Written By Unknown on Kamis, 16 April 2015 | 16.01
Debenhams has reported first half sales and profits growth, declaring that its customers are feeling "a little more optimistic."
The high street fashion to electricals chain said it was on track to achieve its full year expectations despite a "difficult" Autumn season when warm weather dented demand for winter wear for many clothing stores.
It said profit before tax rose 4.3% to £88.9m in the 26 weeks to 28 February.
Group like-for-like sales were up 1.3% in the period - lifted by 1% because the department store chain's New Season Spectacular promotion was brought forward into the first half.
It also added £3m to the profit performance.
Debenhams said it was boosted by international franchise stores and Magasin du Nord, which achieved local currency like-for-like sales growth of 9.9% and a 12.7% rise in online sales.
It plans to open eight new Debenhams stores - five of them this coming autumn.
Chief executive Michael Sharp said: "I am pleased with the good progress we have made against the strategic priorities we set out last year.
"We have improved our multi-channel offer and successfully introduced the premium delivery options that we promised for the important peak period, which met with a positive response from our customers.
"The continued refocusing of our promotional strategy delivered a strong increase in full price sales, an improvement in value perception and enabled us to end the half with an improved stock position.
"Overall we delivered a good first half performance despite a difficult clothing season in Autumn and we are on track to achieve full year expectations.
"Looking forward, our customers tell us they are feeling a little more optimistic about the economic outlook, but they remain cautious.
"Accordingly we are continuing to plan prudently in the near term, while remaining focused on our strategic priorities, and are continuing to invest to ensure that our business is well-positioned to drive sustainable growth in the longer term."
The president of the European Central Bank has been interrupted at a news conference by a protester shouting "end ECB dictatorship".
Mario Draghi was outlining the bank's latest monetary policy thinking when a lone woman jumped onto the desk above Mr Draghi and showered him with items including what looked like confetti and sheets of paper.
The bank suspended the video feed of the news conference as security officials grabbed her but she flashed a V for victory sign and smiled as two men in grey suits took her away holding her arms and legs.
Mr Draghi, who had held up his hands as protection, looked shocked but was apparently unhurt and continued his presentation shortly afterwards.
The protester was later widely identified as Josephine Witt, a 21-year old former member of the feminist group, Femen.
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Gallery: Protester Disrupts ECB Conference
A protester jumps on the table in front of the European Central Bank President Mario Draghi during a news conference in Frankfurt, Continue through for more images
Eurostar has reported passenger numbers have been hit in the wake of the terrorist attacks in Paris in January.
The cross-Channel rail service said sales revenues in its first quarter were 6% down on the same period a year ago.
It blamed not only disruption caused by the shootings in France, which included the attack on the offices of the Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine, but also delays and cancellations forced on it by a lorry fire.
Passenger numbers were flat at 2.3 million.
The company expressed confidence that the performance was a blip.
"The uplift in business travel bookings that was reported in 2014 has continued in the first three months of the year with the number of Eurostar Business Premier travellers increasing by 7% compared with the first quarter of last year," it said in a statement.
"The increase in business passengers which was underpinned last year by the recovery in the UK economy is now starting to take hold on the continent.
"This trend is testament to the increasing enthusiasm among business customers for choosing the ease of high speed rail over plane and the growing attraction of the Eurostar Business Premier offer.
Sales revenues in the first quarter were impacted by the events in January and by movements in exchange rates.
"The first three months of 2015 saw the average exchange rate increase by 11% compared with the same quarter the previous year, with sterling rising to a seven year high of €1.37.
"As a result, Eurostar sales revenues were down by 6% compared to 2014 (at) £215m.
"Whilst January was challenging, trading returned to a more normalised pattern in the course of the quarter.
"Eurostar reported high levels of traffic during a record Easter holiday period and the company is seeing a strong year-on-year increase in forward bookings for the summer period."
Google has told its staff that EU competition regulators are set to step up their investigation into the company following a five-year inquiry, with charges reportedly imminent.
Kent Walker, Google's general counsel, wrote in the memo that a "statement of objections" to Google's business practices in Europe would be released on Wednesday by the EU's competition commissioner, Margrethe Vestager.
The European Commission has been examining whether Google, which holds about 90% of the search market in Europe, has been illegally rigging its search results to favour its own services.
Tech rivals such as Microsoft, who urged the EU to bring the case, want more competition in areas like online maps, search and shopping.
In his memo, Mr Walker suggested that the inquiry may be expanded to include whether Google was using its Android software for mobile devices to gain an unfair advantage over other digital services.
"Expect some of the criticism to be tough," he warned.
If the EU issues a "statement of objections" against Google, it could lead to formal charges and an eventual fine of up to 10% of its worldwide turnover, which reached $66bn (£44.7bn) in 2014.
The Financial Times reported that Google would be told on Wednesday it was to be formally accused of abusing its market dominance.
The company has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.
However, the filing of charges could increase pressure on Google to settle, to avoid a potentially damaging case and massive fine resulting from the allegations.
The record penalty imposed on a company for competition offences is £800m - levied on Intel in 2009 for abusing its dominance of the computer chip market.
Digital Commissioner Guenther Oettinger said last weekend that the EU was expected to publish in "the coming days" the findings of its investigation.
He told a meeting in Hanover: "We need to bring or force Internet platforms, search engines, to follow our rules in Europe."
The company which reported a massive upgrade to an oil find near Gatwick Airport has conceded it was not in a position to properly size it up.
Last week's announcement that up to 100 billion barrels, a potentially "world-class" discovery, had been identified in the Weald Basin sparked excitement and scepticism.
That caution extended to other partners in the project, as previous estimates were as high as 40 billion and as low as 4.4 billion.
Shares in UK Oil & Gas Investments (UKOG) rose by more than 300% at one stage following its original statement last Thursday.
UKOG did not repeat the words "world class" in today's update, which was requested by the junior AIM market on which the company's shares trade.
Video:'Effectively A Sponge Full Of Oil'
It said on Wednesday that the oil volumes in the Horse Hill-1 well in the Weald Basin, estimated by US exploration firm Nutech, "should not be considered as either contingent or prospective resources or reserves."
The company, which holds a 20% stake in the Horse Hill development, also admitted further work was needed to "prove its commerciality."
Its chairman David Lenigas had claimed last week the discovery would create "many thousands of jobs" but did say it would take a long time to begin production.
Another partner in the Weald Basin project, Solo Oil, exercised caution at the time of UKOG's upgrade.
Video:Major Oil Find Near Gatwick
Solo chief executive Neil Ritson told Sky News: "We're not actually putting out that number of a hundred billion barrels. I know that a leading academic - Professor Fraser at Imperial - is talking about 40 billion.
"Certainly those numbers are possible, but that's not where we are at the moment. It's early days."
UKOG had said last week that Nutech had estimated that recovery of the oil would be limited at between 3% and 15% of the total.
It also confirmed there would be no use of the controversial extraction method known as fracking to get access to the oil.
Nokia is to buy Alcatel-Lucent in a €16.5bn euro deal in an apparent bid to take on Ericsson and become the world's leading telecoms equipment firm.
The all-share transaction, which has the support of the French government, will create a combined company with more than 110,000 staff and give it a 35% share of the mobile equipment market.
Alcatel-Lucent, which has been loss-making since its creation in 2006 through the merger of France's Alcatel and US-based Lucent Technologies, will have 33.5% of the new company with its investors netting 0.55 shares for each of their old shares.
Nokia will control the remaining 66.5%.
The Finnish firm, which has turned around its fortunes since the sale of its handset business to Microsoft, now concentrates its work in three key areas of networks, mapping services and technologies and patents.
The sector is facing weak growth prospects and pressure from low-cost Chinese players Huawei and ZTE .
Nokia shares rose 3% at the opening of trading on Wednesday while Alcatel-Lucent fell 11%.
Written By Unknown on Selasa, 14 April 2015 | 16.01
By Joey Jones, Deputy Political Editor
The Green Party will launch its manifesto vowing to combat austerity which it says has "failed" and should be ended by a "peaceful political revolution".
The party has been more prominent than ever before in this election campaign, though its chances of building on its current tally of a single seat (Brighton Pavilion) remain limited.
The party leader, Natalie Bennett, is expected to argue its proposals represent a "genuine alternative to our tired, business-as-usual politics".
While ecological policies remain central to the Green brand, the party is making inroads into Labour and Liberal Democrat territory.
The party calls for what it describes as a fairer society, with the wealthiest paying substantially more in taxation and a desire to create many more jobs paying the living wage.
Video:#AskThe Leaders Full Q&A: Greens
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In national polling, the Greens have at times leaped ahead of the Liberal Democrats at around 7 or 8%.
However, under a first-past-the-post voting system they are likely to struggle to translate their success into larger parliamentary representation.
Nevertheless, what party leaders describe as the "Green surge" is making Labour and Lib Dem rivals anxious and is shifting the dynamic in some marginal seats.
Video:Labour Manifesto: Do Sums Add Up?
The Greens' cause has not been helped by some halting performances by Natalie Bennett, most notably an interview with LBC's Nick Ferrari where she struggled to recall elements of party policy.
In recent weeks there are signs the leader has steadied the ship. She acquitted herself professionally in ITV's recent debate - but the knives will be out if there are any signs of frailty at this high-profile event.
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The annual rate of inflation has remained steady at 0% for the second consecutive month.
The Office for National Statistics said the consumer price index (CPI) measure remained at its lowest level since comparable records began in 1989 as transport costs rose - offsetting weaknesses in food and clothing prices.
Fashion costs fell between February and March for the first time on record, the ONS said, possibly reflecting changes to seasonal discount patterns.
Food and non-alcoholic beverages were 3% cheaper year on year in March, though this was a smaller decline than in the previous month.
Petrol costs rose as oil recovered a bit of ground following its dramatic collapse last year.
The ONS said fuel prices rose 3.8p between February and March, though they were still down sharply on the year.
It has been oil weakness and the effects of the supermarket price war that have driven inflation to the brink.
Some economists had predicted the CPI calculation would turn negative for March, showing prices falling on an annual basis.
While the governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney, has welcomed the prospect of price falls for consumers and most businesses he has pledged to guard against the possibility of the UK entering a more entrenched period of falling prices, known as deflation.
Economists say deflation is unwelcome in any economy because it tends to delay purchases amid hopes the cost of goods and services will be cheaper in future.
Static prices have arrived at a time when wages are starting to grow following six years of inflation outpacing salary increases.
The last ONS figures on wages showed annual growth of 1.6% when the effects of bonuses were stripped out.
David Cameron will say he leads the "party of working people" as he unveils a Conservative policy to extend the Right-to-Buy scheme to a further 1.3 million families.
The promise will be one of two big housing announcements in the Tory manifesto as the Prime Minister launches his detailed election pledges in Wiltshire.
As well as extending the ability to purchase your home at a discount to housing association tenants, the party will promise a £1bn fund for building 400,000 new properties on brownfield sites.
Mr Cameron will say: "At the heart of this manifesto is a simple proposition. We are the party of working people, offering you security at every stage of your life."
He will talk about young people looking for training, people trying to find a decent job, to buy their own home, needing help with childcare or relying on the NHS.
Video:1980: Right To Buy First Time Round
Other Tory policy pledges will include:
:: Raising the personal allowance for tax to £12,500
:: Increasing the starting salary for the 40p rate to £50,000
:: Raising the inheritance tax threshold for family homes to £1m
:: An annual £8bn boost for NHS funding
Mr Cameron's claim that the Conservatives are the party for workers comes after Labour said it wanted to be seen as the fiscally responsible option for government.
Mr Miliband has sought to highlight a number of policies put forward by the Conservatives that are unfunded - saying every Labour manifesto pledge will be fully paid for.
Video:Need To Know: Labour Pledges
A senior Conservative source told Sky News that his party was not worried by the Labour promise because it meant the opposition was choosing to talk about an area in which it was "weakest" in the eyes of the public.
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He claimed the Conservatives had a "track record" that meant its promises would be believed.
The Right-to-Buy allows people to buy their home at a discount but has so far been available only to those in council homes, with some housing association tenants accessing the weaker "right to acquire" and some having no rights.
Under the new plans they will all be able to apply for the main scheme which can lead to a discount of up to 70% depending on the length of the tenancy. The homes will have to be replaced.
A Tory Government would fund the Brownfield Regeneration Fund, and replacement of properties sold under the extended Right-to-Buy, by requiring local authorities to manage their housing assets more efficiently.
Video:Do Election Manifestos Matter?
They would also have to sell off their most expensive properties - which they estimate could raise as much as £4.5bn a year - and replace them in the same area with normal affordable housing as they fall vacant.
Ministers say this will lead to the sale and replacement of about 15,000 homes a year, or around four in every thousand social properties.
It is an extension of the policy introduced by Margaret Thatcher in 1980, which has seen 1.88 council homes bought by tennants.
Mr Cameron will add: "Conservatives have dreamed of building a property-owning democracy for generations, and today I can tell you what this generation of Conservatives is going to do.
"The next Conservative Government will extend the Right-to-Buy to all housing association tenants in this country; 1.3 million extra families; a new generation given the security of a home of their own.
"So this generation of Conservatives can proudly say it: the dream of a property-owning democracy is alive - and we will fulfil it."
He will call on voters "not to waste the past five years".
Video:Cameron's Election Pledge
Labour says the plans are unfunded, accusing the Tories of turning to the "magic money tree" to put forward its ideas.
Emma Reynolds, Labour's Shadow Housing Minister, said: "Having exhausted the magic money tree, the Tories now want people to believe that they can magic up billions of pounds a year from selling off a few council homes.
"Under David Cameron home ownership is at its lowest point for three decades - there are over 200,000 fewer home owners since 2010."
Ruth Davison, Director of Policy and External Affairs at the National Housing Federation said: "While extending Right to Buy will see some people being able to buy their own home with help from the taxpayer, these are people already living in good secure homes on some of the country's cheapest rents.
"It won't help the millions of people in private rented homes who are desperate to buy but have no hope of doing so, nor the three million adult children living with their parents because they can't afford to rent or buy."
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Written By Unknown on Senin, 13 April 2015 | 16.01
The Conservatives have said they will take family homes out of inheritance tax by introducing a new allowance which effectively increases the threshold for tax to £1m.
David Cameron said that if his party wins the 7 May election, parents will be offered a new £175,000 allowance to enable them to pass property on to children tax-free after they die.
For properties worth more than £2m, the allowance will be gradually tapered away so that those worth more than £2.35m do not benefit.
Full coverage:General Election 2015
Inheritance tax is currently payable at a rate of 40% on the value of an estate above the £325,000 threshold - or £650,000 if a couple takes advantage of the existing allowance.
Video:Day 14 In 60 Seconds
It is thought around 22,000 families will benefit from the move by 2020 and Mr Cameron said the costs would be paid for by a £1bn raid on pension tax relief for people earning more than £150,000.
Mr Cameron said: "We will take the family home out of inheritance tax.
"That home that you have worked and saved for belongs to you and your family.
"You should be able to pass it on to your children. And with the Conservatives, the taxman will not get his hands on it."
The Conservatives promised a £1m inheritance tax threshold in the 2010 election, but were blocked by Liberal Democrats from implementing it when in coalition.
Video:PM Outlines Tax Position
Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper told Sky's Murnaghan programme it is the "wrong priority" and "won't affect 90% of estates".
She said: "They are talking about a £140,000 tax cut for properties that are worth around £2m at a time when you've got families still losing their homes because of the bedroom tax, at a time when pensioners and families have had to pay more VAT."
The Institute For Fiscal Studies said the change would "disproportionately" benefit those on higher incomes.
In an observation published on its website after the announcement, the IFS said: "Since the children of those with very large estates are disproportionately towards the top of the income distribution the gains from this (and in fact any) IHT cut will also go disproportionately to those towards the top of the income distribution."
Meanwhile, Labour has revealed its plans to crackdown on tax-dodgers if it wins the election, hoping to cut avoidance and evasion by at least £7.5bn a year by the middle of the next Parliament.
Video:Election: Seven Days, Seven Facts
Shadow chancellor Ed Balls said it would take a Labour government to "call time" on the Tories' "lax approach", adding that Labour would set targets for HMRC to reduce tax avoidance by at least £7.5bn a year.
He said: "We will close the loopholes the Tories won't act on, increase transparency, toughen up penalties and abolish the non-dom rules.
"And our first Budget will make sure that, following an immediate review of HMRC, it has all the powers and resources it needs to come down hard on tax avoidance and evasion."
Conservative Treasury minister David Gauke said: "Ed Miliband and Ed Balls turned a blind eye to aggressive tax avoiding and evading for 13 years when they were in charge - they were the tax avoiders' friends."
The Lib Dems have also set out their tax plans, promising "light at the end of the tunnel" with moves to eliminate Britain's deficit by 2017/18.
Video:The Faisal Files: Day 13
Nick Clegg said his plan has "a heart as well as a brain", trying to drive home his claim that his party will cut less than the Conservatives and borrow less than Labour.
Spelling out plans for a consolidation totaling £27bn by 2017/18, made up of £12bn in additional tax, £12bn in public spending reductions and £3bn in welfare cuts, Mr Clegg challenged the other parties to spell out in similar detail how they would balance the nation's books.
He said: "We are going to spread the burden of finishing the job of fixing the economy fairly across society.
"Yes that means more cuts, but it also means asking the wealthiest to pay their fare share too."
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