News

Your daily news update straight from the City PM newsroom in London

Car registrations driven down in EU for 18th month in a row

November 25, 2009

THE number of cars registered across Europe slumped 30.7 per cent last month to 141,765 vehicles, down from 204,522 the year before, data from the European carmakers’ association ACEA showed yesterday. In the UK, 17,197 vehicles were registered in October, the data showed, a drop of 27.7 per cent from 23,793 units the year before. [...]
UBS tax data deal with US draws closer

November 25, 2009

SWITZERLAND has completed a tax review of 500 clients of UBS and is ready to share data with the United States in nearly all cases in line with an August deal that put an end to a bitter tax row. But the clients involved have 30 days to appeal the data transfer to a local [...]
Airlines balk at passenger fund

November 25, 2009

AIRLINES throughout Europe have hit back at European Union demands for them to set up a compensation fund for stranded passengers. European Union consumer commissioner Meglena Kuneva, will today call for insolvency protection rules to be widened to cover holidays and airline tickets booked by passengers over the internet. EU lawmakers also want grounded passengers [...]
QinetiQ warns on profit target

November 25, 2009

DEFENCE technology company QinetiQ yesterday said it was unlikely to meet full-year profit forecasts profit due to slower order uptake in Britain and the United States. QinetiQ , whose biggest customer is the Ministry of Defence, was reporting a two per cent fall in pre-tax profit to £45.1m on revenues 11 per cent higher at [...]
Xenophobic energy sales patter is a load of hot air

November 25, 2009

BRITISH Gas was this week attempting to make a virtue of accuracy in its billing systems with a series of newspaper advertisements as it attempts to lure new customers with the promise of scrapping estimated monthly bills in favour of a new, more transparent system. Ironic then that just hours before the launch at least [...]
ABNAmro in a 29m third quarter loss

November 25, 2009

STATE-owned ABN Amro continued to be loss making in the third quarter as it prepared for a series of demerger steps that will allow the Dutch government to nurse it back to health and sell it back into private hands. Lower asset and liability management income weighed on third-quarter earnings, offsetting a slight improvement in [...]
Porsche struggles in the aftermath of its failed takeover of Volkswagen

November 25, 2009

PORSCHE, the luxury carmaker, is headed for a second consecutive annual loss which is set to hit billions of euros, it said yesterday, as the hangover lingers from its failed takeover of Volkswagen. Its indebted automotive holding arm, which was created as a vehicle for the acquisition, will stay deeply in the red as it [...]
French Connection sees its sales up on currency gains

November 25, 2009

FASHION group French Connection yesterday said that revenues in the three months to 30 October increased eight per cent year on year, with most of the rise due to favourable exchange rates rather than changes in underlying trade. Total retail sales in the UK and Europe grew by 0.6 per cent, with like-for-like sales edging [...]
Soldiers and school kids help Compass beat slump

November 25, 2009

COMPASS Group,the world’s biggest caterer, showed its recession-proof credentials yesterday, posting a 33 per cent profit rise which topped market expectations and propelled its shares to a seven-year high. The company, which feeds office workers, soldiers and schoolchildren, said underlying pre-tax profit for the year to end September reached £784m, up from £589m the year [...]
A HEFTY DOSE OF CRUNCH-BUSTING CHRISTMAS CHEER HITS THE CITY

November 24, 2009

AFTER the appearance of the traditional annual Coca Cola advert on our television screens heralded the official start to the festive season, it appears the corporate Christmas is truly in full swing. Demand for Christmas crackers is up a whopping 21 per cent from last year as cheap ‘n’ cheerful celebrations take precedent over luxurious [...]