Syrian parliament invokes strange Shakespearean allegory in letter to UK MPs August 29, 2013 (Salanio and Salarino encounter Shylock) The Syrian parliament appears to have dropped a reference to Shakespeare's "The Merchant of Venice" in a letter to UK MPs. In the second paragraph of a document obtained by Sky News, Mohammad Jihad al-Laham, speaker of the people's assembly of Syria, writes: We write to you as fathers and [...]
Indian trade minister suggests monetising gold to offset current account deficit August 29, 2013 Indian minister for commerce and industry Anand Sharma has said the country’s central bank should look into the possibility of monetising its gold to counter the huge current account deficit hitting the rupee hard. It’s not clear whether he was referring to the 557.7 tonnes of gold held in the Reserve Bank of India, or [...]
Recruiter Hays says conditions remain challenging in UK banking and finance August 29, 2013 One of the UK’s largest recruitment companies Hays has reported a three per cent drop in pre-tax profits and a six per cent drop in earnings per share for the year ended June 2013, as strong growth in Europe fails to offset difficult market conditions in Australia. The group added that conditions in UK banking [...]
69,000 fall in immigration poses threat to UK’s fiscal position August 29, 2013 The latest quarterly migration statistics report shows a marked decrease in immigration, falling by 69,000 to 497,000 in the year ending December 2012 (release). Study became the most common reason for migrating to UK in 2009, overtaking work related reasons. Just 180,000 arrived for formal study last year, as foreign student numbers continue the decline [...]
European Commission to accelerate decision on Greek bailout August 29, 2013 The European Commission’s head of economic and monetary affairs Olli Rehn has said that the necessity of a third bailout for Greece could be decided as soon as next month, saying international lenders will “intensify” work on this from September onwards. He told journalists that the European Union, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund [...]
ECB’s Nowotny says central banks shouldn’t intervene in currency markets August 29, 2013 The European Central Bank's (ECB) Ewald Nowotny has said that central banks shouldn't intervene in foreign exchange markets, apart from the Swiss. Apparently the Swiss interventions were justified and exceptional. Nowotny said that liquidity from the ECB can only be provided to already solvent banks. This is likely to allay fears that taxpayers will have [...]
Bumi’s losses narrow August 29, 2013 Mining group Bumi has reported a 25 per cent fall in pre-tax losses and a 57 per cent fall in basic losses per share (release). Pre-tax losses fell to $85m from $113m in the same period the year before. Basic losses per share fell to 31 cents from 72 cents. Production rose by 19 per [...]
Pre-election German unemployment sees surprise jump August 29, 2013 German unemployment has risen by 7,000 in August, despite economist estimates of a 5,000 drop. That sees the unemployment rate unchanged at 6.8 per cent. Last month German unemployment saw its second consecutive reduction as it fell by 7,000. This is the last Germans jobs number we'll see before the coming election. Christian Schulz, senior [...]
WPP profits rise but concerns linger about “grey swan” events August 29, 2013 Advertising agency WPP has seen pre tax profits rise by 19.4 per cent to £524m in the first half of 2013, but concerns for the future remain, and WPP's "operating companies remain cautious" (release). Yet again the firm's management refer to the chance of "grey swan" events. Here are the four they have in mind: [...]
Serco reports fall in profits and vows to work with government over overcharging allegations August 29, 2013 Outsourcing group Serco has reported a 2.6 per cent fall in pre-tax profits and an 11.2 per cent fall in earnings per share in the first half of the yar. Pre-tax profits fell to £106.1m from £108.9m, while basic earnings per share fell to 17.19p from 19.35p. Serco, which makes around 45 per cent of [...]