Deficit reduction target at risk as George Osborne borrows £11.6bn in August despite rise in tax revenues September 23, 2014 The UK government had to borrow £11.6bn in August as it failed to slash the budget deficit, putting chancellor George Osborne’s borrowing targets for the year at risk. In his March statement, Osborne aimed to cut £10bn off government borrowing in 2014-15, compared to the year before. But new figures from the Office for National [...]
Barclays’ Antony Jenkins needs to perform soon – Bottom Line September 23, 2014 Another day, and another fine for Barclays. The FCA’s £38m fine on the bank for failing to protect its clients from the risk of loss will not substantially weaken Barclays financially. Nor will it impact on the authority of chief executive Antony Jenkins since the failings occurred before his appointment. Jenkins, however, must be feeling [...]
As the public finances deteriorated in August, has Osborne given up on tackling the deficit? September 23, 2014 Scott Corfe, senior economist at the Centre for Economics and Business Research, says Yes. One of the great myths of the current parliament is that it has been dominated by austerity. The figures show that this clearly isn’t the case. The government is struggling to get the deficit down. Borrowing in the fiscal year to [...]
Obama and US Treasury announce new rules to end tax inversion deals September 23, 2014 US president Barack Obama has announced sweeping new measures to end the increasingly popular practice of US firms relocating their headquarters to countries with more favourable tax regimes through foreign takeovers. The US Treasury will introduce new measures making so-called tax inversion deals less attractive to firms. Measures include an end to “hopscotch” loans whereby [...]
Tesco profits crisis: Dave Lewis must do “whatever it takes”, says shareholder September 22, 2014 Tesco could be forced to raise cash by way of a rights issue or by speeding up the sale of its UK and overseas assets, as the troubled supermarket chain launched a probe yesterday into a £250m black hole in its accounts. The debacle prompted a profits warning, which puts Tesco on course for trading [...]
Draghi hits out at Eurozone’s lack of reform September 22, 2014 EUROPE’S sick economies need massive structural reforms if they ever hope to become competitive once more, European Central Bank (ECB) boss Mario Draghi urged yesterday. “Courageous structural reforms and improvements in the competitiveness of the corporate sector are key to improving the business environment,” Draghi told the European Parliament’s economic and monetary affairs committee. “This [...]
Mario Draghi speech: ECB president hints at use of more unconventional instruments in fight against low inflation September 22, 2014 The euro has fallen against the dollar after a doveish Draghi spoke before the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs of the European Parliament. Consumer confidence for the single currency bloc was underwhelming at -11.4, falling short of an already bearish consensus of -10.75. In his speech the president of the European Central Bank (ECB) indicated [...]
Tesco overstated profit estimates by £250m prompting “comprehensive independent investigation” says chief Dave Lewis September 22, 2014 Tesco has warned investors that its profit outlook for the half year to August has been overstated by £250m. In its previous trading update on 29 August in which it issued a profit warning, the troubled supermarket expected half year results to be “in the region of £1.1bn”. However Tesco warned today it had identified [...]
Chuka Umunna: More power for London and the regions – but not for me September 21, 2014 The shadow business secretary has been hailed as his party’s next big thing so many times the joke is starting to wear a little thin. Chuka Umunna scoffs at the suggestion that shadow chancellor Ed Balls could be shuffled out before the general election, making way for him to step up. “There will be no [...]
London Report: Stocks brush off referendum and get a lift from ECB September 18, 2014 LONDON traders yesterday set aside concerns over the Scottish referendum result and reacted positively to European Central Bank moves to strengthen Eurozone lenders. The blue-chip FTSE 100 closed up 38.39 points, or 0.57 per cent, at 6,819.29 points. Low-cost airline EasyJet’s shares rose 0.45 per cent to 1,344p after it announced that it would increase its [...]