Official figures have revealed the world’s largest economy continued its strong recovery after annualised growth of 3.2% was recorded in the first three months of 2010, according to the US Commerce Department. However, the figure is the first of three estimates and could be revised up or down in the next few months. The figures [...]
Banking giant, Lloyds Banking Group, has said it will return to profitability in 2010. Last month the bank, which is 41% owned by the taxpayer, posted a full-year loss of £6.3 billion. It was hit by bad debts following the acquisition of HBOS, which it took over at the height of the financial crisis in [...]
A strong performance at discount clothing retailer Primark has boosted parent group, Associated British Foods (ABF), which today reported an 8% rise in sales in the past six months. According to ABF, like-for-like sales at its 196-strong Primark chain, which strip out the impact of new stores, were boosted by “exceptionally strong performance” from the [...]
The Commerce Department has revealed a better-than-expected 0.5% rise in January retail sales compared with the previous month, suggesting a strong economic recovery. The figures follow on from the 0.1% fall in December but on an annual basis, sales were up by 4.7%. Retail sales are closely monitored because consumer spending makes up for more [...]
Official figures have revealed further evidence of a strong recovery within India’s economy after industrial output surged by 16.8% in December compared with a year earlier – beating analysts expectations. According to analysts, the Government is likely to withdraw its stimulus measures as a result of the strong performance. The country’s central bank has injected [...]
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed UK factory output grew more than expected in December, boosting hopes of an upward revision to the initial estimate of fourth quarter GDP figures. According to the ONS, output increased by 0.9% in December after strong gains in the transport, paper and publishing and electrical and optical equipment [...]
The Indian Government has today announced that the economy is expected to expand 7.2% in the year to the end of March. The economy is making a strong recovery and expanded at an annual pace of 7.9% in the three months to the end of September, after growing 6.7% in the year to the end [...]
Supermarket giant Morrisons has beat its rivals by announcing strong Christmas trading results. The Bradford-based retailer said like-for-like sales in the six weeks to January 3 rose by 6.5%. Meanwhile, total sales grew 11.2% as the supermarket attracted a record number of customers and the strong festive performance resulted in Morrisons increasing its market share [...]
Fashion and homewares chain Matalan has joined other major retailers by posting strong Christmas sales. The retailer, which is traditionally based in out-of-town locations, said like-for-like sales for the 13 week period ending 2 January grew 9.3%, with like-for-like sales for the five weeks over Christmas and the New Year up 13.7%. The chain, which [...]
The British Retail Consortium (BRC) has today announced that the High Street experienced the strongest December for eight years, boosting hopes that the UK economy will have emerged from recession in the fourth quarter. According to the BRC, like-for-like sales grew 4.2% by value during December as last-minute Christmas shoppers boosted sales. However, the BRC [...]
Peacocks, which operates more than 500 fashion stores across the UK, posted a 17% rise in like-for-like sales on last year’s levels in December and early January. Richard Kirk, chief executive, said it had experienced a “cracking Christmas as customers decided they were going to celebrate after a year of doom and gloom”. Meanwhile, the [...]
Naoto Kan, Japan’s newly appointed finance minister, is calling for a weaker yen after the Japanese currency continues to gain strength against the US dollar. While a strong yen is good news for the economy, it makes Japanese exports less competitive – but means imports are more affordable to Japanese consumers. Exports are a key [...]
Supermarket giant has today reported that overall sales rose by 8.8% (including petrol) over the last three months. Excluding petrol, sales were up 7.7%. Tesco, which has a 30% share of the UK’s grocery market, said sales are up as a result of its double points Clubcard promotion and heavy discounting. The retail said that [...]
The Bank of Japan (BOJ) has elected to keep interest rates on hold at 0.1% and said it’s possible that a stronger yen will support the economy in the long-term. Since June, the yen has climbed 6.7% against the dollar. Following the two day policy meeting, the central bank also upgraded its assessment of the [...]
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has today revealed a rise in UK retail sales for the month of July. According to the ONS, retail sales rose 0.4% in July when compared with the previous month, while on an annual basis, the gain was 3.3% – the best performance since May 2008. Many analysts had [...]
US internet search company Google has exceeded market expectations by reporting strong second quarterly results, despite the economic turmoil. The company reported profit of $1.4 billion (£851 million) compared with $1.25 billion in the same quarter a year ago. Meanwhile, revenue rose 3% for the period at $5.52 billion with 53% from outside the US. [...]
Supermarket giant Tesco has posted a 4.3% rise in quarterly sales and said it has made a “solid” start to its financial year. While the rise in sales was better than its 3.7% growth in the previous quarter, it was still lower than its major rivals. Sales growth for the three month period to the [...]
HSBC, which is Europe’s largest bank, said shareholders have bought 96.6% of the new shares offered in its £12.5 billion rights issue – the largest ever held in Britain. The shares were offered at £2.54 each – a heavily discounted price from Friday’s close of £4.35 each. The remaining shares are expected to be sold [...]
New analysis from Tokyo Shoko Research has revealed a 15.8% rise in corporate bankruptcies in Japan, compared with the previous year. For the year to 31 March, the number of bankruptcies among listed companies in Japan hit a record high for any financial year since the Second World War, according to Tokyo Shoko Research. The [...]
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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