The London market tumbled another 1.5 per cent after a 3 per cent fall yesterday wiped almost £44 billion from blue-chip stocks.

Markets panicked yesterday after Dubai World, the emirate's main development engine, said it was asking creditors to delay paying back its 60 billion US dollar (£36.8 billion) debt.

Asian markets were also under pressure overnight as Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell more than 5 per cent and Japan's Nikkei was 3 per cent lower. ( Read more... )
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Most economists would agree with the letter of Mr Darling's remarks, though the most recent evidence is that the pace of the increases is slowing markedly and they generally stress how well the UK has been doing in keeping joblessness down. Indeed on one reading of the official statistics, unemployment has been falling during the last two months, to stand at just under 2.5 million, or 8 per cent of the workforce. Youth unemployment has reached close to 1 million.

The Governor of the Bank ( Read more... )
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The 182-year old newspaper is to cease printing its "News Extra" edition, published at midday, and will print all 600,000 copies as the later "West End Final" from 4 January. The move is understood to have been accelerated by the closure of rivals thelondonpaper and London Lite.

The final edition will be handed out from 2pm. Previously about half the copies hit the streets at midday after going to press at 9am. Journalist shifts would start as early as 4am. They will now move to 8am. The ( Read more... )
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DMGT has "taken action on various underperforming assets across the group", including cutting headcount by 1,600, closing regional printing plants and selling 75 per cent of the London Evening Standard.

Martin Morgan, the chief executive of DMGT, was buoyed by the results for the 12 months to 4 October. "We have actively managed the business to defend profitability during unprecedented trading conditions with a clear focus on fundamentals," he said.

The drive to slash costs helped ( Read more... )
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The FTSE 100 suffered the worst one-day fall since the end of March, after the state-owned Dubai group called for a standstill on its debts until May. London's blue-chip index spiralled lower following the news, ending 3.2 per cent down at 5,194.1 points as ratings agencies downgraded several of Dubai's firms, raising concerns over the state of the emirate's economy.

Banking stocks were particularly hard hit as the market feared they could suffer from their exposure to Dubai. The biggest ( Read more... )
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Global stock markets were left reeling yesterday after the city-state's spectacularly debt-ridden Dubai World holding company asked for an extra six months to pay the $4bn (£2.4bn) chunk due next month. In London, the stock market dropped by 3 per cent, its worst day since March. The French and German markets fared little better, and America's Dow Jones was only saved by being closed for Thanksgiving. Even sterling wavered, falling to its lowest rate against the euro for a month. But it was Britain's ( Read more... )
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The Dubai story itself comes in two parts. One is the economic proposition that it makes to the world, the idea that it is possible to create sustained growth by becoming an entrepôt trading and service centre for the Gulf region. That is the justification behind the port, the airport, the banking offices, the medical centre and so on. This determination to become the service hub for the region led to the property boom, indeed was the only justification for it. As everyone knows, things got a ( Read more... )
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Dubai is sliding into financial meltdown even more quickly than its property boom took off, and is increasingly dependent on its wealthier neighbours in Abu Dhabi for support. It managed to sell $5bn of bonds to two state-controlled Abu Dhabi banks yesterday, but there seems to be little private sector appetite for Dubai debt, which the credit ratings agencies estimate adds up to at least $80bn.

Indeed, yesterday's bond issue was part of a $20bn issuance programme. There has been little ( Read more... )
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Tesco is the fourth company to sign a deal to sell iPhones in Britain following 02 and Orange, which already sell the iconic handset. Vodafone has plans to offer the device from the new year but has yet to agree a date.

A spokeswoman for Tesco Mobile said: "It is a coup for us. Our absolute aim is to get this into stores and online before Christmas."

Although a launch date has not been confirmed, Tesco Mobile's iPhones will be offered on contract and pay-as-you-go deals. The spokeswoman ( Read more... )
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Tulip has created the jobs at its plant in Bromborough, Wirral, Merseyside.

The move will see investment of more than £12 million going into the site, said a Wirral Council statement, with "significant potential for future growth which would create additional jobs at the site".

Wirral Council leader Steve Foulkes said: "This is fantastic news for Wirral.

"As a council we've worked hard, together with the Northwest Regional Development ( Read more... )
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Shares in Dailywin Group, the Hong Kong based watch manufacturer and distributor which yesterday issued its flotation prosectus, will be placed at 128p, valuing the company at £15.4m. The placing will raise £1.8m of new money for the group, net of expenses. Current shareholders will realise £900,000.

Dailywin designs and manufactures watches and watch components for a range of well known brand names.

Green rubber Cabane De Zucca watch, with alarm and stopwatch, pounds 120, Urban Outfitters (0171-761 1001)

Nike Triax 42 running watch in blue and black plastic, with stopwatch and alarm, pounds 50, Watch2Watch (0171-379 1179 )

Futurist Light watch with expandable bracelet and vivid positive or negative LCD display, pounds 34.99, Casio (0181-450 9131)

Man's watch with a bright sky-blue face and matt metallic strap, pounds 250, Paul Smith (0171-379 7133)

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The decision from the Department for Transport (DfT) comes after the company's East Coast Main Line franchise came under public control earlier this month.

The East Anglia deal could have been extended until 2014 but Transport Secretary Lord Adonis told the firm yesterday that the franchise would end in March 2011.

Lord Adonis said today that the termination of the East Coast franchise represented a "default" under the East Anglia franchise.

He ( Read more... )
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The watchdog's final decision on prices for 2010-15 is less generous to consumers than the £14 before inflation cut first proposed in July.

But Ofwat said its decision would see prices around £34 or 10 per cent lower than under the plans submitted to the regulator by water companies earlier this year.

The regulator's chief executive Regina Finn said: "Customers have told us that they want us to keep water and sewage charges flat while maintaining a safe, reliable ( Read more... )
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The Office for National Statistics yesterday revised its estimate of GDP in the third quarter of this year from a contraction of 0.4 per cent initially published to one of 0.3 per cent. New evidence of a marginally better performance in the service sector was responsible for the shift. But the small adjustment merely reinforces the fact that the UK is lagging other major economies in returning to growth.

In contrast to the UK, the US, Japan, Germany, France, the eurozone as a whole and ( Read more... )
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MFI, the furniture retailer, plans to start selling bathrooms through 50 of its stores as it seeks to expand beyond its core ranges of kitchens and bedrooms.

The bathrooms will trade under the company-owned Splash from Schreiber brand. They are due to be introduced in 13 test stores in July, with a wider rollout scheduled for November this year.

A spokesman for the company said: "The UK bathroom furniture market is worth £1.1bn a year and it is quite fragmented.... This is a logical ( Read more... )
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The warning came just a month after the company's annual meeting and reverses upbeat comments made then by Bill Rooney, chairman.

The company said yesterday that profits in the first half of the year would be substantially lower, despite higher turnover.

It blamed greater-than-expected start-up costs at Regency Doors and Artisan Tile. Regency Doors commissioned the largest door plant in Europe near Barnsley, Yorkshire, in the last quarter of 1992.

It also said that problems had ( Read more... )
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Sir David Walker said banks and other financial institutions should publish the number of staff paid more than £1 million - but individuals will be able to keep their anonymity.

Chancellor Alistair Darling welcomed the final report of the Walker review of banking governance and pay and promised that the Government will move swiftly to implement Sir David's recommendations.

"Sir David's proposals are the blueprint for how banks must be run in the future," said ( Read more... )
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The companies will develop the high definition set-top boxes that will allow Virgin subscribers to record programming on the box's hard drive, and access online content through a broadband connection. TiVo will provide the so-called middleware ? which powers the boxes ? and the software. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Neil Berkett, Virgin Media's chief executive, said, TiVo's record of innovation and patented technology meant it was "an ideal strategic partner for Virgin Media ( Read more... )
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Sir David Walker, a former chairman of Morgan Stanley and director of the Bank of England, said his reform plans ? to be published today ? could prevent a repeat of the financial crisis that has shaken the world's financial system by forcing directors of banks to work properly. He said they must be capable of challenging power-hungry chief executives and preventing them from leading their banks to ruin.

Speaking to The Independent he said: "The review will improve corporate governance ( Read more... )
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