US Economy Adds 204,000 Jobs In October

US employers added 204,000 jobs in October despite a federal shutdown that lasted for 16 days, officially released figures show.

The jobless rate ticked up slightly to 7.3% in October from 7.2% in September, likely because federal workers on forced holidays were counted as unemployed.

Overall, the figures suggested the budget stand-off had a more limited impact on the economy than initially feared.

The Labor Department said there was no "discernible" impact on payrolls from the government shutdown.

The report also showed 60,000 more jobs created in September and August than previously reported, suggesting that the economy had upward momentum heading into the shutdown last month.

"It's an impressively strong jobs number in the face of a government shutdown and underlying weakness in the US economy," Westpac senior currency strategist Richard Franulovich said.

The president said the shutdown had damaged the US credibility

Stock futures fell after the report was released at 8.30am local time (1330 GMT), and the yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose.

That suggests investors are worried that the better-than-expected job numbers could prompt the Federal Reserve to pull back on its stimulus efforts soon.

About 800,000 government workers were furloughed for all or part of the shutdown, which lasted from October 1 through October 16 as Congress battled over spending and President Barack Obama's health care overhaul.

The US came close to a deadline for raising its borrowing authority, bringing it to the brink of a potentially devastating default.

Separate figures released on Thursday showed that economic growth accelerated in the July-September quarter to an annual rate of 2.8% - up from 2.5% in the April-June quarter.

00.02 | 0 komentar | Read More

Hunt To Get £17m Payout From Hotcourses Sale

By Mark Kleinman, City Editor

Jeremy Hunt, the Health Secretary, is in line for a windfall worth more than £15m from a company sale that would propel him to the top of the Cabinet rich list.

Sky News can exclusively reveal that Hotcourses, an education listings service set up by Mr Hunt 17 years ago, is in detailed negotiations about being sold to Inflexion Private Equity, an investment firm, for about £35m.

Mr Hunt is understood to own 49% of Hotcourses, meaning that his shareholding would be worth just over £17m if the takeover is completed.

News of the prospective windfall for Mr Hunt, the MP for South West Surrey, may cause embarrassment for the Government at a time when a debate about the cost of living is dominating Britain's political discourse.

With the NHS expected to face a strain on resources during the winter, Mr Hunt is likely to face a tough few months in Westminster.

Ed Miliband, the Labour leader, has frequently sought to portray the Conservative-led coalition as an out-of-touch millionaires' club, and Mr Hunt is far from the only independently wealthy Cabinet minister.

Prime Minister David Cameron, Chancellor George Osborne, Foreign Secretary William Hague and Defence Secretary Philip Hammond are all said to have amassed multimillion pound fortunes.

Jeremy Hunt set up the company after working in Japan

However, a £35m sale of Hotcourses would also cement Mr Hunt's status as one of the most successful entrepreneurs to have forged a parliamentary career in recent times, during a period when politicians are frequently accused of having inadequate experience of the business world.

Private equity insiders said that Inflexion had outbid a number of other buyout firms to win a period of exclusivity in which to finalise an agreement. The roughly £35m price-tag is higher than previous estimates of Hotcourses' value.

It was unclear on Friday when the exclusivity period ends, but a source close to the transaction said it was unlikely to be announced for at least a few weeks.

"It could still fall through. It's not a done deal," they said.

Hotcourses was set up in 1996 by Mr Hunt and his business partner, Mike Elms, and provides listings information about evening, training, university and other courses.

Now employing more than 200 people, Mr Hunt established the business when he returned to the UK after two years in Japan teaching English and learning Japanese.

It now claims to be the world's largest course database, advertising more than 700,000 courses and 33,995 scholarships from more than 27,000 institutions.

According to accounts filed at Companies House for the six months to July 31, 2012, the company had a turnover of £6.5m, generating pre-tax profits during the period of just under £2m.

The Health Secretary, who turned 47 last week, has received several million pounds in dividends since Hotcourses was founded.

An aide to Mr Hunt refused to comment on the deal or on the size of his shareholding, but a person close to him insisted that he was not playing any role in the sale negotiations.

The latest Register of MPs' Interests confirms that the Health Secretary remains an investor in Hotcourses but does not disclose the size of his interest.

The company's website lists Mr Hunt as a member of its management team but states that he "stepped aside from all management responsibilities at Hotcourses Ltd in order to focus on his parliamentary duties, and is no longer involved in the running of the company".

It is unclear when Mr Hunt would receive the money from the sale of the company or whether he would remain as an investor under new owners.

Mr Elms is expected to continue running Hotcourses if Inflexion succeeds in acquiring it.

Inflexion, whose other investments include the retailer Ideal Shopping Direct and On The Beach, an online holiday business, declined to comment on the talks.

00.02 | 0 komentar | Read More

Mobile Spending 'Could Be Worth £23bn' By 2018

By Poppy Trowbridge, Business and Economics Correspondent

This year has been dubbed 'The Mobile Christmas' and with 48% growth in mobile shopping, retailers are increasingly targeting shoppers through digital devices.

British retailers will spend nearly £400m on advertising during the last three months of 2013 and consumer spending via mobiles and tablets is worth about nearly £8bn a year, according to research firm Verdict.

But over the next five years, the spread of smartphones and tablets will see our spending on these devices triple to £23bn.

Spending via mobiles and tablets is expected to triple over five years

Two thirds of that shopping is done at home, as buyers often wait until they are logged in to a secure network before purchasing items.

Matthew Rubin, retail analyst with Verdict Research, said: "While we are expecting growth in successive years, we are expecting this year to be the highest level of growth. Retailers really need to invest in their mobile websites now."

John Lewis announced its £7m Christmas television advertising campaign on Friday. The ad is set to a cover of Keane's 2004 hit Somewhere Only We Know sung by Lily Allen.

Supermarket chain Morrisons launched its Christmas TV advertising campaign during the prime-time slot of ITV's Coronation Street.

Some 20% of home shopping business at Asda is done via mobile or tablet

Asda says 20% of its home shopping business is done via a mobile or tablet, and that figure is growing by 1% each month.

The living room is becoming a key location for retailers to target consumers, as 67.2% of all online shoppers making a purchase from their home do so in their living room.

Wealthy young shoppers currently dominate mobile and tablet expenditure, but with increased access to cheaper, high-specification devices, older shoppers will have a much bigger impact over the next five years, Verdict research shows.

Still, window shopping hasn't entirely given way to digital methods yet.

Around 38% of online shoppers still research goods by viewing them in a store before purchasing them online.

00.02 | 0 komentar | Read More

Business Round-Up And Week Ahead

Sky's Naomi Kerbel offers a round-up of what's coming up in the week's business news.

:: Monday November 11

It's the start of Export Week in the UK on Monday. The Government's UK Trade & Investment will run a series of regional events to encourage businesses to get exporting.

:: Tuesday November 12

On Tuesday, to tie in with the Energy UK annual conference, Jeff Randall Live will deliver an energy special featuring the executive director of the International Energy Agency, Maria Van der Hoeven.

:: Wednesday November 13

Governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney will deliver his quarterly inflation and GDP forecast on Wednesday. 

:: Thursday November 14

Interim results from supermarket chain Asda on Thursday. It is owned by the biggest retailer in the world, Walmart.

:: Friday November 15

And on Friday the Bank of England's public consultation on polymer bank notes, closes. It is expected to a make a decision next month.

Tweet your business stories to @SkyNKTweets

00.02 | 0 komentar | Read More

Barclays Branches Open In Asda Supermarkets

Barclays is to open a string of branches in Asda supermarkets from next year, offering banking services seven days a week.

Eight branches will open by early 2014 under a pilot scheme in locations including Cheshire, West Yorkshire, Hertfordshire and East Kent.

Barclays said the move will offer its customers the flexibility of longer opening hours, which will mirror those of the Asda stores the branches are located in, as well as providing more convenient parking access.

It said that branches will be located in clearly defined and branded areas within the Asda stores, so that customers can do their banking in private.

The first branch will be opened in Asda Birchwood in Cheshire in February.

A further three branches will open in Asda stores in Pudsey in West Yorkshire, North Watford in Hertfordshire and Broadstairs in East Kent, with the aim to extend the pilot to open eight branches in total by early 2014.

The locations of the other branches are yet to be announced.

Metro Bank already boasts seven-day banking among its services and Marks & Spencer, which has been rolling out bank branches in its stores since last year, also has opening hours which mirror those of the shops in which they are sited.

M&S Bank offers a pager service meaning customers can carry on with their shopping instead of queuing.

Supermarket bank outlets are a common sight in the United States.

Charlotte Nelson, spokeswoman for financial information website Moneyfacts, said: "Gone are the days of inflexible banking, customers now have more options than ever before, including longer opening hours, online and telephone banking and even mobile apps.

"With providers' customers living increasingly hectic lives, it's more important than ever for customers to be able to access banking facilities when they require.

"Despite an online presence it is still very important for customers to go into a bank as many processes still require this stage (such as) paying in a cheque."

Banks are seeking to attract and retain customers following new rules introduced in September which make it easier for current account customers to ditch their existing provider and switch to a new one.

00.02 | 0 komentar | Read More

Jaguar Land Rover Drives Full Profit For Tata

The Indian owners of Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) have seen a 71% jump in quarterly profit, due to the success of its British unit.

Tata Motors reported the profit surge as the carmaker's domestic business continued to suffer in a weak economy.

The company had net profit of 35bn rupees (£350m) for the quarter that ended September 30.

The figure was above analysts' expectations.

The result was entirely due to JLR, where profit climbed 66% to £507m.

Tata said there was strong demand for JLR's new Range Rover and other models.

That offset losses from slumping Indian sales of Tata's own branded cars.

The company's Indian vehicle sales declined 33% from the same quarter last year and the domestic business reported a loss of 8bn rupees (£79bn).

Tata Motors acquired Jaguar Land Rover in 2008.

What Car? editor in chief Chas Hallett told Sky News: "JLR is going from strength to strength and these financial results prove that making world class cars that are globally demanded is the way to make money.

"Jaguar is a little behind Land Rover at the moment but it has shown enough of its future models to make us believe that it may not be the junior partner forever."

A slowing economy and high interest rates on loans have impacted India's domestic car sales.

Shares of Tata Motors were up 1.1% on the Bombay Stock Exchange before the quarterly report, which was released after trading closed on Friday.

00.02 | 0 komentar | Read More

Metro Bank Seeks £285m In New Cash Call

By Mark Kleinman, City Editor

Metro Bank is to tap shareholders for nearly £300m in a larger-than-expected fundraising that will see the high street lender delaying a flotation until 2016.

Sky News has learnt that Metro Bank told its existing investors on Friday that it plans to raise £250m with the option of a top-up offer to increase that sum to £287.5m, more than it has received so far in its brief existence.

The new capital will be used to fuel the further growth of the first new British high street bank in more than a century, as it accelerates the opening of new branches and its expansion into London's broader commuter belt.

According to sources familiar with a prospectus issued as part of the fundraising process, Metro Bank's board wants to grow its branch network from 21 stores today to 150 by 2020, and is targeting 280,000 customers by the end of the year, up from 238,000 on September 30.

The bank has already been a beneficiary of a new seven-day current account-switching regime launched by the Government earlier this autumn as ministers attempt to kickstart a more competitive retail banking market.

Sky News revealed earlier this week that Metro Bank had decided to shun an immediate stock market listing in favour of a private fundraising, with existing shareholders able to subscribe to new stock commensurate with their existing holdings.

The much larger-than-expected scale of the new share offer, which closes on December 6, underlines the pace at which Metro Bank's board wants to grow its balance sheet but may stoke fears about escalating losses at the company.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Royal Bank of Canada have been appointed to identify buyers for any new shares not acquired by current Metro Bank investors.

Among the lender's existing shareholders are the billionaire Reuben brothers and Steven Cohen, the head of the US hedge fund SAC Capital, which was this week the subject of the biggest-ever insider trading settlement in the US.

A recent circular to shareholders outlined the escalating losses at Metro Bank, which lost £14.3m before tax in the three months to September and £38.6m in the year-to-date. That took the lender's total losses since being set up to nearly £140m.

However, Vernon Hill, chairman, and Craig Donaldson, chief executive, told shareholders that the second quarter of 2013 "will therefore have marked the peak quarterly loss and that quarterly losses will now fall until the bank achieves profitability".

The losses underline the costs associated with breaking into the UK's retail banking sector at a time when Government ministers are attempting to foment new competition through a string of new policy measures, including reducing capital and liquidity requirements for new entrants

In the prospectus published on Friday, Metro Bank said that it would have "increasing capital needs" and reminded shareholders that its longer term objective was to "seek an IPO on the main market of the London Stock Exchange as early as possible to enable Metro Bank to seek significant additional capital to support future growth in new stores and balance sheet assets and also provide liquidity to Shareholders".

Metro Bank's first branch opened in Central London in July 2010, and it now has 21 open, with aggressive expansion plans set out over the next five years.

Among the innovations it has introduced to the UK are dog-friendly and drive-through branch facilities, reflecting Mr Hill's determination to revolutionise the British consumer banking experience.

Mr Hill enjoyed huge commercial success with the launch of similar banking ventures in the US before encountering difficulties with regulators.

The fundraising prospectus includes further insight into Metro Bank's structure and operations, including an ownership ceiling of 9.9% contained in its articles of association.

In a lengthy list of risk factors, the company warned of the potential impact of various reforms to banking regulation and said it could be adversely affected by property market volatility.

"Fluctuations in the London residential and commercial property market, in particular, could expose Metro Bank to a heightened level of risk of customer default or depreciation of the value of property securing mortgages," it said.

It also highlighted a hitherto little-known risk relating to the use of its name, according to one insider who had seen the prospectus.

"Although the Company has acquired the trade mark "Metrobank" in the UK... There is a risk that Metro Bank's trade mark registration for the word "Metrobank" and the wider use of the "Metro Bank" name might be challenged by the owner of another similar trade mark. In the event that such a challenge was to be successful it may result in Metro Bank having to re-brand under a new name at considerable cost and disruption to the business."

A Metro Bank spokeswoman was unavailable for comment on Friday.

00.02 | 0 komentar | Read More

Thames Water 8% Price Hike Stopped By Ofwat

Britain's biggest water company has been stopped from imposing a price hike of 8% on its customers for 2014-15.

Ofwat, the water regulator, said the Thames Water price rise of £29 was not justified, despite the company saying the extra money was needed to fund the construction a "super sewer" under London.

The watchdog's chief regulation officer Sonia Brown said: "We said we would challenge Thames' application, in the interests of customers.

"We did just that and on the evidence provided we are not convinced that an extra bill increase is justified."

This announcement is Ofwat's final decision on the application.

The firm said it needed to upgrade infrastructure across its region

Thames Water now has the right to trigger an appeal to the Competition Commission. The company told Sky News it was reviewing the decision by Ofwat.

The decision by Ofwat means the maximum that Thames Water can add to customers' bills for 2014-15 is capped at 1.4% above inflation, as set in the 2009 price review.

 Thames Water had submitted the application to Ofwat for an interim adjustment to prices over the current five-year price period.

The firm, which is privately owned by a global consortium led by Australia's Macquarie group, said it has spent £273m on acquiring land needed for the construction of the Thames Tideway Tunnel.

It also said bad debt as a result of the economic slowdown had prompted the application.

Ofwat criticised Thames Water over delays to a sewage treatment programme

In September, Ofwat criticised Thames Water over the application, saying it had made "substantial savings" by doing less than expected to tackle sewer flooding.

A major investment programme in sewage treatment has also dragged on too long, it added, despite customers being charged for the improvements.

Last week, Ofwat chairman Jonson Cox wrote to all water companies asking them to consider whether they needed to increase their bills for 2014-15 by the full amounts set in the last price review.

On 2 December, companies will submit their business plans for the next price review, which will cover the period from 2015 to 2020.

Ofwat has called on these plans to reflect their customers' priorities, and believes there is scope for reductions in bills from 2015.

If companies do not propose reductions, they will need to fully explain to their customers why.

Mr Cox told the firms that Ofwat will set 2015-20 prices using an independent, rigorous process, ahead of a final decision is due on these prices by January 2015.

00.02 | 0 komentar | Read More

Dow Jones Closes At Another Record High

The Dow Jones industrial average has closed at another all-time record high.

The Dow rose 167 points, or 1.1%, at 15,761.

The US government reported an unexpected surge in hiring last month, with employers adding 204,000 jobs.

"We're walking a tight wire with the Fed," said Rob Lutts, Chief Investment Officer at Cabot Money Management.

Mr Lutts said the job survey was positive because it showed the economy was improving, but perhaps not strongly enough to assure that Fed policymakers will pull back on its bond-buying program before the end of year.

JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs rose the most in the Dow. The index also closed at a record high on Wednesday.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index ended 23.46 higher, or 1.3%, at 1,770.61, just a point below its record. The Nasdaq composite rose 61.90 points, or 1.6%, to 3,919.23.

Consumer-focused stocks such as Priceline.com and Disney also rose after reporting higher profits, and Gap soared after raising its earnings forecast. Losers included housing stocks and Twitter, which dropped 7 percent the day after its initial public offering.

The jobs report was the second piece of unexpectedly robust economic news that Wall Street received in the past two days.

The Commerce Department said on Thursday that the US economy grew at a 2.8% annualised rate in the third quarter, better than the 2.5% rate economists were looking for.

00.02 | 0 komentar | Read More

BT Sport Secures Champions League Rights

BT Sport has signed a £1bn deal to broadcast Champions League and Europa League matches for three years from 2015.

BT has agreed to pay around £299 million a season for the rights to all 350 matches in the two Uefa competitions each season.

The Champions League is currently broadcast by Sky Sports and ITV.

In a statement, Sky said: "We bid with a clear view of what the rights are worth to us. It seems BT chose to pay far in excess of our valuation.

"There are many ways in which we can invest in our service for customers. We take a disciplined approach and there is always a level at which we will choose to focus on something else. If we thought it was worth more, we'd have paid more. 

"Nothing changes until 2015 and we look forward to 18 more months of live Champions League on Sky Sports.

"We will now redeploy resources and continue to bring customers the best choice of TV across our offering."

Telecommunications company BT launched two sports channels on August 1 this year.

Gavin Patterson, BT chief executive, said: "I am thrilled that BT Sport will be the only place where fans can enjoy all the live action from the Uefa Champions League and Uefa Europa League.

"Both tournaments are world class and firm favourites with many."

00.02 | 0 komentar | Read More