Thailand, which is south-east Asia’s second largest economy, has grown for a second consecutive quarter, according to official figures. The Thai economy grew by 1.3% in the third quarter from the second quarter when the economy grew by 2.2%, meaning the economy has officially exited recession. However, the 1.3% was far less than the growth [...]
Jean-Claude Trichet, President of the European Central Bank (ECB), has said liquidity measures will be scaled back in order to ensure it doesn’t fuel inflation. Currently the inflation rate within the 16 nations that use the euro is 0.5% but at the start of the summer, inflation turned negative for the first time, declining to [...]
Japan’s economy grew by 1.2% in the third quarter confirming that it has officially exited recession. The news comes just a few days after France and Germany’s economies also experienced positive growth in the third quarter, while it was confirmed on Friday that the euro zone had emerged from recession in the third quarter. The [...]
Official figures have today revealed that the euro zone economy experienced positive growth of 0.4% in the third quarter, and therefore exiting from recession. The 16 nations that use the euro was boosted by strong growth in Germany, and joins other major economies, such as the US and Japan, which have also exited recession. However, [...]
France’s economy grew by 0.3% in the third quarter confirming that it has officially exited recession. French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde told Europe 1 radio that the economy would shrink in 2009 but enter 2010 “with elan”. France, along with Germany and Japan, also experienced positive growth in the second quarter, with them all “unofficially” [...]
Statistics body Rosstat has today announced that Russia’s economy expanded by 13.9% in the third quarter compared with the second quarter. However, when compared with the same period a year ago, the Russian economy contracted by 8.9%. The economy, which is heavily reliant on oil exports, has suffered from a severe downturn but the latest [...]
The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) has cut its forecast for the number of repossessions in 2009 to 48,000. The estimate is substantially down on earlier forecasts of 75,000 in 2008 and 65,000 in June of this year, and the body says the improvement reflects “lender forbearance, government measures and the beneficial effect of continuing [...]
The global economic downturn has forced many airlines out of business as fewer people are travelling by air and Irish airline, Aer Lingus, is no exception. According to the carrier, long-haul numbers plummeted 13% in the three months to September with sales falling by 9.7% in the same period. However, the number of short-haul passengers [...]
Berkshire Hathaway, the investment group controlled by respected US billionaire investor, Warren Buffett, has recovered from its poor performance in 2008 and announced a surge in net profit. The group said net profit was $3.2 billion (£1.9 billion) in the three months to September, compared to $1.1 billion in the same period a year earlier. [...]
Figures from the Insolvency Service have revealed that personal insolvencies were up 28% in the third quarter of 2009 compared with the same period a year ago. There were 35,242 personal insolvencies in the period – a 6.6% increase on the second quarter. However, the number of businesses declared bankrupt declined, with 4,716 company liquidations, [...]
Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has today posted a £1.5 billion operating loss for the third quarter – down 60% compared with the second quarter. The bank, which is now 84% owned by the taxpayers after receiving an additional £33.5 billion in state funding this week, has written off a further £3.3 billion in bad [...]
Europe’s third largest oil company, Total, has posted a 54% drop in third quarter net profits due to weaker oil prices. In the three months to September, the French oil giant’s profits were €1.9 billion (£1.7 billion), compared with €4.1 billion in the same period a year ago. However, this was slightly ahead of the [...]
China’s economy continues to show impressive strength after figures show that the manufacturing sector expanded in October at its fastest rate in 18 months. The purchasing managers index (PMI) from the state-sanctioned China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing rose to a seasonally adjusted 55.2 in October, up from 54.3 the previous month, Any figure above [...]
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, [...]
Exxon Mobil is the latest oil giant to report its third quarter profits and has announced a 68% fall in net profit to $4.73 billion, compared with $14.8 billion a year ago. Exxon, which is the world’s largest oil company, has been hit by weaker oil prices. Although oil prices have increased recently to around [...]
Official figures today have revealed that the US economy expanded at an annualised rate of 3.5% between the July and September period, suggesting that the economy has exited its worst recession in 70 years. The figures have come as no surprise after many economists had expected that the economy would experience positive growth in the [...]
Royal Dutch Shell has today posted a 73% fall in profits for the July to September period. The Anglo-Dutch oil giant warned that the outlook remains “very uncertain” and according to The Times, is to eliminate 5,000 positions, around 10% of its workforce. The group said its cost-cutting exercise means that 5,000 staff would leave [...]
Figures due at 1230 GMT will reveal if the US economy has exited recession. The US entered the current recession in late 2007 and many analysts believe the world’s largest economy will have exited recession by experiencing positive growth of 3% in the third quarter (according to David Buik at BGC Partners). However, there are [...]
Oil giant BP has announced a sharp fall in quarterly profits due to lower oil prices. Although oil prices have increased recently to around the $80 a barrel mark, prices are still way off the peak of $147 set in July 2008. BP said third quarter profits were $4.98 billion (£3 billion) – down 50% [...]
Caterpillar, which is the world’s largest construction and mining equipment maker, said today it is to eliminate 2,500 US jobs. However, the construction giant highlighted that signs of economic recovery has meant it has rehired more than 500 workers that it had previously laid off. The 2,500 staff who are losing their jobs had previously [...]
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 [...]
About | Privacy | Disclaimer | Resources | XML Feeds | Press Releases | Directory | Contact us
