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  • Big banks to set up lending taskforce

    Monday 09 Aug 2010

    Bosses of big banks have reacted to criticism over lending by outlining a series of proposals to increase the availability of finance to businesses. The chairman of the British Bankers Association (BBA) Stephen Green, who also chairs HSBC, has written to chancellor George Osborne to underline the industry’s willingness to help give businesses access to adequate finance.

  • Unite union calms strike fears

    Monday 09 Aug 2010

    Fears that Britain may be plunged into chaos by a series of nationwide strikes later this year have been played down by union boss Derek Simpson.

  • BP hails 'static kill' a success as costs soar

    Monday 09 Aug 2010

    BP’s “static kill” and cementing procedures at the broken MC252 well have been “successful”, stopping oil leaking into the Gulf of Mexico, the company confirmed Monday as the cost of the spill topped $6bn.

  • Big banks to set up lending taskforce

    Monday 09 Aug 2010

    Bosses of big banks have reacted to criticism over lending by outlining a series of proposals to increase the availability of finance to businesses. The chairman of the British Bankers Association (BBA) Stephen Green, who also chairs HSBC, has written to chancellor George Osborne to underline the industry’s willingness to help give businesses access to adequate finance.

  • Wheat price rise continues

    Friday 06 Aug 2010

    Wheat prices continued rising going into the weekend following Russia’s decision to ban exports of the grain.

  • BP finishes cementing broken Gulf well

    Friday 06 Aug 2010

    BP moved another step closer to ending the Gulf of Mexico oil spill by completing cementing operations at the MC252 well, part of the “static kill” procedure.

  • Int'l Power closes on GDF merger

    Friday 06 Aug 2010

    International Power is on the verge of a multi-billion pound merger with French electricity giant GDF Suez, sparking a £1.3bn windfall for the UK group’s shareholders.

  • Bank profits amaze City

    Friday 06 Aug 2010

    It’s been a painful few years, but Britain’s banking sector is finally making money again, and far more than anyone dared imagine at the start of this week’s reporting season. Dabbling in sub-prime mortgages, ill-advised acquisitions and a full-blown recession had plunged the high street lenders into their very own version of the Dark Ages.

  • July non-farm payrolls disappoint

    Thursday 05 Aug 2010

    A key US government report showed that job growth continued at a sluggish pace in the world's largest economy.

  • Smith & Nephew Q2 tops forecasts

    Thursday 05 Aug 2010

    Medical devices firm Smith & Nephew said it sees clear signs of progress in its US trauma and European businesses and a strong emerging market performance as it posted a 7% rise in second quarter trading profit.

  • Ladbrokes warns of challenges as profits fall

    Thursday 05 Aug 2010

    Bookmaker Ladbrokes warned of a challenging consumer environment as it posted a fall in profits for the half year to June 30.

  • Barclays gets boost from BarCap

    Thursday 05 Aug 2010

    Barclays reported a 44% rise in first half pre-tax profits as a 225% profit jump at its investment banking arm, Barclays Capital, was partially offset by an increase in impairments in Barclays Corporate in Spain.

  • Rio Tinto posts record profit

    Thursday 05 Aug 2010

    Mining giant Rio Tinto posted a record 125% jump in half year earnings and said it looks to the future with confidence. In a separate statement, the group said it received a binding offer from funds affiliated with Apollo Global Management and the Fonds Stratégique d'Investissement (FSI) to buy a 61% stake in Alcan Engineered Products (AEP), excluding the Cable Division.

  • Wheat hits 23-month high after Russia export ban

    Thursday 05 Aug 2010

    Russia has reacted to wheat shortages caused by drought and fire by banning exports of the grain, sending prices for the grain to 23-month highs. Drought and the fires that this has helped spread has resulted in a sharp drop in wheat production in Russia, which last year exported a quarter of its output of the grain.

  • Peers should raise a glass to Marston's update

    Wednesday 04 Aug 2010

    News that Marston’s has been benefitting from good weather will have been well received across the pub sector.

  • Ofcom orders Sky movies probe

    Wednesday 04 Aug 2010

    Media watchdog Ofcom has asked the Competition Commission to look into the UK pay-TV movies market to see whether British Sky Broadcasting (BSkyB) holds too dominant a position.

  • Lloyds returns to profit in style

    Wednesday 04 Aug 2010

    Lloyds is very much back in the black after posting a profit of £1.6bn for the first half of 2010, twice as much as some analysts had forecast.

  • Santander confirms RBS branches buy

    Wednesday 04 Aug 2010

    Santander’s UK arm has confirmed the acquisition of more than 300 branches from Royal Bank of Scotland for £1.65bn, slightly less than expected.

  • Premier Foods cautious as wheat prices surge

    Wednesday 04 Aug 2010

    Premier Foods warned that a surge in wheat prices in the past month will mean second half profit at its Hovis division is not expected to match levels seen in 2009.

  • Next cautious as demand 'cools'

    Wednesday 04 Aug 2010

    Next has noticed a ‘cooling’ in consumers' demand in recent months, but still expects profits this year to rise by between 6-11%, in line with its previous forecasts.

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