Inflation rate falls back to 2.5%

18 September 2012 Last updated at 04:45 ET The annual rate of inflation in the UK, as measured by the Consumer Prices Index, fell back to 2.5% in August after a surprise rise to 2.6% in July. The Retail Prices Index (RPI) inflation measure, which includes housing costs, fell to 2.9% in August, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said. The fall was partly due to smaller rises in...

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Benefits inflation link may end

17 September 2012 Last updated at 15:53 ET The government is considering ending the automatic annual increase in benefits in line with inflation, sources have told BBC Newsnight. If implemented, the move would see many benefits frozen for two years, then rising only in line with average pay. In recent years inflation has risen at a far higher rate than average earnings - Whitehall...

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Debenhams sales rise bucks market

18 September 2012 Last updated at 03:31 ET Department store Debenhams has reported a rise in sales despite what it calls "extremely challenging market conditions". Like-for-like sales, which strip out the impact of new stores, rose by 3.3% in the six months to 1 September. The company said it expected full-year pre-tax profits to be ahead of last year. Rival John Lewis has also...

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Fortescue shares up on debt deal

18 September 2012 Last updated at 02:50 ET Shares in Fortescue Metals Group have surged after the Australian miner secured a $4.5bn (£2.8bn) credit facility to pay down debts and boost liquidity. The credit facility extends the company's repayment deadline for its debts to November 2015. Earlier this month Fortescue put its expansion plans on hold and announced job cuts amid slowing...

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Blacks knocks JD Sports profits

18 September 2012 Last updated at 02:31 ET Sports fashion retailer JD Sports has announced a sharp fall in profits due to losses at its newly-acquired Blacks Leisure chain and the cost of moving warehouses. Pre-tax profits for the six months to 28 July were £2.88m, down from £20.1m a year earlier. However, revenue was up 26% at £556m. The retailer had already warned that Blacks would...

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China protests hurt Japan shares

17 September 2012 Last updated at 21:38 ET Shares of some Japanese firms that have suspended part of their operations in China in wake of the anti-Japan protests have fallen in Tokyo. Nissan shares dropped 2.5%, Fast Retailing fell 4.2%, Honda Motors dipped 2% and Panasonic slid 1.3%. The protests followed Japan's purchase of islands in the East China Sea, over which China claims...

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Brokerage boss admits $100m fraud

17 September 2012 Last updated at 18:30 ET The founder of US futures broker Peregrine Financial Group has pleaded guilty to a fraud involving 24,000 customers in the US state of Iowa. The embezzlement, totalling over $100m (£61.5m), began some 20 years ago. Russell Wasendorf Sr, who is 64, was once regarded as a noble figure who supported a range of institutions from health care...

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France and UK 'close' on banks

17 September 2012 Last updated at 14:02 ET France and the UK broadly agree on the EU plan for the European Central Bank (ECB) to supervise all eurozone banks, the French finance minister says. Pierre Moscovici also said the UK "will be part of the decision-making process" on bank supervision, even though the UK is outside the 17-nation eurozone. He was speaking in London after talks...

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Treasury 'slow' on Northern Rock

17 September 2012 Last updated at 13:40 ET The Treasury's most senior civil servant has told MPs the government should have been quicker to nationalise Northern Rock following its collapse. Sir Nicholas Macpherson was answering questions from the Public Accounts Committee. It is investigating claims that the taxpayers will end up losing £2bn from the collapse and rescue of the bank....

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Delay fears on EADS and BAE deal

17 September 2012 Last updated at 13:55 ET France's finance minister says the planned merger of defence giants BAE and EADS needs close scrutiny raising fears of delays through political wrangling. The tie-up raised "a lot of questions" over "strategic interests" and "industrial effects," Pierre Moscovici said. Mr Moscovici said the proposed deal must be "examined thoroughly". ...

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