Cineworld may be forced to sell off cinemas August 20, 2013 Cineworld may be forced to sell off cinemas in three areas after regulators deemed a merger with Picturehouse operator City Screen Limited could reduce competition in some areas. Shares in Cineworld have fallen nearly three per cent – but not enough to offset gains resulting from soaring profits in its first half report. The Competition [...]
BT confirms chief executive handover date August 20, 2013 BT has confirmed the leaving date for current chief executive Ian Livingstone as 10 September 2013 following a board meeting scheduled for that day. Gavin Patterson, whose appointment was announced on 19 June this year, will immediately succeed Livingstone as head of the company. Patterson has served as chief executive of BT Retail and as [...]
Eurozone construction output improves in June August 20, 2013 Eurozone construction output has seen a good print today, up 0.7 per cent in June. There were also hefty revisions to the last month's figure, up from -0.3 per cent to 0.5 per cent growth. Despite two months of good news after revisions, the sector as a whole has contracted by three per cent in [...]
City bonuses fall one per cent as national average rises August 20, 2013 The amount paid out in bonuses to British workers in 2012/13 rose by one per cent to £36.9bn compared with the year before, according to data from the Office for National Statistics. The average bonus per employee in the period was 2012/13. Professionals working in finance and insurance earned the highest average bonus at £11,900 [...]
Adoptions up nearly 10 per cent in just one year August 20, 2013 Adoptions are up 9.8 per cent in just one year according to the Office for National Statistics (release). The number rose from 4,740 in 2011 to 5,206 in 2012. Outside of marriage adoptions were up from 82 per cent to 85 per cent in the same period, with most of those adopted in 2012 (63 [...]
Citi cuts its year-end forecast for India’s stock exchange nearly ten per cent August 20, 2013 Source: Yahoo Citi Bank has cut its year-end forecast for India’s Sensex stock exchange by nearly ten per cent, to 18,900 from 20,800. The index currently stands at around 18,297. Citi downgraded Indian banks to neutral, but upgraded pharma, telecom, energy and IT sectors to "overweight". JP Morgan has also downgraded Indian shares to "neutral" [...]
BHP optimistic for the longer term outlook as profits fall August 20, 2013 Mining giant BHP Billiton has reported a 15 per cent fall in profit and a 30 per cent fall in earnings per share for the first half of the year (release). Earnings per share fell to 204.4 cents (130.6p) from 289.6 cents – less than half the 429.1 cents reported in 2011. In the face [...]
French finance minister is aiming for full employment in 10 years August 20, 2013 French finance minister Pierre Moscovici says that he's now aiming for France to hit full employment in 10 years, and that France is leading Europe out of the recession. French GDP rose unexpectedly in the second quarter of 2013 but to say that the country is leading Europe is still a very strong claim. The [...]
Before the open – 20/08 August 20, 2013 The UK's leading FTSE index is expected to open lower this morning as US equities see their first four day losing streak of 2013. The losses saw Asian markets down overnight with the Nikkei closing down 2.63 per cent. ETX Capital #morningcall: FTSE100 down 33 points, the DAX lower by 37 points and the CAC40 [...]
Glencore Xstrata drags on FTSE as merger costs exceed expectations August 20, 2013 Newly formed megaminer Glencore Xstrata has announced a $7.6bn (£4.9bn) post-merger writedown (release). That number is at the top of the consensus range. The firm said that the May merger meant that "little synergy benefits" have been recognised in the first half of the year, but these are "now flowing strongly". Mike van Dulken, Head [...]