The US trade deficit swelled in January to a seven month high of $46.3 billion (£28.8 billion) – much higher than expected. The widening was attributed to higher prices for imported oil, the Commerce Department reported today. Imports continued to surge – rising for the fourth consecutive month in January by 5.2% on a monthly [...]
It has been revealed that Bob Diamond, chief executive of Barclays, will be awarded a bonus of £6.5 million for the 2010 year. While the figure is lower than a reported bonus of £9 million, Mr Diamond, who was appointed chief executive earlier this year, is already paid a £250,000 annual salary. The bonus and [...]
Music, books, DVDs and games retailer, HMV, has watched its shares plummet 20% today after the firm issued another profits warning. It also revealed it would currently fail to meet the conditions of its loan agreements in April. The retailer, which also owns Waterstone’s bookshops, in January said it was struggling to meet the terms [...]
HSBC has today posted pre-tax profits of $19 billion (£11.8 billion) for the 2010 year, compared with $7.1 billion for the 2009 year. While the banking giant saw profits double, the results disappointed investors as they were slightly below the $20 billion analysts had expected. Shares in the bank were up 2% prior to the [...]
US banking giant Morgan Stanley has today announced fourth quarter profits surged by 60% – in line with forecasts. The Wall Street bank said net profit came in at $600 million (£375 million) for the final three months of 2010, against a profit of $376 million a year ago. Shares in the bank were up [...]
US banking giant Goldman Sachs has today reported a $2.39 billion (£1.49 billion) profit for the fourth quarter, 53% lower compared with a year ago. However, the figures were roughly in line with expectations but shares still fell 3.1% to $169.22 in pre-market trading. The fourth quarter figures come at the end of a difficult [...]
Music, books, DVDs and games retailer, HMV, has been dealt a further blow today after credit insurers have reduced the cover they are prepared to give to suppliers of the firm. The news sent its shares down more than 11% in early trading to 23.25p. In a statement today, HMV said: “Credit insurers are reviewing [...]
US banking giant Citigroup has today reported a $1.3 billion (£811 million) profit for the fourth quarter of 2010, against a loss of $7.6 billion loss a year earlier. Meanwhile, revenue surged to $18.4 billion, from $5.4 billion in the same period a year ago but were 11% lower compared with the third quarter. However, [...]
Beleaguered oil giant BP saw it shares surge 6% today after speculation mounts that rival Royal Dutch Shell is considering a takeover bid. Shares in the firm closed at 492.90p on London’s FTSE 100 – which, incidentally, closed at just above the key 6,000 mark – its highest level since June 2008. Meanwhile, Shell has [...]
Economists have today warned that the big freeze could hit the UK economy, impacting negatively on growth. In particular, retailers have been badly affected this weekend by a lack of shoppers, who opted to stay home due to the snow and ice. This weekend should have been the busiest of the year for retailers but [...]
The UK’s FTSE 100 index dropped to a 6-week low today as the euro zone debt crisis continues to weigh heavily on investors minds, despite the imminent bailout for Ireland. The index lost 36 points to 5,644.48 by 8:57 am after earlier falling to 5,614.65 – its lowest since the beginning of October. So far [...]
Budget airline easyJet has today said profits have been boosted by a rise in passenger volumes and the group said it will pay its first ever dividend in 2012. The no-frills airline said passenger numbers grew 8% in the full-year to the end of September to 49 million, while profits totalled £154 million in the [...]
The former “Celtic Tiger” economy is sending jitters throughout the euro zone today after borrowing costs surged to record highs. Rumours of financial aid for the economy increased and come just months after Greece’s debt crisis. However, claims that Ireland will have to turn to the EU rescue fund have been denied but developments are [...]
Rolls-Royce, which has seen its shares plunge over the last few days, has said it has made progress in its investigation into the cause of the engine failure on the Qantas fleet of Airbus A380s. In a statement, the firm said: “It is now clear this incident is specific to the Trent 900 engine.” The [...]
Shares in Rolls-Royce fell again this morning after the cause of the engine failure on last week’s Qantas flight remains unclear. Qantas today said it had found oil leaks in engines made by Rolls-Royce after the Australian airline had to make an emergency landing last Thursday. The plane was forced to turn back to Singapore [...]
It has been revealed that Exeter-based Rok Plc, the building and social housing repairs company, has entered administration. The news comes just two months after Connaught, the social housing maintenance group, called in the administrators after failing to secure funding to pay off a mountain of debt, leading to 1,400 job losses. Meanwhile Rok, which [...]
Banking giant Barclays is understood to be exploring a number of options that would boost its capital reserves, in order to meet new Basel III regulations. The Basel III rules recently agreed banks need to look to capitalise around 7% and Barclays is rumoured to be issuing a special bond that would enable it boost [...]
It has been announced today that high street travel agents, Thomas Cook and the Co-operative Group, are to merge their chain of travel agents. However, the deal will bring “inevitable“ job losses due to overlap within the two companies. The transaction will create a 1,200-branch network and will save more than £35 million a year [...]
Tui Travel has provided an encouraging update today, providing a boost to investors with a 4.2% rise in its share price following the announcement. The company, which is the owner of Thomson, said UK bookings had risen by 5%, while the Nordic region experienced a 16% increase. The company said it had benefited from the [...]
Global stock markets have lost ground today after worse-than-expected weekly jobless numbers from the US yesterday. Furthermore, Tokyo shares were down as speculation mounted that the Bank of Japan would hold an emergency meeting to discuss the strength of its currency, the yen. The yen has hit a 15-month high against the dollar – fuelling [...]
M&S Money launches 3% cash ISA
M&S Money has launched an Advantage Cash ISA paying 3 per cent, and which allows transfers in from other ISAs. It can be opened with a minimum deposit of £100 lump sum followed by minimum monthly deposits of £25. The 3% rate is variable, but there is no short-term bonus so the return won’t plummet [...]
Google suspends UK Compare Mortgages site
Google has closed its UK mortgage comparison site which it launched in July last year, after it proved to be less popular than expected. Mortgage comparison sites are designed to allow visitors to compare mortgages quickly and easily without having to visit each lender’s individual site. Google was competing with several well-established comparison sites, including [...]
AA launches ‘black-box’ policy for young drivers
The AA is launching an innovative car insurance policy called Drivesafe which could help younger drivers save up to £850 a year. Younger drivers already pay substantially higher premiums than other motorists and these costs are increasing. A new study by Confused.com suggests insurance costs for younger driver have gone up by 5.7 per cent [...]
ATOL scheme updated to protect online bookers
ATOL, a financial protection scheme managed by the Civil Aviation Authority, is being extended to protect up to six million more holidays a year. The scheme ensures that holiday makers do not lose out financially if a travel company collapses, and that they are not stranded abroad. An increase in the number of holidays booked [...]
Home repossessions lowest for four years
The number of UK homes repossessed fell to 36,200 in 2011, significantly below the Council of Mortgage Lenders’ forecast of 40,000, and lower than 2010 when 37,100 homes were repossessed. With interest rates remaining low and lenders adopting a sympathetic attitude to customers in financial difficulty, repossessions fell to their lowest level since 2007. However, [...]
Monthly pay lasting just 17 days
Workers are running out of money just 17 days after receiving their monthly pay, according to new research by the Halifax bank. This means that the average UK worker spends half the month worrying about money. The study, based on the responses of more than 2,000 adults, found that 10 per cent of workers start [...]
Women disadvantaged by auto-enrolment changes
Government proposals to increase the auto-enrolment threshold to £10,000 could put 1.8 million women at risk of missing out on a pension, the TUC has warned. Under the auto-enrolment scheme, which will be phased in from October, private sector employers will automatically enrol workers between the age of 22 years and the state pension age, [...]
Emergency household repairs company Homeserve is taking longer than expected to get back on track after its operations were suspended last October. The company expected customer numbers to fall by 5% this year but it has increased this estimate to 8% and announced the loss of 200 jobs. It estimates that renewal revenue in 2013 [...]
Sale rumoured for Yorkshire and Clydesdale banks
There is growing speculation that National Australia Bank (NAB) may sell Yorkshire Bank and Clydesdale Bank after the Australian parent company announced a strategic review of the two banks’ operations. The Australian economy is performing well and NAB reported strong profits for the final quarter of 2011 but with the UK economy at a virtual [...]
More women experiencing debt difficulties
Women in Debt, which offers female-focused debt advice, has warned that the number of UK women facing serious debt has grown significantly over recent years. The organisation believes that more women will need advice on solving debt problems in the future because they are building up an unsustainable level of indebtedness. Women in Debt’s director, [...]
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