Manufacturing activity in China eased last month, two separate surveys have revealed today. Firstly, the official China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing (CFLP) said its purchasing managers index (PMI) dipped to 52 in May from 52.9 in April. While the reading was better than expectations of 51.6, it represented the lowest for nine months. Secondly, [...]
Two former directors of the collapsed foreign exchange company, Crown Currency Exchange, Peter Benstead and Edward James, were arrested and have been questioned in connection with the failure of the company. However, police have said the two men have since been released on bail until July next year. The two men have been named as [...]
Manufacturing activity in China continued to improve in October, two separate surveys showed today. Firstly, a survey released by the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing (CFLP) showed the manufacturing activity index rose to 54.7 in October from 53.8 in September. The reading beat forecasts of a level of 52.9. A separate survey from HSBC [...]
Manufacturing activity in China improved in September, two separate surveys showed today. Firstly, the HSBC China Manufacturing purchasing managers index (PMI) edged higher to 52.9 in September, from 51.9 in August, due to growth in production and new orders. In the meantime, a separate survey released by the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing (CFLP) [...]
Northern Rock Asset Management (NRAM), the so-called bad bank, has today reported it has returned to profit. The crisis-torn bank, which was the first victim of the credit crunch, said pre-tax profit for the first six months to the end of June were £349.7 million, compared with a loss of £724.2 million a year earlier. [...]
Greece’s two main unions have called a fresh general strike for July 8 to protest against tough austerity measures, introduced by the Government to trim the country’s budget deficit. Should the strike go ahead, it will be the country’s 6th since February. However, some of the protests have been violent. Last week’s strike saw seven [...]
It was recently confirmed that crisis-torn Northern Rock would be split into two, after receiving the necessary approval from the European Union (EU). 1 January 2010 is the date that has been agreed for the Rock to be split into two divisions – a “good bank” of profitable assets and “bad bank” of toxic debts. The [...]
Crisis-torn Northern Rock is to be split into two, after receiving the necessary approval from the European Union (EU). Northern Rock collapsed at the onset of the credit crunch in autumn 2007 after savers staged a nationwide run on the bank. It was then nationalised in February 2008. The plan is for bank to be [...]
The Government announced earlier this year it was planning to split nationalised Northern Rock into two divisions – a deposit bank and a mortgage platform. However, the proposals have met with criticism from the Building Societies Association (BSA) saying that the split would put building societies at a big disadvantage. Northern Rock collapsed at the [...]
Nationalised Northern Rock is to be split into two divisions – a deposit bank and a mortgage platform. The crisis-torn bank collapsed at the onset of the credit crunch in autumn 2007 after savers staged a nationwide run on the bank. It was then nationalised in February 2008. However, following European Union (EU) approval, it [...]
A Government scheme to aid families in England under threat of repossession has helped only two households since its launch in January. According to the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG), the £285 million package of measures is “designed to prevent some of the most vulnerable families losing their homes and experiencing the trauma [...]
Swiss banking giant, UBS, has reported a full-year loss of SwFr19.7 billion (£11.3 billion) following a turbulent year in the banking industry. Furthermore, the bank, which is Switzerland’s largest, reported a fourth quarter loss of SwFr8.1 billion. UBS said it plans to refocus on its domestic market after a turbulent year overseas and is to [...]
Official figures have confirmed today that the UK is in recession after Gross Domestic Product fell by 1.5% in the fourth quarter of last year, following a 0.6% contraction in the three months prior to that. This represents the biggest quarter-on-quarter fall since 1980. Neil Mackinnon, chief economist at ECU Group, described the GDP figures [...]
US banking giant Citigroup has today announced a worse-than-expected fourth quarter net loss of $8.29 billion (£5.6 billion) and said it plans to split the firm into two separate businesses to restore profitability. The bank’s net loss for the last quarter of 2008 works out at $1.72 per share, far worse than most analysts’ forecasts [...]
Coventry Building Society has extended its offering of fixed-rate mortgages. The range of home loans now provided by the UK’s fourth-largest building society includes three and five-year fixes at 5.99%. The maximum loan-to-value ratio on both is 75% and no early repayment charges apply. Customers can also benefit from a free valuation and free remortgage [...]
Nationwide is cutting the cost of some of its fixed-rate mortgages from Friday of this week. The building society, which is the UK’s third-largest mortgage lender, will be reducing rates on some of its two and five-year fixed-rate deals by up to 0.30%. In the case of two-year fixes, rates will fall to between 5.95% [...]
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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