’s Consumer Confidence index hit 53 in May, up from a reading of 51 in April, and the highest reading since November. Just 6% of those polled by Nationwide said the current economic situation is good, although 28% believe the [...]
There is some good news for the world’s largest economy today after a survey revealed that US consumer confidence has risen to its highest level since September 2008 (at the time of the collapse of Lehman Brothers). The Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index rose from 40.8 in April up to 54.9 in May – far [...]
Phone fraudsters stealing bank card pins
Fraudsters using a phone scam to trick bank card holders into revealing their pin numbers stole £750,000 in the first four months of this year. This is the same amount stolen through this scam in the whole of last year. The fraudster telephones a bank customer, often someone elderly or vulnerable, telling them that their [...]
FSA rules out ban on interest-only mortgages
Speculation that the Financial Services Authority would ban interest-only mortgages as part of its Mortgage Market Review has proved to be unfounded. However, lenders will be required to monitor the performance of the investment product taken out by the customer to repay the mortgage at the end of its term. Investments are performing poorly because [...]
Bank of England may end free in-credit banking
A director of the Bank of England has warned that official intervention could be considered to end the ‘dangerous myth of free in-credit banking’. Andrew Bailey has already spoken out against free banking in relation to the mis-selling of financial products. In a speech made available to media, he reiterated his concern, saying that it [...]
Bank of England votes against more economic stimulus
The Bank of England voted against a further round of quantitative easing, at its latest Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting. Just one member, David Miles, voted for further asset purchase to encourage growth in the UK economy, while the other eight members voted to keep the Bank’s quantitative easing programme steady at £325bn. The minutes [...]
Catalogue debt growing says helpline
Calls from people concerned about their debts with mail order catalogues accounted for more than 12 per cent of all calls received by National Debtline last year, compared with just 8 per cent in 2007. More people were concerned about catalogue debt than about payday loans, mortgage or rent, according to the Money Advice Trust [...]
Homeserve faces mis-selling investigation
HomeServe, which provides emergency insurance cover and domestic repairs to households in the UK, is to be investigated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA). Issues over the possible mis-selling of household emergency policies were uncovered last October during an internal review at the Walsall-based company. Homeserve’s call centre staff were found to be selling ‘Complete [...]
OFT warns Wonga over debt collection methods
Payday loan company Wonga used aggressive and misleading methods to collect debts from customers, the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has found. Wonga sent letter and emails to certain customers suggesting they had committed fraud and threatening to report them to the police if they did not act in the way Wonga suggested. The company [...]
NS&I re-launches investment account
National Savings & Investments (NS&I) has re-launched its Investment Account at a higher interest rate than it previously offered. The account now offers 0.75 per cent before tax, compared with between 0.2 and 0.3 per cent previously, depending on the account balance. Deposits and withdrawals on the account can no longer be made at Post [...]
Rightmove reports property downsizing trend
Two in five property owners planning to sell in the next year are planning to ‘trade down’, compared with one in four who plan to ‘trade up’. A survey by property website Rightmove found that moving to a smaller home is the main reason for moving in nine out of the ten regions in the [...]
More people failing to save for retirement
The proportion of people with no pension savings has grown from 20 per cent to 22 per cent over the past year, according to Scottish Widows’ latest survey. The pension provider surveyed 5,200 adults in the UK, aged 30 or over, and earning at least £10,000 a year, for its annual review of pensions. Ian [...]
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