Julian Hodge Bank has delivered some good news for savers looking for a short term home for their funds.
Its One Year Fixed Rate Cash ISA paying 2.70% is within the leading savings deals of a similar nature.
As with most fixed rate savings products, savers should be aiming to tie up their funds for the full term, as the bonds offer no early access to funds and the ISA only allows access on closure.
Four out of five Moneyfacts stars is a fitting reward.
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Nationwide: 0% transfer for 15 months
Nationwide's new Gold credit card is offering 0% on balance transfers for 15 months, with the added bonus of a positive repayment order.
WANT TO KNOW MORE?Don't get burnt on credit card binge
This means cardholders will pay off their most expensive debts first – such as cash advances which are usually at a much higher rate.
Along with Nationwide, the only other providers to offer a positive payment order are Saga and Co-op, with MBNA expected to follow suit in September.
All other providers will be moving to positive payment orders as of January 2011, under new regulations.
Nationwide's Gold credit card also offers 0% on new purchases for three months.
Following this, the rate increases to 16.9% but prospective applicants should be aware this rate could be higher, depending on your credit rating.
Chris Rhodes, Nationwide's products and marketing director, said: 'Unlike most other providers, Nationwide operates a positive order of payments.
'This can save you money because any more expensive debts – such as cash advances – are repaid before the 0% balance transfer offer, leaving customers to enjoy the 0% rate for longer.'
Is it a good deal?
The new terms of the Nationwide Gold credit card are attractive for those looking to transfer a balance and pay down debt.
The deal matches the current market leaders – Barclaycard's Platinum, NatWest Platinum and RBS Platinum – exactly in terms of the length of the 0% introductory periods and rates.
However, Nationwide offers the added bonus of a positive payment hierarchy.
In the long run those looking to transfer and pay down debt without making many purchases will reap benefits with this card.
Kevin Mountford, head of banking at moneysupermarket.com, adds: 'The card is also perfect for using abroad as it is commission free on foreign purchases and cash withdrawals within Europe, unlike many other cards on the market.'
WANT TO KNOW MORE?Don't get burnt on credit card binge
This means cardholders will pay off their most expensive debts first – such as cash advances which are usually at a much higher rate.
Along with Nationwide, the only other providers to offer a positive payment order are Saga and Co-op, with MBNA expected to follow suit in September.
All other providers will be moving to positive payment orders as of January 2011, under new regulations.
Nationwide's Gold credit card also offers 0% on new purchases for three months.
Following this, the rate increases to 16.9% but prospective applicants should be aware this rate could be higher, depending on your credit rating.
Chris Rhodes, Nationwide's products and marketing director, said: 'Unlike most other providers, Nationwide operates a positive order of payments.
'This can save you money because any more expensive debts – such as cash advances – are repaid before the 0% balance transfer offer, leaving customers to enjoy the 0% rate for longer.'
Is it a good deal?
The new terms of the Nationwide Gold credit card are attractive for those looking to transfer a balance and pay down debt.
The deal matches the current market leaders – Barclaycard's Platinum, NatWest Platinum and RBS Platinum – exactly in terms of the length of the 0% introductory periods and rates.
However, Nationwide offers the added bonus of a positive payment hierarchy.
In the long run those looking to transfer and pay down debt without making many purchases will reap benefits with this card.
Kevin Mountford, head of banking at moneysupermarket.com, adds: 'The card is also perfect for using abroad as it is commission free on foreign purchases and cash withdrawals within Europe, unlike many other cards on the market.'
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Phoenix IT Group hikes dividend as earnings edge up
IT and communications support firm Phoenix IT Group said it has continued to make good progress over the past year despite challenging trading conditions. The Group has again grown profits and improved cash management.
Group revenues decreased as expected by 2.9% to £245.8m (2009: £253.2m) and profit before tax increased by 61.0% to £25.2m (2009: £15.6m).
Underlying profit before tax increased by 4.2% to £29.5m (2009: £28.3m).
Diluted earnings per share increased by 73.2% to 24.6p (2009: 14.2p) and normalised diluted earnings per share increased by 6.8% to 28.1p (2009: 26.3p).
The Group is highly cash generative and during the year net debt (including finance leases) reduced by £20.5m to £67.9m (2009: £88.4m).
The Board has proposed a final dividend of 4.3p per share (2009: 4.2p). Combined with the interim dividend of 2.15p per share paid on 6 April 2010 this would make a total dividend per share of 6.45p (2009: 6.3p), an increase of 2.4%.
The Annual General Meeting will be held on 26th August.
Phoenix said it remains confident in the long-term growth potential of the Group and will continue to explore opportunities to supplement organic growth by selective acquisitions.
Group revenues decreased as expected by 2.9% to £245.8m (2009: £253.2m) and profit before tax increased by 61.0% to £25.2m (2009: £15.6m).
Underlying profit before tax increased by 4.2% to £29.5m (2009: £28.3m).
Diluted earnings per share increased by 73.2% to 24.6p (2009: 14.2p) and normalised diluted earnings per share increased by 6.8% to 28.1p (2009: 26.3p).
The Group is highly cash generative and during the year net debt (including finance leases) reduced by £20.5m to £67.9m (2009: £88.4m).
The Board has proposed a final dividend of 4.3p per share (2009: 4.2p). Combined with the interim dividend of 2.15p per share paid on 6 April 2010 this would make a total dividend per share of 6.45p (2009: 6.3p), an increase of 2.4%.
The Annual General Meeting will be held on 26th August.
Phoenix said it remains confident in the long-term growth potential of the Group and will continue to explore opportunities to supplement organic growth by selective acquisitions.
Monday, May 24, 2010
Pound Gains Against Euro as Government Outlines Spending Cuts
The pound rose against the euro as U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne outlined budget cuts designed to start redressing the government budget deficit, the largest among the Group of Seven nations.
Sterling gained against nine of its 16 most-traded peers. Osborne, who became Chancellor on May 11, announced 6.25 billion pounds ($9 billion) of spending cuts today. He will set out broader plans in an emergency budget on June 22. Concern Britain will struggle to cut the deficit helped drive the U.K. currency 3.4 percent lower this year, according to Bloomberg Correlation- Weighted Currency Indexes. The euro tumbled 6.6 percent, the indexes show, as concern deepened the region’s debt crisis has yet to be solved.
“The market’s giving the new government a reasonable stay of execution, wanting to see how definitive they are in the budget-deficit stakes” said Jeremy Stretch, a senior currency strategist at Rabobank International in London. “The 6 billion pounds of cuts today are a step in the right direction. For now, markets are cautiously rewarding sterling.”
The U.K. currency appreciated 1.2 percent to 85.91 pence per euro as of 10:36 a.m. in London. The pound traded at $1.4459, from $1.4460 last week. It weakened to $1.4231 on May 20, its lowest level since March 30, 2009.
The pound may strengthen to 75 pence per euro this year as government debt has a smaller drag on growth in the U.K. than in the euro region, Standard Bank Plc said.
No Debt Crisis
“We do not believe that the debt crisis in the euro zone means that there will be a debt crisis in the U.K.,” said Steven Barrow, head of G-10 currency research at Standard Bank in London . “The government’s budget deficit may be higher than most in the euro zone, but high deficits alone do not spell debt downgrades.”
Government bonds were little changed, with the 10-year gilt yield at 3.55 percent. The two-year yield was at 0.88 percent.
The U.K. government plans to sell index-linked gilts due 2050 through banks this week. The Debt Management Office, which handles bond sales for the Treasury, said May 14 that HSBC Holdings Plc, JPMorgan Chase & Co., Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and UBS AG had been asked to sell the securities in a so-called syndicated transaction.
Gilts have returned about 5 percent this year, compared with gains of 6.3 percent for German government bonds and 4.4 percent for U.S. Treasuries, according to indexes compiled by Bank of America Merrill Lynch.
Sterling gained against nine of its 16 most-traded peers. Osborne, who became Chancellor on May 11, announced 6.25 billion pounds ($9 billion) of spending cuts today. He will set out broader plans in an emergency budget on June 22. Concern Britain will struggle to cut the deficit helped drive the U.K. currency 3.4 percent lower this year, according to Bloomberg Correlation- Weighted Currency Indexes. The euro tumbled 6.6 percent, the indexes show, as concern deepened the region’s debt crisis has yet to be solved.
“The market’s giving the new government a reasonable stay of execution, wanting to see how definitive they are in the budget-deficit stakes” said Jeremy Stretch, a senior currency strategist at Rabobank International in London. “The 6 billion pounds of cuts today are a step in the right direction. For now, markets are cautiously rewarding sterling.”
The U.K. currency appreciated 1.2 percent to 85.91 pence per euro as of 10:36 a.m. in London. The pound traded at $1.4459, from $1.4460 last week. It weakened to $1.4231 on May 20, its lowest level since March 30, 2009.
The pound may strengthen to 75 pence per euro this year as government debt has a smaller drag on growth in the U.K. than in the euro region, Standard Bank Plc said.
No Debt Crisis
“We do not believe that the debt crisis in the euro zone means that there will be a debt crisis in the U.K.,” said Steven Barrow, head of G-10 currency research at Standard Bank in London . “The government’s budget deficit may be higher than most in the euro zone, but high deficits alone do not spell debt downgrades.”
Government bonds were little changed, with the 10-year gilt yield at 3.55 percent. The two-year yield was at 0.88 percent.
The U.K. government plans to sell index-linked gilts due 2050 through banks this week. The Debt Management Office, which handles bond sales for the Treasury, said May 14 that HSBC Holdings Plc, JPMorgan Chase & Co., Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and UBS AG had been asked to sell the securities in a so-called syndicated transaction.
Gilts have returned about 5 percent this year, compared with gains of 6.3 percent for German government bonds and 4.4 percent for U.S. Treasuries, according to indexes compiled by Bank of America Merrill Lynch.
Monday, April 26, 2010
Tories to create Economic Crime Agency
The Tories say the new body would toughen up the Government’s stance on white collar crime.
The ECA would take over the powers and responsibilities held by the SFO, FSA, Fraud Prosecution Service, the Revenue & Customs division and the OFT.
.Under the Tory proposals companies would be made liable for the actions of rogue traders and fraudsters working within the firm. At present, companies can claim innocence of crimes perpetrated by employees.
The Conservatives have already pledged to scrap the FSA, should they gain power, and replace it with a Consumer Protection Agency to regulate IFAs with prudential regulation passed to the Bank of England.
Shadow Chancellor George Osborne (pictured) told The Sunday Telegraph: “We are very, very bad at prosecuting white-collar crime. We have six different government departments, eight different agencies a complete alphabet soup and the result is that these crimes go unpunished. There is £30bn worth of fraud taking place in the British economy each year.”
“Frankly, robbing someone of their pension through some con is almost as bad as mugging them in the street. But because it’s a crime that takes place behind a computer screen, or at the end of a telephone, it doesn’t get followed up and prosecuted.”
The Tories plan to concentrate on economic issues this week, ahead of the third and final leaders’ debate on Thursday evening where the debate will focus on economic issues.
The ECA would take over the powers and responsibilities held by the SFO, FSA, Fraud Prosecution Service, the Revenue & Customs division and the OFT.
.Under the Tory proposals companies would be made liable for the actions of rogue traders and fraudsters working within the firm. At present, companies can claim innocence of crimes perpetrated by employees.
The Conservatives have already pledged to scrap the FSA, should they gain power, and replace it with a Consumer Protection Agency to regulate IFAs with prudential regulation passed to the Bank of England.
Shadow Chancellor George Osborne (pictured) told The Sunday Telegraph: “We are very, very bad at prosecuting white-collar crime. We have six different government departments, eight different agencies a complete alphabet soup and the result is that these crimes go unpunished. There is £30bn worth of fraud taking place in the British economy each year.”
“Frankly, robbing someone of their pension through some con is almost as bad as mugging them in the street. But because it’s a crime that takes place behind a computer screen, or at the end of a telephone, it doesn’t get followed up and prosecuted.”
The Tories plan to concentrate on economic issues this week, ahead of the third and final leaders’ debate on Thursday evening where the debate will focus on economic issues.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Friday, March 19, 2010
South China's industrial heartland of Guangdong to raise minimum wage by average of 21% to range of $96 to $150 a month
The minimum wage in South China's industrial heartland Guangdong Province, is to be raised by 21 per cent on average to a range from RMB 660 renminbi to 1,030 ($96 to $ 150) a month from May 1st in a bid to attract migrant workers, local authorities said Thursday.
Guangdong, north of Hong Kong, in the Pearl River delta region, which is responsible for a third of China’s exports and would rank as one of the world’s 10 largest exporters if it were a country, is finding it harder to attract migrant labour as other regions develop. So on Thursday, it was announced by the Guangdong Provincial Human Resources and Social Security Department that the minimum wage of both full-time and part-time workers will be raised.
The adjusted minimum wage is divided into five categories ranging from RMB660 to 1,030 yuan/renminbi ($96 to $ 150) a month, depending on the financial situation in different cities in the province. The move came a month after the country's second biggest exporter, Jiangsu Province, raised its minimum wage by about 12 per cent to 960 yuan ($140.64) from the current 850 yuan ($124). East China's Fujian Province increased its minimum wage by 24.5 per cent from March 1st. China is making huge investments in its rail network and last December, it launched the world’s fastest passenger train service between Guangzhou, Guangdong's provincial capital, and the central city of Wuhan, covering 1,100km in just three hours. The railway investment will result in more balanced regional development.
"A 20 per cent raise is a big jump because many other provinces offer around 10 per cent. That's because Guangdong wants to stand out from among other competitors," Lü Xuejing, professor of social security at Capital University of Economic Business, told the Global Times Thursday.
"However, I don't think the adjustment is attractive enough as it doesn't make much of a difference to work as a farmer at home or as a migrant worker far from home in Guangdong," she said.
She explained that the higher minimum wage might attract some older migrant workers but won't appeal to skilled workers who are less willing to do manual work.
According to the Beijing Times, Beijing will raise its monthly minimum wage levels by 10 per cent from the current RMB 800 ($117.2) possibly next month.
Wage pressure is coinciding with pressure on China to raise the value of its currency.
"It is unfair and harmful to continuously depreciate a country's own currency and ask other countries to revalue their currencies in the meantime," Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said at a regular press conference on Thursday in Beijing.
The China Business News news service reported Friday that the Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology are expected to disclose the results of a study on the effects of yuan exchange-rate appreciation on exporters by April 27th..
Zhang Wei, deputy director of the China Chamber of International Commerce, is quoted as saying the Ministry of Commerce's yuan stress test involves over 1,000 companies in 12 industries.
Zhang Wei, vice chairman of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, said at a press briefing in Beijing on Thursday that exporters in labour-intensive sectors such as garments and furniture worked on margins as low as 3 per cent, he said. "If the yuan rises, these companies will face the immediate risk of going bust as their profit margin is already very narrow," Zhang told reporters. "So for these companies, the consequences would be disastrous."
Guangdong, north of Hong Kong, in the Pearl River delta region, which is responsible for a third of China’s exports and would rank as one of the world’s 10 largest exporters if it were a country, is finding it harder to attract migrant labour as other regions develop. So on Thursday, it was announced by the Guangdong Provincial Human Resources and Social Security Department that the minimum wage of both full-time and part-time workers will be raised.
The adjusted minimum wage is divided into five categories ranging from RMB660 to 1,030 yuan/renminbi ($96 to $ 150) a month, depending on the financial situation in different cities in the province. The move came a month after the country's second biggest exporter, Jiangsu Province, raised its minimum wage by about 12 per cent to 960 yuan ($140.64) from the current 850 yuan ($124). East China's Fujian Province increased its minimum wage by 24.5 per cent from March 1st. China is making huge investments in its rail network and last December, it launched the world’s fastest passenger train service between Guangzhou, Guangdong's provincial capital, and the central city of Wuhan, covering 1,100km in just three hours. The railway investment will result in more balanced regional development.
"A 20 per cent raise is a big jump because many other provinces offer around 10 per cent. That's because Guangdong wants to stand out from among other competitors," Lü Xuejing, professor of social security at Capital University of Economic Business, told the Global Times Thursday.
"However, I don't think the adjustment is attractive enough as it doesn't make much of a difference to work as a farmer at home or as a migrant worker far from home in Guangdong," she said.
She explained that the higher minimum wage might attract some older migrant workers but won't appeal to skilled workers who are less willing to do manual work.
According to the Beijing Times, Beijing will raise its monthly minimum wage levels by 10 per cent from the current RMB 800 ($117.2) possibly next month.
Wage pressure is coinciding with pressure on China to raise the value of its currency.
"It is unfair and harmful to continuously depreciate a country's own currency and ask other countries to revalue their currencies in the meantime," Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said at a regular press conference on Thursday in Beijing.
The China Business News news service reported Friday that the Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology are expected to disclose the results of a study on the effects of yuan exchange-rate appreciation on exporters by April 27th..
Zhang Wei, deputy director of the China Chamber of International Commerce, is quoted as saying the Ministry of Commerce's yuan stress test involves over 1,000 companies in 12 industries.
Zhang Wei, vice chairman of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, said at a press briefing in Beijing on Thursday that exporters in labour-intensive sectors such as garments and furniture worked on margins as low as 3 per cent, he said. "If the yuan rises, these companies will face the immediate risk of going bust as their profit margin is already very narrow," Zhang told reporters. "So for these companies, the consequences would be disastrous."
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