In one of the classic understatements of the year so far, new finance minister George Osborne has just announced his findings that the British economy is in a dire state and there will be difficult times ahead. Osborne’s revelation came as the government sat down to take action on tackling the record budget deficit. Osborne took up the role of Chancellor after the center-right Conservatives joined with the center-left Liberal Democrats to form the country’s first coalition government for more than half a century, as the Labour Government wound up 13 years rule.

Britain has barely limped out of the worst recession since World War Two, and the new government is under pressure to show their pre-election promises to reduce spending and raise taxes to cut a budget deficit running at more than 11 percent of GDP were not hollow. The coalition already pledged to significantly accelerate the reduction of the deficit in the next five years, cutting £6 billion pounds ($8.75 billion) from non-frontline public services during the current financial year. George Osborne is expected to unveil his emergency Budget on June 22 as the new coalition Government attempts to overcome the appalling state of the economy inherited from Labour.

Meanwhile on the home front, news from the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) is that mortgage borrowing by house buyers is on the increase, with the number of loans made to home buyers rising by 25% between February and March, to reach 45,000. First-time buyer borrowing rebounded faster than that by existing home owners, according to CML who also went on to warn that mortgage rationing might continue indefinitely unless the new government helped lenders raise finance.

The latest news on the small business front has shown decrease in UK business insolvencies last month. On a year to year basis, it was shown that

the total number of insolvencies fell by 15.1% in April compared with the same month last year, 2,274 in April 2009 down to 1,818 in April 2010.

Businesses that fell into the medium sized category were found to have suffered the most in April. Companies employing between fifty to hundred workers being the most vulnerable.

In a move that may indicate a thawing of hostilities between internet giant Google and the printed media – particularly Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp, Eric Schmidt, chief executive of Google, announced that Google were holding talks with Murdoch and other newspaper proprietors regarding running subscription services for their online sites. Murdoch has repeatedly criticized Google for undermining newspapers by allowing internet users too much access to their valuable news content. Late last year Murdoch went far as threatening to sue Google for including headlines from News International in its search results. Staring from June, the Times and Sunday Times are set to erect a pay wall limiting access to their online news sites to paying customers. The papers will also withdraw their articles from Google’s search engine

With annual results due to be issued before the weekend, mobile phone company Vodafone are expected to announce a 150 percent increase in profits, with analysts expecting pre-tax profits of around £10.4 billion for the year to the end of March. Vodafone’s profits for 2009 were just £4.1 billion, largely due to one of impairment of £5.9 billion pounds of impairment charges.

Reports are that the Spanish bank Santander are believed to have emerged as likely winners of the tender to take over the 318 Williams & Glyn-branded Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) branches across England and Wales. Santander has apparently outbid Virgin, Spanish rival BBVA and Blackstone, with only National Australian Bank’s Clydesdale Bank arm still in the running. RBS is expected to make around £2 billion pounds from the successful completion of the sale.

Meanwhile credit card firm American Express has reportedly become the latest contender to enter into bidding for the payment processing arm of Royal Bank of Scotland. The partially state owned bank has been forced to sell of this division under European Commission rules governing state aid. The move by American Express, which has joined forces with private equity house Permira to table a bid in the £2.5 billion pound auction for RBS’s Global Merchant Services division, has been welcomed by RBS. Previously the bank had stated concerns over stand alone private equity buyers having sufficient experience to manage the business. With experience of processing payments of millions of customers in 130 countries, American Express could fit the bill and help RBS in their drive to expand in emerging markets,

Property development and investment giant, British Land, appears likely to take over the mantle as being the largest company in the field in the UK, leaving their bigger rival, Land Securities in their wake, when both companies announce full year results this week. British Land is expected to reveal that its net value of assets has increased by more than 20 percent over the past year to 490 pence a share, while Land Securities will announce that their shares have risen 16 percent increase in its net asset value over 690 pence a share.

Coming back down to earth with a thump will be British Airways who are widely expected to report losses of more than £600 million pounds when they reports their results on Friday. It is expected that results for the 12 months to the end of March will mark the airline’s worst ever financial performance, over a period in which it suffered from the effects of recession, strikes and bad weather. There are suggestions from senior staff that the company will not be able to survive any further blows. Analysts attending the shareholder’s conference will be keen to hear how chief executive Willie Walsh intends to explain the losses as well as the company’s ongoing dispute with cabin crews.

Pharmaceutical retailer and wholesaler Alliance Boots are expected to join the one billion pounds club on Monday. Alliance Boots, who returned to private ownership in 2007, are expected to announce a trading profit over the one billion pound by exceeding the 11.6 percent growth in 2009, when their profit was £953 million. By passing the one billion pound profit barrier Alliance Boots will become only the third retailer to do so in the history of UK retailing.

The euro has plummeted against the US dollar, falling below $1.22 for the first time since April 2006. The eurozone’s single currency fell more than 1.7% in afternoon trading in New York, to $1.216, before rallying.

The decline came after Germany announced plans to ban naked short-selling of shares from midnight local time on Tuesday. The single currency dropped by more than 2% against the yen on the news. Forex traders fear that the austerity measures being put in place in many eurozone countries will hit growth.

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Tags: Alliance Boots, American Express, Bank, Banking, BBVA, Blackstone, British airways, British Economy, British Land, Clydesdale, Council of Mortgage Lenders, Currency, Economics, Economy, Eric Schmidt, Financial News, George Osborne, Google, Government, Land Securities, Money, Money Management, Mortgages, News Corp, Recession, Retail, Royal Bank of Scotland, Santander, UK Banks, UK Economy, UK government, UK Recession, Vodafone, Willie Walsh

In the first statement coming out of Labour election headquarters, current U.K. Business Secretary Peter Mandelson has put up an argument stating that the sitting government has the constitutional right for the “first go” in trying to remain in power when no party wins a majority in the House of Commons.

“The rules are, if it’s a hung parliament, it’s not the party with the largest number of seats that has the first go, it’s the sitting government,” Mandelson said. “After three terms in office, of course many people have turned away from the Labour Party but they haven’t embraced the Conservatives.” He added

According to a recent survey, manufacturing output and exports in the UK expanded at their fastest rate in 15 years. These findings meant that whichever party eventually wins the right to govern in the UK, are liable to inherit an economy already showing signs of recovery with manufacturing output growing by as much as two percent in the past three months. A growth level that suggests the manufacturing sector will make a significant contribution to second-quarter gross domestic product growth in the UK.

Recent figures also show that the next government are set to inherit a jobs market that, while currently still looking a little weak, looks is poised for recovery but still fragile. Unemployment stands at 2.5 million, or eight percent of the work force, far below the three million-plus predicted last year.

Channel 4 announced the public service broadcaster would boost the budget of its film division by a fifth this year to 10 million pounds. The decision returns Film 4’s budget to its 2007 level before the recession, and partly reflects a cautious confidence at the group. Chief executive David Abraham said the Digital Economy Act had also influenced the decision to increase investment in Film 4. The Act formally stated that as part of its public service remit, Channel 4 should make "high quality films" for cinema release in the UK.

Alliance Boots has replaced Marks & Spencer at the top of an annual ranking of UK companies by the strength of their corporate reputation. Boots, which enters the Reputation Institute’s UK Pulse Report for the first time, ranks first in the survey that measures corporate reputation among the general public. Other companies in the top 10 include Cadbury, Morrisons and Rolls Royce, with John Lewis Partnership, Debenhams, Sainsbury’s and Tesco among the top 20 places. In broadcasting, the BBC came ahead of ITV and BSkyB, and HSBC has become the top-ranked bank. Companies are selected by the organization based on revenue and visibility among the general public, but can decide whether or not to be included. There is no fee for inclusion.

Followers of Google’s UK-based email will now be able to have @gmail.com addresses, rather than @googlemail.com. The news comes after the search engine marketing giant won an arduous trademark battle with a British research company that had applied for the "gmail" name prior to Google launching its email service. After finally reaching a settlement, Google are now able to offer users that registered after 2005, a change to the shorter address of @gmail.com Google went on to use the @googlemail.com address for those that had registered after this time.

A spokesman for Google stated that the company was satisfied with the conclusion of the proceedings, saying:”We know how important email accounts are to users and we wanted to provide the best user experience possible. We engineered the infrastructure to enable users to switch their accounts to @gmail.com accounts should they choose, as well as directing all new users to set up @gmail.com accounts in the UK.”

Power and oil firm Essar Energy were left wishing that they had timed their entry onto the FTSE a little better than this week, after suffering the worst debut of a big London flotation since the early noughties. The group’s shares plummeted 7.2 percent to 389.5 pence on its first day of trading. The fall from the UK’s largest stock market listing in more than two years is the worst seen since HMV, the music retailer, dropped 7.5 percent in May 2002. Essar’s listing came on a challenging day for the markets, with the FTSE 100 index closing down 2.5 percent on the day

The Euro remains under heavy pressure, falling to below 1.27 against the dollar. The pound strengthened took a late slump against the dollar to 1.463 and at 1.550 against the Euro.

International rating agencies continue to voice concerns over the crisis of confidence which is spreading across Europe, with countries such as Portugal, Italy, Spain, Ireland and Britain looking unstable, as the public and politicians in Athens attempt come to terms with the harsh economic conditions which have come with the EEC and IMF bail-out. The European Commission has said it expects the Greek economy to shrink by 3% this year, amid continued market jitters over the country’s debt crisis.

Banking systems still face "very real, common threats" if doubts were raised about their governments’ abilities to pay debts.

Fears of another round of instability meant another volatile session for the FTSE 100 index, which saw it shed 80.9 points to close in 5261 as the UK also went to the polls, with the prospects of a hung Parliament looking very much a reality.

US mortgage giant Freddie Mac announced a loss of $8 billion (£5.3 billion) for the first three months of 2010. Reports from the company hint that they are liable to ask for a further $10.6 billion in state aid. The firm has made a number of federal cash requests since it was taken over by regulators in September 2008, whilst stating that as the US housing market has not yet fully recovered they would continue to be in need of continued government funding. If the latest request is granted, it will bring the total cost of the Freddie Mac rescue to $61.3 billion.

Stock exchange bosses and regulators were last night scrambling to explain the cause of a plunge in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which took the index down by the largest number of points in its history, setting off a short term panic in an already fragile financial market.

A little over an hour before the close of trading in New York. The result was a period of unprecedented chaos that also dragged in currency and credit markets. At 2.20 pm, EPT the Dow stood at 10,460, already down 400 points, when it suddenly tumbled 600 points with the space of just seven minutes to 9,869, a drop of 9.2 per cent, the largest points fall ever.

The Dow snapped back but continued to swing wildly until the close of trading, when it settled at 10,520.32, down 347.80 points on the day, a fall of 3.2 per cent. The NASDAQ also closed down 82.65 points to 2319.64.

US productivity grew at a better-than -expected annual rate of 3.6% in the first quarter of 2010, while a separate report showed that applications for jobless benefits dropped for a third week in a row.

The US economy has been growing since last summer, but firms have been reluctant to take workers back on, instead pushing smaller workforces to produce more, which has increased productivity – measured as the amount of output per hour of work.

Carmaker BMW has reported a return to profit compared with a year earlier and given an upbeat forecast for sales in the coming year.

The group reported a net profit of €324 million (£277 million) for the first quarter of 2010, compared to a loss of €150 million for the comparative period last year. Turnover was up 8% to €12.4 billion with the company reporting a 100% increase in sales in China as it did a year earlier

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Tags: Alliance Boots, Banking, BBC, BMW, British Economy, British Pound, BskyB, Cadbury, Channel 4, Conservatives, Credit Crunch, Currency, David Abraham, Debenhams, Digital Economy Act, Dow Jones, Economics, Economy, election, Employment, Essar Energy, Film 4, Financial News, Freddie Mac, FTSE, Google, Government, HMV, House of Commons, HSBC, ITV, John Lewis Partnership, Labour party, Marks & Spencer, Money, Money Markets, Morrisons, NASDAQ, Peter Mandelson, Recession, Retail, Rolls-Royce, Sainsburys, Stock Markets, Stocks and shares, Tesco, UK Banks, UK Economy, UK government, UK Recession, Unemployment

According to information from the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) property prices in the UK are due to rise in 2010 driven by low borrowing costs and the shortage of homes. Property values are due to rise by five percent and mortgage costs will cheapen as the Bank of England retains a its record low 0.5 percent key interest rate. CEBR have reduced their property price forecast from 6 percent after the tax on home purchases rose and cold weather damped demand for property. Average mortgage interest rates are expected to drop by around one percent by the start of 2011.

US based billionaire investor Warren Buffett, has backed Bank of England Governor Mervyn Jones previous comments by stating that said he doesn’t envy the winner of the UK general election, who will be faced with the need to make "politically very unpopular" decisions to cut the deficit. Speaking after the annual shareholder meeting of Berkshire Hathaway before a crowd of 40,000 , Mr Buffett warned the next occupant of No 10 to fear the bond market, which could turn against the UK if public spending is not brought back into balance over the long term.

Buffet’s comments regarding the UK’s current financial plight echoes previous statements made about growing government debt across the Western world. The debt has been incurred as a result of the economic stimulus measures put in place to prevent a much worse recession after the financial panic of 2008.

It has been reported that the collective wealth of the UKs 1,000 richest people increased by 30 per cent in 2009, largely due to the efforts of London-based steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal. Claiming the top spot for the sixth consecutive year Mittal seen his fortune double from £10,800 million to £22,450 million in the wake of the recovery of the steel industry worldwide.

Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich remains second on the list, whilst adding a mere £400 million to his stack of £7,400 million.

The Duke of Westminster, retains his place as the wealthiest UK born member of the list saw his mainly property based fortune increase to £6,750 million.

According to a recent survey, most of the UK’s small companies feel that the current tax system it too complex, and would like to see it simplified,

Two thousand small and medium sized UK enterprises (SMEs) took part in the survey that found that 77% participating feel that the current system is preventing them from taking advantage of tax benefits and breaks, while

60% were found to be unaware what entitlements they may be suitable for.

While many experts see SMEs as the engine for economic recovery and a key battleground in the upcoming election, many small businesses find the complexity of the tax system frustrating, with almost three quarters with the impression that the tax system was actually acting as a barrier for start-ups.

An ambitious new UK company offering people the chance to rent their neighbours’ cars has had hundreds of drivers registering on the site just a week after launch. The company Whipcar, launched in mid-April, uses the internet to connect owners of underused cars with drivers looking for short-term rentals for a trip to the shops or the school run. But insurance limitations mean that Whipcar has had to turn away a surprisingly large number of sports car owners. Who wanted to become part of take advantage Whipcar’s system, which lets them set their own price before lending their pride and joy to fully insured and vetted neighbours. Whipcar is just one example of a business using the web as a marketplace to bridge the gap between car ownership and traditional rentals. Streetcar, which pioneered car clubs in the UK, was acquired last month for $50 million by Zipcar, an American competitor whose model it was based on.

The FTSE 100 joined stock markets globally in tumbling deep into the red as the Greek bailout failed to ease investor fears. The Footsie fell 2.6%, down 142.2 points to 5411.1,

US-based United Airlines and Continental Airlines have agreed a deal to merge, creating the world’s biggest carrier. The two companies, that both have made losses in recent years, have predicted that the merger, worth around two billion pounds, will allow the now company to cut around five hundred million pounds ($1 billion) a year.

The new company will be trade as United Airlines while using the current Continental colours. News of the deal sent both companies shares upwards of Wall Street.

Shares on Wall Street have fallen sharply as concerns about high levels of European government debt continue to reduce confidence.

The Dow Jones falling by 2%, and NASDAQ by 2.98 %. THE Dow Jones closed down 225 points to 10926.77 while NASDAQ dropped 74.49 points to close on 2924.25

Oil giant BP has acknowledged that they are to be held responsible for cleaning up the huge oil spill which occurred after an accident to one of its wells off the Gulf of Mexico on the US coast.

BP boss Tony Hayward predicted that the spill would need to be contained for two to three months. Since the BP Deepwater Horizon rig sank on 22 April Thousands of barrels of oil have been leaking into the ocean. Meanwhile BP shares hit a seven-month low on about the cost of cleaning up the massive oil spill. Shares in BP fell by 4.3%, (25 pence) to 551 pence in early trading, making for an overall fall of more than 15% since the explosion on the rig two weeks ago.

Despite of forecasts that car sales are not liable to peak again for five years, it has been reported that global car production increased by more than half in the first quarter of this year in comparison to 2009,. Data for 12 of the world’s biggest car markets, accounting for more than three-quarters of world automobile output, showed double-digit increases in the first quarter of 2010. In China, Japan, Canada, Mexico, and the UK, the year-on-year rise was up by almost 75%.

Reaction to the approval of an unprecedented bail-out package to rescue Greece’s embattled economy has been muted. The package, which will see Eurozone members and the IMF loan Greece €110 billion (£95 billion) over three years, had been widely anticipated, but came after the Greek government agreed to make severe budget cuts.

However several Eurozone member countries, with Germany’s voice being loudest heard, have questioned whether the rescue package and budget cuts combined will be sufficient to solve Greece’s deep-seated problems.

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Tags: Bank, Bank of England, Banking, BP, BP Deepwater Horizon, British Economy, CEBR, Centre for Economics and Business Research, Continental Airlines, Dow Jones, Economics, Economy, Employment, Financial News, FTSE, Gordon Brown, Lakshmi Mittal, Mervyn Jones, Money, Money Markets, Mortgage, Mortgages, NASDAQ, Property Prices, Recession, Retail, Roman Abramovich, Streetcar, Tony Hayward, UK Banks, UK Economy, UK government, UK Recession, United Airlines, Wall Street, Warren Buffett, Whipcar, Zipcar

Financial analysts fear that Britain could be among the countries that could follow Greece into a financial crisis. The uncertainty comes after Dominique Strauss-Kahn’s head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned of economic "contagion" spreading across Europe.

The IMF urged politicians to finalise a bail-out for the debt-laden Mediterranean country, saying that every day lost in resolving the problems risked spreading the impact "far away".

Strauss-Kahn’s comments came amid growing evidence of Europe’s mounting fiscal problems after Spain’s debt was downgraded following in the footsteps of Portugal as well as Greece.

Late Thursday Germany was holding out for more economic reforms from Greece before agreeing to an unprecedented multi-billion euro bail-out plan.

UK house prices increased by 1% month-on-month in April, according to the latest house price index.

Property experts pointed out that April’s figures did receive an additional boost from the fact that April was one of the weaker months of 2009. However with property values beginning to increase from May last year, it will be difficult to maintain this rate of growth in the coming months.

On the commercial property front, it appears that the appeal of London’s robust shopping demand continues attract the leading for international retail chains to the city. A recent survey has revealed how 58 percent of international retail brands have opened outlets not just in London but throughout the UK, spurred by strong consumer demand.

Preliminary assessments have revealed that the European air transport sector swallowed as much as €2.5 billion in losses from disruption caused by Iceland’s volcanic eruption. The loss assessment conducted by the European Commission could well be the model that an industry bailout will be based on. Some of the airlines affected have argued that flawed computer models used by member states were partially responsible for grounding planes, even when the airlines insisted that was safe for them to resume their services. A spokesman for the UK Department for Transport stated that while the "UK cannot unilaterally provide new aid to affected companies it continues "to explore options" with the Commission. Meanwhile, budget airline EasyJet have cautioned that governments should be prevented from providing aid to "ailing national carriers" who might use the financial damage caused by the volcanic disruption as a pretext for a bailout.

Royal Dutch Shell today announced a 49% surge in first quarter profits as the energy giant joined rival BP in benefiting from higher oil prices.

The Anglo-Dutch group reported earnings of £3.2 billion ($4.9 billion) for the first three months of the year – a day after BP posted a profit of £3.6 billion for the same period. The company’s chief executive explained that rising energy prices and an improved operational performance meant Shell’s profits were sharply higher than the $1.18 billion in the final quarter of 2009.

Shell’s performance has lagged behind BP as it has been forced invest heavily in finding new sources of oil and gas at a time when refining margins are under pressure due to global overcapacity and economic weakness.

Today’s results are back to the levels of the first quarter of 2009, when crude prices averaged just over $41 dollars a barrel, while the figure today stands at an average of $76 dollars a barrel.

Imperial Tobacco has reported a 15 percent rise in profits for the first half of their financial year. The increase comes through an increase in demand in some of their key European markets for cheaper roll-your-own tobacco. From factory-made cigarettes Bristol-based Imperial Tobacco, whose brands include Lambert & Butler and Davidoff reported a pre-tax profit of £974 million for the six months to March 31, on turnover up eight percent at £13.4 billion.

Sterling continues to grow in strength against the dollar closing on $1.5351, whilst falling back slightly against the troubled Euro on €1.155

There was a positive mood on the stock exchange on Thursday, with U.K. stocks mostly on the up. Among the most active were Unilever, the world’s second-largest food and detergent company, whose shares advanced by 3.2 percent. After BSkyB the U.K.’s biggest pay-television provider reported an increase in third-quarter profit their shares rose by the most in more than a year. Also shares in AstraZeneca, the U.K.’s second-largest drug-maker, advanced by 2.3 percent.

The FTSE 100 rose 30.89 points to 5,617.8. The market appears to be rebounding from two days of losses prompted by the downgrading the credit ratings of Greece, Portugal and Spain.

Stateside, the Federal Reserve have conformed their pledge to keep interest rates low for an “extended period”, while offering a slightly more upbeat assessment of the US economy. The Fed’s open market committee reiterated that its main interest rate would remain at its target range of 0-0.25 per cent. The figure has stood at this level since December 2008.

Analysts point out that the financial recovery appears to be gathering steam in the US in recent months, with most economic indicators in line or ahead of previous expectations. However, pressure on policymakers to start raising interest rates has not risen accordingly, with inflation remaining in control.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones made a recovery from early week falls, closing up 122.05 points to 11167.32, while the NASDAQ rose 40.19 points to 2511.92

It appears that American consumers have re-discovered the joys of shopping, with retail sales stronger than forecast. The US housing market, meanwhile, has shown fresh signs of a rebound, with home prices increasing on an annual basis for the first time in three years in February,

In the computer hardware world, the news is that Palm, one of the leading pioneer in the smart phone business, are to acquired by US computer giant Hewlett-Packard (HP) for £657 million ($1 billion)

A spokesman for HP said that Palm’s webOS operating system would help its expansion in the fast-growing market for smart phones and connected mobile devices. Although HP is paying a premium to Palm’s closing share price on Wednesday of $4.63, it is well below the company’s 52-week high of $18.09.

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Tags: AstraZeneca, Bank, BP, British Economy, BskyB, Davidoff, Dominique Strauss-Kah, Dow Jones, EasyJet, Economy, Employment, Financial News, FTSE, House Prices, HP, Imperial Tobacco, International Monetary Fund, Lambert & Butler, Money, Money Markets, NASDAQ, Palm, Recession, Retail, Royal Dutch Shell, Stock Markets, Stocks and shares, UK Banks, UK Department for Transport, UK Economy, UK government, UK Recession, Unilever, volcanic eruption, Wall Street

Recent research has show that close to 50 million pounds was paid out shareholders in the form of dividends, in many cases just a few days before the end of the tax year on April 6. Experts believe that many UK companies are employing this tactic as a means to help some of their big-income employees who are also shareholders to avoid the rise in the rate of income tax. If this is the case, it could cost the Treasury as much as £85 million pounds. Analysts estimate that the main "offenders" are directors in small to medium sized companies who want to minimise the effect of the soon to be effective 50 percent tax rate, due to their greater flexibility over returns.

A rise in UK retail sales, albeit a minor one has been reported for March by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) According to the ONS, retail sales volumes during the month grew by 0.4% from February, which is less than the 0.6% analysts had expected. Sales improved in February after a very poor January, report with retail sales being hard hit by the icy weather.

Overall, sales volumes during the first quarter of 2010 were reported to be down 1.7% from the equivalent quarter of last year.

Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has announced a series of proposals to toughen performance targets in its executive pay scheme. The announcement from RBS chairman Philip Hampton signals a key trigger point for RBS’s long-term incentive plan, which is to be revised upwards. Under the existing incentive plan bank executives gain a significant proportion of performance-linked rewards when the bank’s share price hits 50 pence. RBS shares are currently well over the fifty pence mark.

HSBC are reports to be on the look out for bankers to help them direct any industry-wide bank levy into government-sponsored venture capital agencies. The bank has toured Europe seeking support from colleagues in the industry for their plan to alter the terms of the ongoing debate about bank regulation. HSBC proposals include varying the capital buffers banks are required to hold, dependant on economic conditions. The bank’s argument is that banks need to hold higher capital in good times to absorb losses when conditions decline.

In an effort to strengthen confidence in its brand before a proposed launch onto the UK high street, the Bank of Ireland (BoI) that would have a spate and UK based board of directors. The UK move would also see BoI, which has operated in the UK in a partnership with Post Office since 2004, being regulated by the Financial Services Authority. Although the group has operated in the UK in various formats since the mid nineteen seventies, till now their operations have always been overseen by the Irish Financial Regulator, with customers protected through Ireland’s deposit guarantee scheme. In the meantime BoI have announced plans to raise £2.9 billion through a rights issue and private placing, in order to finance the expansion and meet its capital needs. The bank is in need to aid its recovery from the financial crisis due to the crash in the Eire economy which has been one of hardest hit, but has now emerged from what was one of Europe’s worst recessions. Irish lenders were particularly hit hard by the housing market crash, which saw billions of Euros-worth of home loans go bad.

UK Coal, Britain’s largest coal mining company, has announced 2009 losses of almost £130 million in what it describes as “an extremely challenging year for the group”.

Total demand fell to 7 million tonnes from 7.9 million in 2008, while the Group’s financial results revealed a pre-tax loss of £129.1 million, compared to a minor loss (£15.6 million) the previous year.

A spokesman for UK Coal commented that while the financial results for 2009 were poor, new contracts and developments to their property portfolio look set to help boost profitability in 2010, with the Group planning to disposal of land for agricultural use expected to help reduce its debt.

As the largest producer of coal in the country, last year UK Coal mined 15% of the total amount of coal burned in the UK.

For the third time in six months mobile phone retailer Carphone Warehouse have raised their full-year profit forecast.

A company spokesman has no predicted that they expect net profits for the year to the end of March to be around the £47 million mark, considerably more than the £40 million to £45 million predicted at the beginning of the year.

Strong growth due to the joint venture with US group Best Buy, cost cutting and strong sales of smart-phones were said to be the principal factors behind the profit growth.

Uncertainty regarding the Euro pushed Sterling up against the dollar while the Euro fell. The pound closed on $1.5263 and €1.580

On the FTSE, stocks plunged at the fasted rate for one day for five months after the economies of both Greece and Portugal were downgraded spurring concern that these heavily in debt European nations are moving closer to default. The index sank 150.33 to 5,603.52, its biggest drop since late November 2009.

Greece has become the first eurozone member to have its debt downgraded to junk level, while Portugal’s debt was also lowered on fears of "contagion", adding to the markets’ rout and a fall in the euro. The German government immediately came out with a statement that it would not "let Greece fall", and there were signs that an aid package could be increased.

Profits at oil giant BP have more than doubled from a year ago on the back of rising oil prices.

Profit for January to March was £3.6 billion, ($5.6 billion) compared with the around £1.45 for the first quarter of 2009 – a 135% rise.

The profit figure is also up on the profit made in the last three months of 2009.

BP has benefited from rising global oil prices, which averaged $76 a barrel in the first three months of 2010, compared to an average of $41 a barrel a year ago.

On the news of Greece’s possible default, shares on Wall Street fell sharply. The Dow Jones dropped 213.04 points to 10991, 99 while NASDAQ fell 51.48 points to 2471.47.

Car giant Ford has reported net income of $2.1 billion for the first three months of 2010, its highest quarterly profit for six years, and cancels out a a loss of $1.43 billion for the same period in 2009.

A spokesman for the company said the result was down to a recovering economy, which meant people were again beginning to buy expensive, one-off items.

Ford also predicted that it will remain in profit every quarter this year.

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Tags: Bank, Bank of Ireland, Banking, BP, British Economy, Carphone Warehouse, Dow Jones, Economy, Employment, Financial News, Ford, FTSE, HSBC, income tax, Irish Financial Regulator, Money, NASDAQ, Office for National Statistics, Post Office, Retail, Royal Bank of Scotland, Stocks and shares, Tax, UK Banks, UK Coal, UK Economy, UK government, UK Recession

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has stated that governments must act to curb the increasing power of banks in the aftermath of the financial crisis. The IMF has called for cooperation from governments to set out future financial regulatory reform agenda, whilst stressing that some of the "too-big-to-fail" institutions had been made even stronger by the financial crisis. The IMF went on to warn that the large government financed deficits run-up during the financial crisis could pose a risk of starting a second credit crunch.

Proposals from the IMF include imposing two new taxes on banks in order to raise funds to pay for potential future bailouts and to penalise excessive profit-making. UK Chancellor Alistair Darling was reported as having welcomed the proposal:

Recent reports show that the number of Britons buying a home for the first time fell to the lowest in almost two decades as tighter lending conditions curbed people’s ability to purchase property. Some 347,000 first-time buyers took out a home loan in the year through February, less than half the peak figure of 700,000 recorded in the period from 2004 to 2005. Reasons given largely include the bank’s policy of squeezing credit as they seek to rebuild their balance sheets To aid first-time buyers, the government last month scrapped a tax on house purchases for those spending less than £250,000 pounds ($384,000) which help a few buyers, However many don’t have the 25 percent deposit lenders that lenders now demand

Official data released on Wednesday showed that the number of people in the U.K. claiming jobless benefits has fallen further than anticipated in March. Overall unemployment rose above 2.5 million, reaching its highest level for more than 15 years. The data drew conflicting responses from the main parties ahead of the May 6 general elections. The Office for National Statistics said the number of people receiving jobseekers allowance fell 32,900 in March to 1.54 million, the fourth decline in five months.

Britain’s largest supermarket chain Tesco has announced plans to l create 16,000 jobs this year, after the company announced a 10 per cent rise in profits for 2009. Tesco pledged 9,000 new jobs for the UK as they confirmed pre-tax profits of £3.2 billion for the financial year to 27 February 2010. 2009

saw a record turnover of £56.9 billion for the retailer, which have now almost trebled in size over the past decade and currently employs 460,000 people in 14 countries. . The company’s non-food business generated £9 billion in UK revenues alone

In a bid to expand their share in Europe’s growing market for the auto rental service, the American company Zipcar Inc. has announced that they are to acquire UK car-sharing peer Streetcar Ltd. The acquisition, valued around $50 million, will give Zipcar a larger presence in the U.K., where Streetcar is the biggest car-sharing company,

Zipcar began operating in London in 2006 and has 12,000 U.K. members who pay a fee to rent cars by the hour or day while Wimbledon based Streetcar, based in Wimbledon, has 50,000 members in the U.K. Its revenue last year was about $25 million.

Online fashion retailer ASOS have announced that they anticipate profits of around £20 million pounds ($32.09 million) after an increase of turnover of around one third to £223 million for the year to the end of March. A spokesman for the company announced "another excellent year" and that ASOS are approaching this year with considerably more confidence."

Tui Travel announced that they have raised £500 million of fresh financing in anticipation of cash flow problems in the wake of travel disruption caused by the volcanic ash cloud. The holiday operator warned yesterday that it was losing up to six million pounds a day. A spokesman for the company said the new finance would be largely used to "exploit its strong pipeline of attractive acquisition opportunities". Analysts said the finance would also allow Tui Travel to partially repay a £600 million pound loan that they took from Tui AG, the German travel group who are majority shareholders in Tui Travel.

Sterling rose to a two-month high against the euro and advanced against the dollar on Thursday after the minutes of the Bank of England’s policy meeting earlier this month showed a more positive outlook. The pound closed against the dollar on 1.5388 while the Euro stood at 1.1157

London’s FTSE 100 failed to keep intraday gains on Wednesday as a recovery rally among banks faded coupled with concerns about the potential impact of the disruption caused by the volcanic eruption in Iceland on the recovering economy.

London’s benchmark index fell 62 points, to 5,665.33, turning round from modest opening gains as financial stocks joined resource companies at the bottom of the market.

US President Barack Obama has again attacked critics of his banking reforms. In a speech which warned that without change the financial crisis will be repeated, Obama pointed out that reckless practices and financial firms that acted like "bandits" should never be allowed to operate again.

Regulatory reform was in the financial sector’s interests, the president said adding that "bankers and lobbyists should not fight against it ".

President Obama made his speech to an audience of bankers and financial experts in New York

US stock prices dropped on Thursday after rising on Wednesday morning, boosted by earnings results from Apple that smashed analyst expectations, with Morgan Stanley and Boeing also posting higher than anticipated first-quarter figures. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed on 11,134.29 while the Nasdaq Composite was up on 2,509.10.

Apple led the technology stocks in the Dow higher, rising 6.3 per cent as the company reported a 90 per cent increase in second-quarter profit and a 49 per cent increase in revenue after the session’s close on Tuesday, far surpassing analysts’ estimates. The consumer technology products group had been expected to record sales of around $12 billion; instead, it reported sales of $13.5 billion in the first quarter.

Software giants Microsoft announced a profits leap by 35% in the first three months of 2010, largely due to the continued success of their Windows 7 operating system. Microsoft’s net profits for the quarter of £2.6 billion ($4 billion) were also attributed to "strong growth" from its Bing search engine business and XBox Live. Sales hit a record $14.5 billion, up 6% on the same period in 2009.

Doing less well were Yahoo, whose share dropped by almost five percent as the search engine provider forecast lower-than-expected second-quarter sales citing losing market share.

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Tags: Alistair Darling, Apple, ASOS, Bank, Bank of England, Banking, Bing, Boeing, British Economy, British Pound, Dow Jones, Economics, Employment, Financial News, FTSE, International Monetary Fund, Microsoft, Morgan Stanley, Office for National Statistics, Retail, Streetcar Ltd, Tesco, UK Banks, UK Economy, UK government, Unemployment, Windows 7, Xbox Live, Zipcar Inc

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said on Sunday he wanted Financial Services Authority (FSA) – - Britain’s financial watchdog — to investigate Goldman Sachs after it was charged with fraud by U.S. regulators. Meanwhile, the UK Financial Services Authority did not make any comment on Brown’s speech on Sunday. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday charged Wall Street investment giant Goldman Sachs with "defrauding investors" over subprime mortgage securities, which were largely blamed for the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. The government agency, which is responsible for regulating the financial markets in the country, alleged that Goldman Sachs failed to disclose crucial information to investors of its securities that a major hedge fund had bet against the securities.

Royal Bank of Scotland, the part-nationalised UK bank that lost $840 million in an allegedly fraudulent investment created by Goldman Sachs, will await the outcome of US investigations before deciding whether to pursue its own legal action. RBS will see if the Securities and Exchange Commission is likely to be successful in the civil suit it has launched against Goldman. In the suit, it accuses the investment bank of securities fraud relating to a complex derivatives deal linked to subprime mortgages. RBS lost money on the deal through its ownership of ABN, the Dutch bank it bought at the height of the credit bubble in 2007, which had acted as a guarantor for ACA, the main counterparty in the deal.

City bankers saw near unprecedented income growth over the past decade, with the highest paid receiving nearly a third of the UK’s total wage bill, according to recent research. The study, which cited bankers’ bonuses and pay at the top end of financial services as a driving force behind Britain’s rising pay inequality, found financial services professionals took home an additional £12 billion a year by the end of the ten year period.

Bank dividends throughout Europe are at their lowest level on record as recovering financial institutions retain earnings to increase capital. According to city banking sources the average dividend yield among European banks is now 1.9 percent, with over a quarter of the continent’s top 50 banks paying no dividend. Regulators have been pressuring banks not to resume or increase payments while details of new capital requirements remain unclear. Some banks have cut dividends despite making a profit, with British bank Barclays cutting its dividend from 11.5 pence to 2.5 pence despite profits of £11.6 billion last year.

Shares in Royal Bank of Scotland closed up 2.1 pence at 50.4 pence on Monday, 0.2 pence above the 50.2 pence average price paid when the Government invested £45.5 billion pounds. The current price represents a £180 million profit for British taxpayers. Shares in Lloyds Banking Group rose 0.72 pence to 65.42 pence, leaving the taxpayer £2.26 billion in the red on the Government’s 41 percent investment.

Some of the UK’s poorest northern and peripheral regions have seen a growth in business and investment, narrowing the gap with the south as an attractive place to do business, according to a recent survey. The survey showed that the highest increase in rankings since 1997 for the UK’s periphery. Northwest England was the star performer in the index, rising from eighth to fourth place among the UK’s 12 regions.

According to a quarterly report for the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising, (IPA) signs of improving business confidence among UK advertisers are beginning to show, and for the first time since 2007 The survey, regarded as a barometer for both the economy as well as the advertising industry, found some 21 percent of marketing directors had increased their advertising budget in the first quarter of 2010, while 36 percent signalled plans to raise their spending in the new financial year.

In the run up to the World Cup Bumper shipments of digital set-top boxes for televisions are set to buoy first-half sales at Pace. The football tournament, which will be broadcast in high definition and in 3D, has seen pay-TV operators ship set-top boxes to customers in time for the contest. A spokesman for the company said the World Cup would act as an advertisement for high-definition television, boosting sales after the competition has finished. Pace said trading in the first quarter of 2010 had been in line with management expectations. It has forecast double-digit revenue growth for the full year amid equally strong volume improvements. Pace is focusing on producing technology for the next generation of set-top boxes, which will combine internet connectivity, multimedia storage and digital television. Last month, it acquired Bewan, a French maker of modems and “gateway” boxes that combine the features of wireless modems, digital storage devices and internet telephony routers.

Supermarket chain Tesco are planning to recruit 1,000 new members of staff to sell electronics in its stores. Tesco’s announcement of its new scheme comes in response to the debut of the American electronics chain Best Buy in the UK next week. Best Buy specialises in offering expert advice to customers on its products, a model that Tesco is hoping to emulate with its own "tech team". Tesco is expected to become the third largest electrical retailer in the UK next year.

Sterling suffered as fears over a possible hung parliament after next month’s election weighed on the pound. An opinion poll showed the UK’s Liberal Democrats, the smallest of the country’s three main parties, had taken the lead. That was the first time the Lib Democrats have led the polls and came after a well-received performance by Nick Clegg, Lib Dem leader, in last week’s televised debate between the UK’s three main political parties. The news heightened fears that an incoming government would lack the strength to get to grips with the UK’s record fiscal deficit. The pound was last seen sitting on $1.5353, and at €1.1440.

The FTSE 100 rose 40 points to 5783.60 at close of trading on Tuesday.

Wall Street banking giant Citigroup has reported a profit of $4.4 billion (£2.9 billion) for the first three months of the year.

The result represents a return to profit after the bank lost $7.6 billion in the last quarter of last year after repaying government loans.

Last week, rival bank JP Morgan reported better-than-expected first quarter profits of $3.3 billion while the Bank of America posted a $3.2 billion profit for the period.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average made some profits early in the week, up, down 99 points to 11.117.06 while the NASDAQ Composite rose by 20 points to close on 2,500.31.

Japanese car maker Toyota has agreed to pay a record $16.4 million (£10.7 million) to US safety regulators following recent safety concerns.

Toyota was asked to pay the fine for failing to inform the US government of safety concerns surrounding faulty accelerator pedals.

Millions of Toyotas were recalled earlier this year amid reports that the pedals could become stuck.

The fine is the largest ever handed out by the US transportation department.

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Tags: ABN, Bank, Banking, Barclays, Best Buy, British Economy, Citigroup, Credit Crunch, Dow Jones, Economics, Economy, Employment, Financial News, Financial Services Authority, FSA, FTSE, Goldman Sachs, Gordon Brown, Institute of Practitioners in Advertising, JP Morgan, Lloyds Banking Group, Money, Money Management, Money Markets, NASDAQ, Nick Clegg, Recession, Retail, Royal Bank of Scotland, Securities and Exchange Commission, Stock Markets, Stocks and shares, subprime, Tesco, Toyota, UK Banks, UK Economy, UK government, UK Recession, Wall Street, World Cup

UK airlines are expected lose at least £130 million ($200 million) a day in revenues as a result of the volcanic ash-linked disruption, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA). IATA, the industry’s governing body has said. Said its members would also lose further money as a result of having to augment expensive contingency plans.

All UK flights in England and Wales were grounded on Friday Those airspace restrictions will remain in place until further notice, with widespread restrictions now in place across Europe.

Research the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has disclosed that almost three quarters of small and medium sized companies (SMEs) have suffered from late payments in the past year, leaving them burdened with £63 billion pounds in unpaid debt. The average amount of bad debt being written off by SMEs doubled in 2009 to £2,529 pounds.

According to a recent report by the UK Institute of Directors, At least £500 billion will need to be invested on infrastructure in the next decade in order for the UK to remain competitive, according to the Institute of Directors (IoD).

The IoD said that despite the fiscal deficit, public spending on energy, transport, and water and should be implemented as it is vital to economic growth.

The group of company bosses suggested that the proceeds from re-privatising the banks, which could be over £50 billion, should be spent on new infrastructure. In 2009 just £7.8 billion was invested on infrastructure. The IoD said that at least £130 billion should be spent on transport projects and that £300 billion will be needed for energy infrastructure, including investments in energy efficiency measures for housing.

Global credit checking group Experian has said UK banks are lagging behind their U.S. counterparts in terms of their willingness to lend to consumers in the six months to the end of March. Experian blamed lack of credit and consolidation in the financial sector for a seven percent fall in organic revenue at its main credit services operations in the UK and Ireland. Shares in the FTSE 100 listed company fell 18.5 pence to 616.5 pence, after it said that its main business of performing credit checks in developed economies had put a lid on revenue improvement

Britain’s biggest retailer Tesco will reveal record profits of around £3.3 billion pounds this week, on global turnover that will breach the £65 billion pound mark. This figure, which will represent an increase of 12 percent on 2009, and double the combined profits of competitors Asda, Morrisons and Sainsbury’s.

The John Lewis Partnership, which is seen as a barometer of British retailing, today announced that sales grew 10% in the week to 10 April, compared with the same period a year ago. The renowned employee-owned department store said customers are still spending despite the uncertainty over next months’ election. The firm has been outperforming its rivals this year and said it is optimistic that strong sales will continue. However, sales at its Waitrose supermarket chain fell 16.7% to £80 million in 2009. However, compared to the same period last year, sales surged 10.7%, highlighting Waitrose’s current position as one of the UK’s fastest growing supermarket.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc.’s UK supermarket arm Asda Group Ltd have announced their aim to become the U.K.’s number one non-food retailer in five years, Asda set out plans for a huge expansion of its standalone general merchandise stores, with plans to increase the number of its ‘Asda Living’ with an average size of 28,000 square feet stores six-fold,, to 150 in five years time, up from 25.

Leading UK Energy provider Eon UK has predicted that European Union regulations are liable to expose Britain to energy shortfalls. The energy firm, which is part of German utility E.ON, has said that EU rules are forcing its oil-fired power station at Grain in southeast England to shut down. The announcement comes as the UK Business Council for Sustainable Energy (BCSE) suggested Britain would need to increase its generating capacity by more than 40,000 megawatts to maintain power supply when output from renewable sources recedes. The BCSE said Britain is planning to install 8,000 offshore wind turbines over the coming decade.

Mobile phone operator Orange, have announced the signing of a deal with BT intended to provide an improved high-speed Internet service to its customers by abandoning its fixed-line network. The company will now compete directly with market leaders Virgin Media and TalkTalk, in a move that could lower charges. The deal with BT will place Orange in the same position as Vodafone who currently offer their customers broadband services using BT’s network.

Dreams, the bed and mattress retailer, have announced an increase in operating profits of 36 percent to £18.4 million pounds for 2009. Latest figures released by the company show sales rose by 23 percent to £280 million pounds. The 240-store chain has plans to open up to 450 stores in the coming years.

On the FTSE Royal Bank of Scotland added 5.11 percent to their shares, making for the best performance of the session. The increase came as a result of positive broker comment from Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Competing UK banks did less well, with Barclays Bank dropping 2.56 percent on the news that the SEC has accused Goldman Sachs of civil fraud in relation to activities revolving around mortgage investments.

The U.K.’s second-largest software company Autonomy saw their shares drop to their lowest level for two months after issuing a pessimistic trading

Shares in British Airways understandably dropped 1.9 percent under a cloud of dust and ash.

The pound continues its slow recovery, despite closing down at $1.5396 before the weekend, while closing slightly up against the Euro at 1.140.

U.K. stocks retreated from a 22- month high before the weekend, falling 81.05 points to 5743.96 after having swung between gains and losses at least eight times on Friday. The FTSE 100 is heading for a seventh consecutive week of gains, the longest winning streak since July,

Bank of America (BoA) has returned to profit, reporting a net income of $3.2 billion (£2.1 billion) for the first quarter of 2010, compared with a $194 million loss in the previous quarter. However figures show a drop in profits of 24% than f the same period a year ago. The US bank said record sales and trading activity at its capital markets arm – including acquisition Merrill Lynch – had driven the latest results.

BoA also announced that they were also setting aside less money to cover anticipated losses on bad loans.

As was to be expected the Dow Jones Industrial Average took a step back on Friday, down 123 points to 11.018.66 while the NASDAQ Composite also lost some ground, down 34.43 points to close on 2,481.26.

Goldman Sachs has been accused of misleading their investors about subprime mortgage products before the US housing market collapsed.

The accusations came from the US Securities and Exchange Commission who charged the bank with failing to disclose crucial information about a synthetic collateralised debt obligation (CDO) product that it structured, which was closely linked to the performance of the residential mortgage-backed securities market. The regulator said that Goldman allowed Paulson & Co, a hedge fund, to influence the portfolio selection process while hedging investment against the CDO.

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Tags: ASDA, Ash, Autonomy, Bank, Bank of America, Banking, Barclays Bank, British airways, British Economy, Credit Crunch, Dow Jones, Dreams, Economics, Economy, Eon UK, Experian, Financial News, FTSE, Goldman Sachs, International Air Transport Association, John Lewis Partnership, Money, Money Markets, Morrisons, Mortgage, Mortgages, NASDAQ, Orange, Retail, Royal Bank of Scotland, Sainsbury, Stock Markets, Stocks and shares, subprime, TalkTalk, Tesco, UK airlines, UK Banks, UK Economy, UK government, UK Institute of Directors, UK Recession, Virgin Media, Vodafone, Waitrose, Wal-Mart Stores Inc

Airports in the U.K. and northern Europe shut down as a cloud of volcanic ash swept south from an eruption in Iceland, disrupting travel for thousands of people booked on flights with British Airways Plc and other carriers. According to flight-control organization National Air Traffic Services, U.K. airspace will continue to be closed till the dust and ash disperses into the atmosphere. Norway and Sweden also shut airports and north-German terminals will also block departures and landings, as the ash threatens to stall jet engines and affect the quality of air in plane cabins. The problem comes after a volcano under Iceland’s Eyjafjallajökull glacier erupted for the second time in four weeks, with certain people claiming it might not have been an accident.

A recent report has shown that in March UK Consumer Confidence fell by the highest level since July 2008. The fall in confidence was largely attributed to the upcoming general election set to take place on May 6, and its uncertain outcome with the possibility of a hung parliament looming.

Job vacancies in London’s financial services industry more than doubled in the first quarter from under 5,000 to more than 11,000, when compared to the first quarter of 2009. Research has forecast the recovery would continue its momentum this year with a 26 percent rise on vacancies from the previous year. The report also showed rising salaries for City job candidates secure with a shortage of suitable candidates pushing salaries up. The picture outside of London is less optimistic where the financial jobs market was reported as being "sluggish"

The future of Arsenal Football Club remains unclear after U.S. billionaire Stan Kroenke, the club’s largest stakeholder, reportedly made a surprise move to acquire the St Louis Rams, an American football team. It was expected earlier this week that it emerged that after Arsenal’s fourth largest shareholder Lady Nina Bracewell-Smith had appointed Blackstone to find a buyer for her 15.9 percent share holding in Arsenal, Kroenke holds an almost 30% percent stake would make a move to take over the club. However, analysts have predicted that, at least for the time being, Kroenke is unlikely to make the bid as he will be short of the necessary capital to pursue both deals.

Telford Homes have announced that their performance for the year to April will be ahead of expectations. The Essex-focused residential property developer benefited from demand for housing close to the site of the London 2012 Olympics, with increased demand for homes in the Stratford area in particular. Sales have been boosted by foreign buyers with a company spokesman stating that the Games had "put Stratford on the map". The area around Stratford is undergoing multi-billion pound regeneration as well as the creation of a rail link to continental Europe.

Aim-listed technology company Bglobal, has won regulatory approval for its new Smart 1 product. The product will use mobile phone technology to convert traditional energy meters into "smart meters" without disrupting the power supply. A spokesman from Bglobal said the technology marked "a big step forward for smart meters", with the company also signing a marketing deal with mobile operator Orange. On the news, shares in Bglobal closed up two pence at 44.25 pence.

The three largest UK mobile phone operators — Vodafone, O2 and Orange have confirmed their appointments to market Apple’s iPad in Britain. However, they will have to put their marketing plans on hold as Apple has been forced to delay the worldwide launch due to unprecedented home demand. The three companies will offer competing monthly pricing plans for customers who want to surf the web using 3G mobile broadband services with both pre-pay and contract deals are expected to be offered.

Plans to create 3,500 jobs over the coming three years have been announced by the InterContinental Hotels Group. The jobs will be created as part of expansion plans, which will see the hotel company open 36 new hotels in the UK. Globally, expansion of the hotel company will see more than 100,000 jobs created during the same timeframe, as it opens 1,400 hotels. A spokesman for the InterContinental Hotels Group announced that a UK government commitment to support and promote the tourism industry would encourage InterContinental to create even more jobs.

After a performance that beat analysts’ full-year forecasts, high street retailer JD Sports Fashion have announced plans to increase their final dividend by 65 percent. A spokesman for JD Sports Fashion went on to announce that the company was considering further European acquisitions. Christmas trading helped to boost pre-tax profits 61 percent from £38.2 million to £61.4 million pounds, while turnover rose 15 percent to £769.8 million pounds. JD Sports increased its dividend from 8.9 pence to 14.7 pence. On the news, shares closed down 10.5 pence at 723 pence, coming after a rise of 13 percent in the last week.

The British Pound continued to rise higher after press reports that the Conservative Party have increased their chances of winning an outright majority in the upcoming general election, largely be promising to reduce the UK financial deficit.

The pound continues its slow recovery, closing at $1.5429, while rising e against the Euro at 1.1387.

The FTSE 100 continued its topsy turvey ride this week, rising 64 points to 5825.51

In the US, Ben Bernanke chairman of the US Federal Reserve has continued with his predictions that the US still faces "difficult choices" in cutting the country’s deficit, adding that weakness in the construction sector was still weighing on the economy. Bernanke’s cautious comments came despite data showing a 1.6% increase in March retail sales.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average continues its rise, up 112 points to 11.144.57 while the NASDAQ Composite also rose a massive 50 points to close on 2,515.69

Larger than expected first quarter profits of $3.3 billion (£2.1 billion), for the first quarter have been reported by Wall Street banker, JP Morgan Chase. The Wall Street firm’s net income was up 55% compared with a year ago, and unchanged on the previous quarter.

JP Morgan is the first major bank to report first-quarter results. On the news, their shares rose 3.4% to $47.40

China’s economy grew at an annualised rate of 11.9% in the first quarter of the year, which experts predict could lead to a revaluation of the yuan.

The growth figure was slightly higher than expected, while consumer price inflation was surprisingly low at 2.2%.

Internet giant Google has reported a 37% rise in first-quarter net profit, beating analysts’ expectations.

Profit for the three months to March came in at $1.96 billion (£1.26 billion) compared with the $1.42 billion for the same period last year

Turnover for the period climbed 23% to $6.78 billion, driven by an increase in online spending by advertisers. Google also announced that they taken on nearly 800 employees in the quarter, its biggest increase in staff for two years. Google’s total number of employees worldwide currently stands at 20,621.

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Tags: Apple iPad, Arsenal Football Club, Banking, Ben Bernanke, Bglobal, British Airways Plc, British Economy, cloud of volcanic ash, Dow Jones, Economics, Economy, Employment, Eyjafjallajökull glacier, Financial News, FTSE, Google, InterContinental Hotels Group, JD Sports, JP Morgan Chase, Lady Nina Bracewell-Smith, London 2012 Olympics, Money, Money Markets, NASDAQ, National Air Traffic Services, O2, Orange, Recession, Retail, Smart 1, St Louis Rams, Stan Kroenke, Telford Homes, UK Banks, UK Economy, UK government, UK Recession, Vodafone, Wall Street

The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has reported receiving five offers for their Williams & Glyn’s branch network. RBS were ordered to sell these branches as part of a European Commission state aid ruling in 2009, the business is valued at around £2 billion.

By Tuesday night’s deadline, speculations were that Santander, Virgin Money, National Australia Bank, BBVA and JC Flowers had all submitted bids, with Santander is widely believed to be the favourite bidder, with an offer potentially worth at least £2 billion. Santander recently completed the rebranding their UK operations under their own name

However, with Virgin now being backed by Wilbur Ross, the US billionaire, offering pledges on jobs their offer has to be taken seriously, with elections in a month’s time.

The UK government holds a 70 per cent equity stake in RBS, giving politicians and the public far greater influence over its fate.

The chief executive of U.S. telecommunications company Verizon Communications has said that there is "no compelling reason" for the U.S. Company to merge with British mobile network operator Vodafone. The two companies are continuing talks regarding their strategic options. Vodafone owns 45 percent of Verizon Wireless with Verizon holding the remaining 55 percent. However, there has been some conflict recently; with Vodafone pressuring Verizon to resume paying dividends since the U.S. Company blocked payments in order to reduce its debt burden. Shares in Vodafone dropped 2 pence to 149.6 pence on the statement.

Recent figures released by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) show that the number of cars on the UK roads has decreased for the first time since records began in 1904. The country’s total car fleet has declined by 0.7 percent in 2009. According to the SMMT factors that had to be taken into account for decline are the recession, the government car scrappage scheme, and new Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) regulations which remove the details of unlicensed vehicles from the database.

Kraft Foods came under attack in a report from a committee of U.K. lawmakers in a report critical of moves the American company made after its hostile $17.5 billion (£12 billion) takeover of Cadbury, the beloved British chocolate maker. The report by the U.K.’s Business Select Committee accuses Kraft of acting "irresponsibly and unwisely" after reneging on a promise to keep a Cadbury factory in Somerdale open, instead planning to move the plant’s production to Poland, resulting in the loss of 400 jobs. Meanwhile, British union leaders have called for a "Cadbury law" to protect British businesses from aggressive foreign takeovers.

ESPN, the Disney-owned sports television channel, has acquired the rights to deliver Premier League football highlights on UK mobile phones until 2013, supplanting British Sky Broadcasting, which has held the rights since 2007-08. The move strengthens ESPN’s position as a competitor to BSkyB and underlines the US broadcaster’s determination to expand its share of the UK sports market. For the three football seasons from August onwards, ESPN will deliver in-match, post-match and highlights from all 380 Barclays Premier League matches, Purchase of the mobile rights is the latest in a series of additions to ESPN’s sports portfolio.

Research conducted on behalf of the Association of Convenience Stores (ACS), representing an association of 33,500 small shopkeepers, indicates that 85 percent of the public oppose a liberalisation of trading laws that, if passed would allow large retail chains to open for longer on Sundays. The ACS stated that the current regulations assisted small retailers by encouraging local shopping in small stores. Large retailers including Topshop and House of Fraser have recently been lobbying the Business Secretary Lord Mandelson with requests to relax the existing laws.

The pound fell continues to recover if ever so slightly closing on $1.5273, whilst also gaining against the Euro to close on 1.1441

The U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index retreated from a 21-month high after a sell-off in commodity production shares .The benchmark Index lost 67.65 points to 5,712.7.

Former Federal Reserve governor Alan Greenspan has defended his record at a congressional hearing into the financial crisis. In a statement, Mr Greenspan denied that his policy of maintaining low interest rates had been a major factor in the crisis. Consistently low interest rates have been blamed for the expansion in the sub-prime mortgage market which led to the credit crunch. However, Greenspan voiced his opinion that the way the banks repackaged their loans was a major contributing factor to the crisis.

Stocks rallied yesterday after U.S. jobs increased by the most in three years, boosting optimism about the strength of a recovery in the world’s largest economy. Since March last year, the gauge has rebound more than 60 percent.

The Dow Jones closed up 45.87 points to 10943.39, while the NASDAQ index rose 9.15 points to close on 2440.31

As part of a global tie-up of the brands German carmaker Daimler announced that they are to give Renault and Nissan a 3.1% stake in its business, with Daimler taking a 3.1% stakes in both Renault and Nissan, in exchange. Renault and Nissan have held a trading alliance for more than a decade.

The deal will allow the companies to share technology and development costs while remain separate trading entities. According to a spokesman for Nissan, one of the key areas of co-operation will be in the development of electric cars and light commercial vehicles.

European financial markets continue to feel the pressures over the state of Greece’s debt-ridden economy. Banking stocks in particular, not only in Greece but in most of the other leading European countries, have seen sharp falls. Meanwhile it has been reported that the Greek government’s cost of borrowing has risen to record levels, reflecting investors’ concerns that Greece might not be pay back the loans due to the poor state of the country’s public finances.

The Athens Composite share index fell by 3.1%, with banks down 6.4% on average.

All major European markets also suffered, and banks in France and Germany were especially hit due to their exposure to Greece’s borrowing.

financial

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