Greece Will Leave Austerity 'Humiliation' Behind

Energy Bills: SSE Latest Firm To Cut Gas Cost

Written By Unknown on Senin, 26 Januari 2015 | 14.47

Another of the so-called 'Big Six' energy firms, SSE, has confirmed it is to trim its household gas costs and said it will extend its promise not to raise bills.

The company said it would reduce household gas prices by 4.1% but not until 30 April.

It added that its commitment not to raise gas and electricity costs would run for an extra seven months until July 2016.

Alistair Phillips-Davies, SSE's chief executive, said: "Customers are at the heart of SSE's business, and our work to secure their energy supplies in wholesale markets last spring enabled us to guarantee that prices would not increase until at least January 2016, showing we are committed to treating all of our customers fairly and to giving them stable prices over the long-term.

"We're being true to that commitment with a 4.1% reduction in the typical gas bill and an extended guarantee meaning gas and electricity prices won't go up before July 2016 at the earliest.

"The challenging business environment we identified at the start of this financial year is likely to continue into the new financial year and we believe that addressing the resulting issues directly is the right thing to do for customers and the best way of safeguarding the interests of investors.

"That is why, at the same time as reducing tariffs for customers, we're continuing to make sure our own house is in order for the future, with a clear focus on our value programme to make sure SSE is well-positioned for the long term."

The company announced the price changes in a trading update for the first nine months of its financial year in which it said profits for the full-year would be broadly in line with those for the previous 12 months.

SSE said the prolonged period of mild weather to 31 December 2014 meant that average consumption of electricity was estimated to have fallen by 5.6% while average consumption of gas dropped by almost 16%.

It also confirmed a fall in the number of households taking its gas and electricity - with 8.71 million customers registered on 31 December, down from 9.10 million on 31 March 2014.

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Greece Lightning: Could Syriza Success Spread?

By Robert Nisbet, Europe Correspondent

As car horns blared in the capital's streets, few doubted this had been a seismic night in European politics.

Five years of swingeing cuts have shrunk Greece's economic output by a third and delivered a primary budget surplus, but the price has been too high for many of the electorate.

A third of people in Greece live below the poverty line, a quarter are out of work and pensioners have seen their income dwindle.

That generalised anger finally found its expression at the ballot box.

While previously Syriza's core supporters had been students and a loose coalition of Marxists, Maoists, Trotskyites and environmental campaigners, it acted as a lightning rod across society.

Many of the squeezed middle class wanted to punish the political parties they felt had sold Greece's future prosperity to protect the banking system.

Alexis Tsipras now has something of a dilemma though: he wants to keep Greece in the single currency but the European Union, the European Central Bank and the IMF won't want the country to renege on its promises.

There were strings attached to the €240bn which have kept the country afloat and the likes of Germany are unlikely to agree to allow Greece to restructure more of its debt.

But if Mr Tsipras softens on his vow to "finish the troika" in order to prevent a default and a so-called Grexit, he may anger his core support base.

The wider repercussions could be felt outside the country's borders.

There are a host of other anti-austerity parties in Europe waiting to challenge the consensus, most prominently Podemos in Spain where an election must be held this year.

If this election grows into a pan-European movement, the plumbing of the global economy could face some determined opposition.

Syriza's progress might well embolden those willing to take on established political parties, which could have far reaching consequences.

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Greece Will Leave Austerity 'Humiliation' Behind

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The leader of the Syriza party has vowed to end the "humiliation and anguish" of Greek citizens after his party took victory in the country's election on an anti-austerity platform.

Alexis Tsipras told thousands of supporters in Athens that Greece will leave behind the "catastrophic austerity" measures imposed by European creditors.

The left-wing party - which was widely tipped to win the poll - looks likely to win 149 seats in the 300-seat parliament.

This indicates the party would be two seats short of an overall majority.

With 92% of the votes counted, Syriza was 8.5 points ahead of the conservative New Democracy party of Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, who has conceded defeat.

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Gallery: Alexis Tsipras Celebrates Victory For His Anti-Austerity Party

A young child supporting anti-austerity party Syriza takes part in celebrations after the first exit polls in Athens

Syriza supporters await the final result of the Greek election at the party tent

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Members of the conservative New Democracy party watch as exit polls shows a significant victory for Syriza

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Celebrations continue for supporters of Syriza leader Alexis Tsipras in Athens

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An anti-austerity voter is overcome with emotion as news of the results breaks

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"Greece leaves behinds catastrophic austerity, it leaves behind fear and authoritarianism, it leaves behind five years of humiliation and anguish," Mr Tsipras said in his victory speech.

The win raises the prospect of a stand-off with European creditors, with Mr Tsipras promising to renegotiate the repayment terms of Greece's debt.

Financial markets have reacted nervously to the result, fearing conflict with other Eurozone governments that could put strain the currency bloc.

The euro fell to a fresh 11-year low against the dollar shortly after the result became clear while stocks were tipped to take a hit - with the FTSE 100, German DAX and the CAC in France all forecast to fall 1% in early trading.

Greece was forced to undertake deep budget cuts and fiscal reforms as a condition for a €240bn bailout in 2010 from the so-called "Troika" - the group of creditors made up of the European Union, the International Monetary Fund and European Central Bank.

Many in Greece feel slashed public spending has hit the most vulnerable hardest, while leaving the tax evasion and corruption of the apparent elites untouched.

Mr Tsipras said he would cooperate with fellow Eurozone leaders for "a fair and mutually beneficial solution", but said the Greek people come first.

"Our priority from the very first day will be to deal with the big wounds left by the crisis," he said.

"Our foremost priority is that our country and our people regain their lost dignity."

He added: "The verdict of our people means the Troika is finished.

"The new Greek government will be ready to cooperate and negotiate for the first time with our peers a just, mutually beneficial and viable solution."

Germany's Bundesbank has warned Greece needs to reform to tackle its economic problems, while the euro fell nearly half a US cent.

Mr Samaras had insisted voters would be making a huge mistake to elect Syriza at a time when painful fiscal reforms may be about to pay off.

After conceding defeat, he told supporters: "My conscience is clear because I told the truth to the Greek people until the very end.

"I received a country that was almost destroyed and I was asked to hold a hot potato and I did that."

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Written By Unknown on Jumat, 23 Januari 2015 | 14.47

A cash deal of more than £10bn could lead to the creation of the UK's largest mobile phone operator, with Three taking over O2.

Three's parent, Hutchison Whampoa - owned by the richest man in Asia, Li Ka-Shing - said it was in "exclusive negotiations" with Telefonica to buy the UK's second-largest mobile firm for £10.25bn.

Hutchison confirmed in its statement that it had offered £9.25bn, with a deferred further payment of up to £1bn after completion of the deal but it said any agreement would be subject to due diligence and regulatory approvals.

Any tie-up would be likely to interest industry authorities as it would reduce the number of players in the UK mobile phone market to three - hitting competition - despite the possibility of both brands remaining.

The telecoms watchdog, Ofcom, could demand that Three and O2 hand over some spectrum capacity to rivals.

A combined player would create a company with a current market share of around 40% - with 31 million customers between them.

Three, which is currently the smallest of the UK's mobile operators in terms of market share behind Vodafone, has been setting lower price tariffs in a bid to attract new customers and grow its stable.

EE - which is the current market leader with 32% - is on the verge of being snapped up by former O2-owner BT in a deal worth £12.5bn.

BT is bidding to become a so-called "quad play" provider by bundling home phone, mobile, TV and broadband services together in a single package.

Its proposed deal with EE sparked a frenzy of speculation about whether other players in those markets would look to follow suit through either acquisitions or partnerships.

Telefonica's willingness to part with O2 was seen as acceptance that it did not want to enter the quad play arena in what is a declining mobile phone market.

It is widely believed to be looking at emerging markets to achieve growth.

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ECB Triggers â‚¬1.1trn Quantitative Easing

The European Central Bank (ECB) has confirmed a €1.1trn stimulus scheme aimed at halting the eurozone's slide towards economic stagnation.

The monetary policy measure, announced at a news conference by ECB president Mario Draghi, was bolder than investors had expected - with European stock markets rising and the euro falling in value as the core details emerged.

Its current stimulus would be extended from March to include so-called quantitative easing, the Bank confirmed.

The ECB said it intended to spend a combined €60bn (£46bn) a month on sovereign and corporate bonds until September 2016, with individual central banks in the 19-member eurozone sharing some of the risks of the money-printing exercise.

The flood of money should bring borrowing costs down, boost bank lending and weaken the euro further to bolster its competitiveness.

The aim of the QE programme is to prevent the euro area spiralling into deflation - an entrenched period of falling prices which puts consumers and businesses off spending.

Inflation is already running at -0.2% and Mr Draghi told reporters the outlook required a "forceful" policy response.

The ECB said countries under a bailout programme, such as Greece, would be included in the QE programme but with some additional criteria.

A political crisis in Greece risks plunging the euro area into further chaos, as a snap general election this Sunday could bring an anti-bailout party to power - a development which would potentially lead to the country's exit from the single currency.

The QE programme was announced two-and-a-half years after Mr Draghi pledged to "do whatever it takes" to save the euro amid fierce opposition to QE from Germany over fears it will stop national governments fixing their finances.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said any ECB decision could not replace government action on tackling debt.

Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos she said: "It should not obscure the fact that the real growth impulses must come from conditions set by the politicians.

"What's important for me is that (politicians) move even more decisively to address the issues, rather than thinking that the buying of time through other measures means we can forget about structural reforms."

The ECB did not need German permission for QE.

It said bonds would be bought on the secondary market in proportion to the ECB's capital key, meaning the largest economies from Germany down will see more of their debt purchased by the ECB than smaller peers.

The bonds will mature over periods of between two and 30 years.

The prospect of dramatic ECB action had already prompted the Swiss central bank to abandon its cap on the franc while
Denmark, whose currency is pegged to the euro, was forced to cut interest rates in anticipation of the flood of money.

The euro dropped 1.4 cents against the dollar following the QE announcement while bond yields in Italy and Spain hit historic lows, reducing the cost of servicing their debts.

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Greece Poll: Syriza Vows To End 'Humiliation'

The leader of Greece's Syriza party has vowed to end the country's "national humiliation" as opinion polls show the party's lead is widening ahead of Sunday's election.

Alexis Tsipras told thousands gathered in Athens that an outright victory for the leftist party would allow Greece to turn its back on four years of austerity.

"On Monday, national humiliation will be over. We will finish with orders from abroad," Mr Tsipras told the election rally.

"We are asking for a first chance for Syriza. It might be the last chance for Greece."

The Syriza party's platform of pledging to overturn austerity cuts and demand European debt write-offs has unnerved financial markets.

But many in Greece have embraced the party's promises as the country struggles with unemployment of more than 25% and pension cuts.

During the rally, Mr Tsipras was joined on stage by Pablo Iglesias Turrion, the leader of Spanish left-wing party Podemos.

Supporters waved Greek flags and placards reading "Change Greece, change Europe".

Opinion polls released on Thursday showed that Syriza has widened its lead over Prime Minister Antonis Samaras' conservatives.

Mr Samaras is due to hold his final election rally today.

A poll by Metron Analysis suggests Syriza's lead over the New Democracy party has grown to 5.3 points, up from 4.6 points.

Syriza could claim as much as 36% of the vote, putting it on the verge of an outright victory, according to the poll.

Analysts fear a victory for Syriza could lead to confrontations with the European Union and the International Monetary Fund, and a possible Greek exit from the Eurozone.

Under Greek electoral law, parties must secure 3% of the vote to enter the 300-seat parliament, with the largest party claiming a 50-seat bonus.

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Final Whistle For West Ham Shirt Sponsor

Written By Unknown on Minggu, 18 Januari 2015 | 14.47

Foreign exchange broker Alpari UK has entered insolvency following market turmoil over Switzerland's shock decision to unpeg its currency from the euro.

Within minutes of the early morning announcement on Thursday, the currency spiked around a third against the single European currency and the dollar while Swiss shares tanked more than 8%, prompting confusion and anger across trading room floors.

The move was seen as a bid by Switzerland's central bank to prepare the ground for quantitative easing in the eurozone - expected to be announced next week in an attempt to halt a slide towards deflation and boost economic activity.

Alpari is understood to have more than 200,000 clients and it said the majority had sustained losses.

It was not the only brokerage to take a massive financial hit in the wake of the turmoil with another firm in New Zealand also going out of business.

At the time of the market meltdown, Alpari's chief market strategist had declared the Swiss action "completely irresponsible" given recent support for the peg by the central bank.

Alpari said today: "The recent move on the Swiss franc caused by the Swiss National Bank's unexpected policy reversal of capping the Swiss franc against the euro has resulted in exceptional volatility and extreme lack of liquidity.

"This has resulted in the majority of clients sustaining losses which has exceeded their account equity.

"Where a client cannot cover this loss, it is passed on to us. This has forced Alpari (UK) Limited to confirm today, 16/01/15, that it has entered into insolvency.

"Retail client funds continue to be segregated in accordance with FCA rules."

The currency peg, which was introduced in September 2011, was an attempt to halt the rise of the franc against the euro at a time when the eurozone debt crisis was at its height.

The strong franc was then particularly problematic for Swiss exporters, who were forced to drastically cut prices to remain competitive.

In an effort to contain the franc's future appreciation and limit any damage to the Swiss economy, the central bank also lowered a key interest rate to -0.75 to dissuade banks from parking their cash at the national bank, opting instead to invest in the Swiss economy.

West Ham, which signed its shirt sponsorship deal with Alpari UK two years ago, refused to comment on the company's financial woes.

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London 2012 Exec Gives John Laing IPO Boost

By Mark Kleinman, City Editor

An official who helped steer London's staging of the 2012 Olympic Games is to join the board of John Laing, the infrastructure investor, as it prepares for a stock market listing valuing it at more than £1bn.

Sky News understands that Jeremy Beeton, who was director-general of the Government Olympic Executive, will be one of several non-executive directors named this week ahead of what would be the largest City float so far this year.

John Laing, which is owned by Henderson, the asset management group, is expected to raise tens of millions of pounds by selling new shares if it successfully completes its listing.

The company's most prominent projects include the second Severn river crossing and the new Alder Hey children's hospital in Liverpool.

Mr Beeton's appointment will be announced alongside that of David Rough, the former deputy chairman of Xstrata, who courted City controversy by rubber-stamping huge executive pay awards when it merged with Glencore in 2013.

An insider said that Mr Rough would not chair the remuneration committee of John Laing.

Anne Wade, a former executive at the fund management giant Capital International, will also be appointed to John Laing's board, a source said on Saturday.

Mr Beeton was paid a bonus of more than £200,000 for his role working on the London Olympics.

In July 2012, he was approved by Whitehall's Advisory Committee on Business Appointments – which seeks to prevent conflicts of interest for public servants who move to the private sector – to take roles at Macquarie, the Australian bank and infrastructure investor, and PricewaterhouseCoopers, the accountancy firm.

Macquarie was this week reported to be pursuing a possible takeover bid for John Laing, although insiders said this weekend that the company was "focused on an initial public offering".

John Laing was listed on the stock market until 2007, but had experienced a traumatic time after costs spiralled out of control during work on the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.

Henderson has been keen to explore an exit for some time.

John Laing's new chief executive, Olivier Brousse, believes its shares will be attractive to new investors because of the scope to export the public-private partnership (PPP) around the world.

"There is a lot of interest in John Laing because of the potential to scale it up," he told The Times last month.

"For us it is about getting more funds to grow the business — 2015 will bring the answer and then we can decide on new sectors and new countries."

John Laing has already developed a presence in Australia and Mr Brousse describes the US market as "our new frontier".

The valuation of John Laing when it lists will depend on the demand for new shares and the broader market sentiment at a time when currency moves by the Swiss central bank and concerns about global economic growth have caused some jitters among investors.

John Laing is a separate company to John Laing Infrastructure Fund, which is already listed and which recently attempted to bid for a large chunk of Balfour Beatty, the troubled construction group.

A John Laing spokesman declined to comment.

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Delays As Eurostar Services Resume After Fire

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Passengers are being warned to expect delays on Eurostar services after a lorry fire left thousands stranded on both sides of the Channel.

Passenger services and the Eurotunnel Le Shuttle car service were stopped on Saturday after the vehicle caught fire on the French side of the railway's south tunnel.

The incident led to long queues at St Pancras station in London as services were cancelled, and queues have formed again at the station this morning, Sky's Charlotte Lomas-Farley reports.

There were also delays and queues in Paris.

A Eurotunnel spokesman said services resumed at 2.45am UK time.

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Gallery: Travel Chaos In London And Paris

This is the scene at St Pancras International station in London as Eurostar services are cancelled in both directions

The company said trains would not be running on Saturday

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Large queues of passengers have formed - but they are being told they will be unable to travel

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It is a similar scene at Gare du Nord station in Paris - this board shows all services have been cancelled

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Passengers are having to make alternative arrangements

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Passenger service Eurostar says it plans to run a full service today, but only "for passengers who have an existing reservation for this date".

Trains are expected to be delayed by between 30 minutes and an hour.

The company added that people whose trains were cancelled on Saturday are advised not to arrive at stations unless they had already been re-booked.

A Eurostar spokesman said: "All passengers who are booked to travel tomorrow, Sunday 18 January, should check in as normal half an hour before departure.

"Eurostar services tomorrow are already very busy and availability is limited."

Earlier, Eurotunnel spokesman John O'Keefe said a "smouldering load" was found in the trailer of the lorry.

The alarm was triggered after CO2 detectors were activated in one tunnel, Eurotunnel said.

A Kent Police spokesman said: "A lorry fire has led to the closure of both bores of the Channel Tunnel.

"The fire was at the French end of the tunnel and is being dealt with by the French authorities.

"There are no reported injuries."

In March, hundreds of Eurostar passengers were delayed after a lightning strike triggered a fire in a building close to the entrance to the tunnel in Kent.

Although there was no damage to the track, four trains in and out of England were affected.

Three eventually reached their destination but the fourth, which had been heading to Paris, was forced to turn back to London.

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Written By Unknown on Sabtu, 17 Januari 2015 | 14.47

By Mark Kleinman, City Editor

A member of the influential Treasury Select Committee criticised City regulators on Friday amid signs of a further delay to the completion of an inquiry into the near-collapse of HBOS in 2008.

Speaking to Sky News, Mark Garnier MP said the further delay, which is likely to mean publication of the report will not take place until at least the summer of this year, undermined the principle of the inquiry.

The Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said last July that they aimed to publish their final report by the end of 2014, more than two years after work on it got underway.

Sky News revealed in December that the watchdogs would fail to hit that deadline because of the lengthy process which allows those criticised in official reports to lodge objections.

The regulators' report was initiated after concerted pressure from the Treasury Committee, which will be determined to scrutinise the findings and recommendations of the final document.

However, one parliamentary source said on Friday that there was now "little or zero chance" of the report being finalised before March 30, when the select committee system will be dissolved ahead of May's General Election.

Select committees can take up to three months to be re-formed after an election, meaning that a reconstituted Treasury committee may not be operating before mid-August.

"The whole point of these inquiries is to learn the lessons of the past," Mr Garnier said.

"If the regulators take so long that it is nine months behind its own deadline, you end up not learning those lessons in a timely fashion."

It is now more than six years since HBOS had to be rescued by a £20bn capital injection from taxpayers into Lloyds Banking Group, which took over the mortgage lending giant.

To date, only one former HBOS executive, Peter Cummings, has faced regulatory censure.

In 2012, he was fined £500,000 and banned for life from working again in financial services after being accused of failing to "exercise due skill, care and diligence".

The HBOS report's preparation has already been snared by repeated controversy, initially when the then Financial Services Authority said it had no intention of publishing such a review.

A process known as Maxwellisation, which allows people criticised in official reports to challenge regulators' comments, was launched last summer but is proving painstakingly slow, according to insiders.

Officials said last summer that because the report would rely on confidential information "previously provided by HBOS and other relevant parties, their consent will also be legally required before publication of this information."

Among the individuals expected to face criticism in the report are James Crosby, the bank's chief executive during a rapid period of expansion, and Andy Hornby, who ran the company immediately preceding its bail-out.

A separate review handled by Andrew Green, a leading QC, will examine whether regulators has reached an appropriate judgement in relation to enforcement actions against individuals.

It will "offer an opinion...as to whether the regulators should consider afresh whether any other former members of HBOS's senior management should be subject to an investigation with a view to prohibition proceedings," regulators said during the summer.

Andrew Tyrie, the Conservative MP who chairs the Treasury Select Committee, declined to comment on the latest delay.

He is expected to stand for a further term as the Committee's chairman if he is re-elected as an MP in May.

The PRA declined to comment.

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Energy Bills: SSE Latest Firm To Cut Gas Cost

Written By Unknown on Senin, 26 Januari 2015 | 14.47

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Greece Will Leave Austerity 'Humiliation' Behind

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Three Dials O2 To Become Biggest Mobile Firm

Written By Unknown on Jumat, 23 Januari 2015 | 14.47

ECB Triggers â‚¬1.1trn Quantitative Easing

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Written By Unknown on Minggu, 18 Januari 2015 | 14.47

London 2012 Exec Gives John Laing IPO Boost

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Written By Unknown on Sabtu, 17 Januari 2015 | 14.47

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