Business briefs: Moneysupermarket | Aga | Wal-Mart | Stanley Gibbons
PRICE comparison website Moneysupermarket expects to deliver a 26 per cent increase in profits for the full year, boosted by last year’s acquisition of Moneysavingexpert.The firm said underlying...
View ArticleTods Murray to ‘bounce back’ after profit and fees take hit
TODS Murray, the mid-tier Scottish law firm, said it is returning to growth after suffering a sharp fall in profit and fee income caused by the downturn in activity.The slump in corporate work left the...
View ArticleSantander chief predicts rebound
THE chairman of banking giant Santander has said he expects profits to rebound in 2013 after provisions for home loan defaults in Spain peak.In an interview with the Banker, Emilio Botin said the...
View Article‘Disappointing’ Tullow output misses targets
PRODUCTION at Tullow Oil, the Africa-focused explorer, has fallen short of City forecasts following problems in the North Sea.The group also said its full-year results, due to be published next month,...
View ArticleMixed news for lamb producers
There was both good and bad news for British lamb producers yesterday, with news that a major retailer is expanding its commitment to British lamb offset by the threatened closure of one of the largest...
View ArticleFreight companies face 25% hike in costs to pay for track wear and tear
Rail freight operators will see their average charges jump by almost a quarter to help meet the costs of wear and tear on train tracks, under plans unveiled by the industry regulator.The Office of Rail...
View ArticleFoundOcean seals £4.4m wind farm grouting deal
GROUTING firm FoundOcean yesterday won a £4.4 million contract to protect the bases for 108 turbines in the West of Duddon Sands offshore wind farm being built by Dong Energy and ScottishPower in the...
View ArticleSlew of weak numbers stoke triple-dip recession concerns
WEAK industrial output figures and a sharp fall in construction yesterday added to fears that the UK economy slipped back into the red in the closing months of 2012.Official data showed industrial...
View ArticleAuditors claim Harvie firms overstated property values
AUDITORS have accused the directors of companies owned by former Tory donor Sir Jack Harvie of over-valuing their property portfolio.The auditors claim that the directors of both CBC Group and its...
View ArticlePension firms agree to disclose more details on work schemes
MAJOR pension providers have pledged to disclose charges and costs more clearly and consistently to people in workplace pension schemes.The members of the Association of British Insurers (ABI),...
View ArticleComment: RBS may seal Libor deal but more is to come
CHRISTMAS is over and it’s back to normal with yet another round in the banking scandal.Royal Bank of Scotland is bargaining with the City watchdog, the Financial Services Authority (FSA), and US...
View ArticleFlood of complaints over Sepa action
The legacy of last year, with flooded crops and saturated land, burst out this week, with farmers accusing the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) of contributing to their problems through...
View ArticleMatheson’s pay falls at Brewin
Brewin Dolphin executive chairman Jamie Matheson saw his total pay package fall 13 per cent last year, despite profits surging by more than a third thanks to benign markets and firm customer demand.The...
View ArticleLobbyist Ryan set to leave Lloyds
Wall Street lobbyist Tim Ryan is to leave the board of Lloyds Banking Group after taking up the top regulatory role at JP Morgan Chase.Ryan, who has been president and chief executive of the Securities...
View ArticleBanks help market end on high note
A LATE rally helped Britain’s top share index build on its four-year high as a well-subscribed Italian bond auction played down the danger of a eurozone meltdown.Matt Basi, senior sales trader at CMC...
View ArticlePension charges to be clearer
The United Kingdom’s biggest pension providers have pledged to provide people in workplace schemes with full details of the costs they are paying.Under an agreement set out yesterday by the Association...
View ArticleOver-65s hit hard by hikes in fuel prices
The amount spent by pensioners on their fuel bills has more than doubled since 2005 after a series of price hikes in recent years.The amount spent by pensioners on their fuel bills has more than...
View ArticleCharging orders rap for Royal Bank and NatWest
THE Office of Fair Trading has criticised the Royal Bank of Scotland and National Westminster Bank for using charging orders to try to recover customer debts.The OFT found evidence the banks were not...
View ArticleBanks looking a good buy as stock market makes a comeback
The tail end of 2012 was a bumper time for the stock market. The FTSE is back over 6000 and in shooting range of all-time highs.This will be a surprise to the casual onlooker. How can the market be...
View ArticleEurozone uncertainty and record low gilt yields send annuity incomes into...
PEOPLE retiring last year were hit by the biggest plunge since 1998 in the average income they could buy with an annuity, as rates were driven down by the effects of quantitative easing (QE).The...
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