The European Automobile Manufacturers Association has today revealed registrations of new cars in Europe grew an annual 3.2% in February to 1,000,754 vehicles. However, a severe fall of 30% was noted in Germany as the country’s scrappage scheme expired, but the fall was offset by growth in Italy and the UK, which still have incentive [...]
Unemployed people across Europe will be given the opportunity to set up their own business with money from a new EU micro-loan fund. Up to 45,000 budding entrepreneurs could be helped by the initiative over the next eight years. The €100 million fund was announced this week by the European Union’s Employment and Social Affairs [...]
The Labor Department has today revealed that the US unemployment rate fell from 10% in December to 9.7% in January – its lowest level in five months. According to the Labor Department, employers cut 20,000 jobs last month – many analysts had predicted the economy to add jobs. US President Barack Obama has pledged to [...]
Debt concerns in Europe have resulted in heavy falls across Asian stock markets today with Japan’s Nikkei index fell nearly 3% and stock markets in Hong Kong, Korea and China experiencing heavy declines. The Nikkei fell almost 300 points to 10,057.1 – its lowest level in two months. Hong Kong‘s Hang Seng Index lost 592.31 [...]
The Centre for Retail Research (CRR), in a study commissioned by shopping comparison website Kelkoo, found that UK shoppers spent more online than anywhere else in Europe in 2009. The research showed that UK consumers spent £38 billion online last year (the equivalent of €1,240 (£1,070) per shopper) and accounted for almost a third of [...]
Swiss pharmaceuticals group, Novartis International, has started the New Year on a high with one of Europe’s largest ever takeovers. Novartis has agreed to take full control of Alcon, a leading maker of eye care products, in a deal worth $40 billion (£24.8 billion). Novartis bought 25% of eye care specialist Alcon, which is also [...]
The Santander Zero was recognised as one of Europe’s best credit cards at an awards ceremony in Paris this week. The Osgards, now in their fourth year, are awarded annually to the top credit card providers in Europe. Santander’s Zero credit card won first prize in the service category of the awards. It was one [...]
Britain’s debt problem is on a par with that being faced by many other countries, an economic expert has claimed. David Kern, economic adviser to the British Chamber of Commerce, said that while the UK’s deficit might be worse than other nations, its actual level of debt is far smaller. “Although the deficit is bigger, [...]
London’s FTSE 100 index closed up 57 points today at 5004.30 – the highest level since 3rd October 2008. Shares across Europe have also performed well, with France’s Cac 40 index gaining 1.3% and Germany’s Dax index rising 1.7%. In the US, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 63.94 points at 9,561.28 in late-morning [...]
US light crude hit $74.49 (£45) a barrel by afternoon in Europe today – after reaching $74.81, its highest intra-day price in ten months, on the back of increasing demand. Meanwhile, London’s Brent crude was 16 cents higher to $74.35 a barrel. This resulted in stock rising in BP, Royal Dutch Shell, BG Group and [...]
Lloyds TSB International this week launched its Bonus Saver Account aimed at British ex-pats and customers who make frequent cross-border transactions. The account offers no-penalty instant access, and is available in either euros or sterling. Savers can invest up to £1 million or €1 million. Sterling accounts with a balance of £5,000 or above benefit [...]
Profits at Nokia slid 66% in the second quarter on a 24% drop in net sales. Profit for the three months ending 30 June was €380 million (£330 million) on sales of €9.91 billion. The Finnish mobile phone maker remains optimistic despite the result, pointing out that on a quarter-by-quarter basis, profits increased 7% and [...]
A new EU-wide payments card is set to take on the duopoly of MasterCard and Visa. Currently at concept stage, and expected to launch in October, the card will simplify credit and debit payments within the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA). Payments on the card will not be charged cross-border fees. French and German banks, [...]
A number of low-cost airlines are flouting EU rules on automatically adding travel insurance when flights are booked. An investigation by consumer rights group Which? found that easyJet, Jet2 and Monarch continue to automatically add travel insurance policies at the time of booking. The cost of this extra insurance is between £7 and £10.49 per [...]
European Central Bank’s (ECB) president, Jean-Claude Trichet, is urging major economies not to implement any more stimulus packages by declaring that existing packages are “sufficient”. Stimulus packages have been implemented in many of the major economies throughout the world and are aimed at boosting economies. Mr Trichet said that the stimulus packages already in place [...]
Industrial orders in the euro zone have fallen by 34.5 percent compared to last year and fell at their fastest rate in over 13 years in February as the global economic slowdown has meant that the demand for factory equipment and metal work has fallen drastically. The European Union’s statistics office said today that the [...]
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has announced that the estimate of the losses across the world inflicted by banks as a result of the credit crunch is going to hit $4 trillion. This confirms the estimates that were first published in The Times, which is far larger than the initial forecast of less than $1 [...]
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the World Bank have all pledged today to invest €24.5 billion (£21.9 billion) into the banking sectors in Central and Eastern Europe. In particular, the funds are aimed at supporting small firms and helping them to survive the global economic downturn. [...]
Figures from the Federal Statistics Office have revealed Germany’s economy contracted by 2.1% in the fourth quarter of 2008 – its worst quarterly performance since German reunification in 1990. Germany, which is Europe’s largest economy, has been hit by a slump in manufacturing and the Federal Statistics Office said the contraction was led by a [...]
Official figures show that Germany, Europe’s largest economy, is now in recession after gross domestic product (GDP) fell by 0.5% in the third quarter. Figures from the Federal Statistics Office said that this is the second quarter in a row that the economy has contracted after a 0.4% fall in the second quarter. A country [...]
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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