Archive for the ‘Financial News’ Category

UK Economy to “Zig-Zag” Towards Recovery

Wednesday, February 15th, 2012

In the latest quarterly inflation report from the Bank of England, Sir Mervyn King said growth was likely to recover gradually, although “substantial headwinds” will hamper the recovery and there is likely to be a “zig zag” pattern of alternating positive and negative growth.

Growth of one per cent (1%) was forecast for 2012 with 1.8% forecast for 2013.

Sir Mervyn King added that inflation, currently 3.6 per cent, is likely to fall to the targeted two per cent by the end of the year, and be below target for much of the following two years.

Sir King said:

“We can take some reassurance from the fact that inflation is now falling. But we are steering a course through choppy waters, and many people are experiencing difficult times.”

“The fiscal consolidation and tight credit conditions at home and the weakness of our major overseas trading partners are acting as a drag on growth.”

He added:

“We are moving in the right direction.”

Tags: Bank of England, inflation report, uk economy
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Small Business Lending Targets Missed by Banks

Monday, February 13th, 2012

Lending by banks to Small and Medium Enterprises (SME’s) as part of the Government’s Project Merlin fell short of targets in 2011.

As part of the Project Merlin agreement, Barclays, Lloyds Banking Group, the Royal Bank of Scotland, HSBC, and, in the context of lending, Santander, “stated a capacity and willingness” to lend £190 billion of new credit to business in 2011, with £76 billion earmarked for SMEs.

However, new data released by the Bank of England reveals that £74.9 billion was extended to SMEs in 2011 representing a £1.1 billion shortfall.

After taking loan repayments into account, the five – Lloyds Banking Group, Royal Bank of Scotland, Santander, Barclays and HSBC – saw combined net lending slide in 2011, the Bank of England said, including a 3 per cent drop in the final quarter.

Tags: Project Merlin, small and medium enterprises, sme
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Bank of England to Inject £50 Million Into Economy

Thursday, February 9th, 2012

The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee today voted to maintain the official Bank Rate paid on commercial bank reserves at 0.5%. The Committee also voted to increase the size of its asset purchase programme, financed by the issuance of central bank reserves, by £50 billion to a total of £325 billion.

In the United Kingdom, the underlying pace of recovery slowed during 2011, with activity falling slightly during the final quarter. Some recent business surveys have painted a more positive picture and asset prices have risen. But the pace of expansion in the United Kingdom’s main export markets has also slowed and concerns remain about the indebtedness and competitiveness of some euro-area countries. A gradual strengthening of output growth later this year should be supported by a gentle recovery in household real incomes as inflation falls, together with the continued stimulus from monetary policy. But the drag from tight credit conditions and the fiscal consolidation together present a headwind. The correspondingly weak outlook for near-term output growth means that a significant margin of economic slack is likely to persist.

CPI inflation has fallen back from its September peak, declining to 4.2% in December. Inflation should continue to fall sharply in the near term, as the increase in VAT in January 2011 drops out of the twelve-month comparison. Inflation is then likely to decline further as the contribution of energy and import prices diminishes, while downward pressure from unemployment and spare capacity continues to restrain domestically generated inflation.

In the light of its most recent economic projections, the Committee judged that the weak near-term growth outlook and associated downward pressure from economic slack meant that, without further monetary stimulus, it was more likely than not that inflation would undershoot the 2% target in the medium term. The Committee therefore voted to increase the size of its programme of asset purchases, financed by the issuance of central bank reserves, by £50 billion to a total of £325 billion. The Committee also voted to maintain Bank Rate at 0.5%. The Committee expects the announced programme of asset purchases to take three months to complete. The scale of the programme will be kept under review.

The Committee’s latest inflation and output projections will appear in the Inflation Report to be published at 10.30am on Wednesday 15 February.

The minutes of the meeting will be published at 9.30am on Wednesday 22 February.

Tags: Bank of England, economy, Quantative Easing Programme
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International Association of Commercial Collectors Elects 2012 Board of Directors

Tuesday, February 7th, 2012

The International Association of Commercial Collectors (IACC) recently elected its board of directors for the 2012 year during the association’s 41st Annual Convention in Miami Beach, Fla.

Directors have been elected by their fellow association members to serve in a leadership role, providing guidance and direction for the association.

The 2012 IACC Board of Directors:

President: Randy Frazee, Randall & Richards, Tucson, Ariz.
Vice President: Robert Ingold, Commercial Collection Corp. of New York, Tonawanda, N.Y.
Treasurer: Lee VandenHeuvel; Ross, Stuart & Dawson, Inc.; Auburn Hills, Mich.
Past-President: John Yursha, Commercial Recovery Group, Dover, Del.
Director: Terri Boettcher, BC Services, Inc., Longmont, Colo.
Director: Michael Daugherty, Synter Resource Group LLC, Charleston, S.C.
Director: Thomas Hamilton, The American Lawyers Quarterly, Cleveland.
Director: Albert Knowles, A.V. Knowles & Co Ltd., Port of Spain, Trinidad.
Director: Bryan Leib, Leib Solutions, LLC, Gibbsboro, N.J.
Director: Bill Mann; Joseph, Mann & Creed; Shaker Heights, Ohio.
Director: Jocelyn Nager; Frank, Frank, Goldstein & Nager, P.C.; New York

With about 320 commercial collection agency, associate, law list and affiliate members, The International Association of Commercial Collectors Inc. (IACC) is the world’s largest international trade association for commercial debt collection professionals. Headquartered in Minneapolis, IACC serves members throughout the United States and in 25 other countries worldwide. Members of IACC recover millions of dollars annually for their clients and provide valuable assistance to credit departments in controlling mounting debts.

Tags: commercial debt collection, IACC, International Association of Commercial Collectors
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N30bn Loan To Exporters by NEXIM

Tuesday, January 31st, 2012

The Managing Director of Nigeria Export and Import Bank (NEXIM), Mr Roberts Orya, yesterday informed the Nigerian House of Representatives that the bank would release N30billion to Nigerian exporters to enable them perform optimally in the export trade sector of the economy in 2012.

This is just as the House of Representatives committee on Works has expressed dismay over the poor funding of road projects in the country.

Speaking during the budget defence session of the bank before the House Committee on Banking and Currency on Monday, Orya said the bank has set a target to generate N1.65billion within the same period.

According to Mr Orya, those who qualify to benefit from the support fund which is in form of loans, are players in manufacturing, agricultural, solid minerals and service sectors. The NEXIM boss however pointed out that the bank’s 2012 budget has a major challenge in area of debt recovery, noting that the bank was doing all it could in relation to commercial debt collection.

He said some of the debts were as old as 5 to 10 years and some were even from the banks that were liquidated in the early 1990s by the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC).

Mr Roberts Orya, Managing Director of Nexis, said:

“Some of the debt being owed the bank span between 10 to 15 years, and that the bank was only able to recover N418 million out of about N1.9 billion it had planned to recover in year 2011.”

“Low levels of debt recovery has been the major challenge of NEXIM and we hope that this year we should be able to do much better.”

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Cebr: UK Probably in Recession

Monday, January 16th, 2012

New forecasts released by Cebr indicate that the UK economy is probably already in recession with negative GDP growth in Q4 2011 and Q1 2012.

Cebr has also revised down its forecast for growth for 2012 as a whole from 0.7% growth as predicted last October to a decline of 0.4% with a risk of a more serious decline of 1.1% if developments in the Euro zone are especially negative.

Cebr has forecast sluggish growth in the medium term, Growth in 2013 is forecast to be minimal at 0.9% and from 2014 onwards at around 1% per annum.

Unemployment is forecast to to see a sharp increase to about 3 million in 18 months time as companies batten down the hatches for the long term and revise their medium expectations of labour requirements while base rates are expected to remain at 0.5% to 2016.

Increased quantitative easing to a total of £400 billion is expected for 2012 with the possibility of more in future years.

Scott Corfe, Cebr Senior Economist and main author of the report, said:

“We see a weak outlook for sterling. But of course the euro and the dollar are also likely to be weak, so the main weakening is likely to be against the Asian currencies and the commodity based currencies.”

“We see the Western currencies falling by about 30% vs the renminbi to 2016 and by 15-40% against commodity based currencies.”

Douglas McWilliams, Chief Executive of Cebr, and an author of the report said:

“We take no pleasure in outlining such a bleak forecast. But the world is going through a fundamental change where previously poor economies are industrialising fast. This is good news for them, but because of the limits imposed by shortages of energy, minerals and food, some of their growth is at our expense.”

“This is not to say that if we break off trading with them we will be better off. On the contrary, a strategy of disengagement with the rest of the world would make matters very much worse. The Chancellor will not reduce the deficit as quickly as he thinks since tax revenues will be depressed by slow growth.”

“But this does not make the case for giving up on austerity. Indeed our forecast, which shows that the UK debt to GDP ratio will go above 90%, means that he will at the minimum have to keep the austerity programme going for much longer than he originally thought.”

Tags: Cebr, GDP, recession, uk economy
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Universities have £50 Million of Debt Collected

Wednesday, January 11th, 2012

Universities across the UK have collected almost £50 million in library fines for overdue books.

The University of Leeds was the biggest gainer with collection of almost £1.8 million while the Imperial College London propped up the rest with collection figures of only £26,703.

Library book fines from universities tend to start frmo 10p per day so the massive amounts show the huge volumes of books that are being returned late – if at all with over 300,000 books currently unaccounted for.

Bucks New University has the highest amount of missing books with 30,540 unaccounted for, closely followed by Oxford University with 20,923 and then the University of Kent with 19,613 books.

The problem itself has manifested to such an extent that many Universities no longer allow students to graduate until overdue fines are paid.

As little as a £5 debt at Exeter University will prevent graduation, as will £20 at Lancaster University or £25 at the University of Glasgow.

Other universities said they would instruct debt collection agencies if the library debts were part of other larger debts owed, such as fees and accommodation.

Tags: debt collection, library fines, overdue, universities
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“Surprisingly Buoyant” UK Service Sector in December

Tuesday, January 10th, 2012

Activity in the UK service sector grew in December at its fastest rate since July, according to the latest purchasing managers’ index (PMI).

The PMI for December was 54.0, up from 52.1 in November. Any figure over 50 indicates that the sector is growing.

But confidence about the future remains subdued, with business expectations matching September’s two-and-a-half year low.

Chris Williamson, the report’s author described conditions as “surprisingly buoyant” and went on to say:

“The December survey rounds off a reasonable fourth quarter for the service sector, which is likely to again provide the main stimulus to overall economic growth.”

The service sector accounts for more than 70% of the UK’s economic output.

Tags: PMI, Purchasing Managers Index, UK Service Sector
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Merkel Urges Deal Be Reached for Second Greek Bailout

Monday, January 9th, 2012

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has warned that an agreement with Greek bondholders must be reached shortly to enable Greece to receive a vital second bailout.

Mrs Merkel told a new conference:

“The second Greek aid package, including this [debt] restructuring, must be in place quickly. Otherwise it won’t be possible to pay out the next tranche for Greece.”

The debt recovery plan in place for Greece requires a second bailout from the Eurozone and the International Monetary Fund to enable Greece to avoid defaulting on its debts and avoid the potential of exclusion from the EU.

The rescue, worth 130bn euros (£107bn), would include a voluntary restructuring of Greek debt – meaning bondholders would have to write off 50% of the Greek bonds’ value.

Tags: Angela Merkel, EU, eurozone, greece
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5 Tips on Improving Your Cashflow

Friday, January 6th, 2012

While 2012 is now upon us many businesses still experience the same difficulties that they did in 2011 when it comes to late payers and overdue accounts.

Federal Management, the UK’s leading commercial debt collection agency, have compiled a list of 5 key tips to help you and your business deal with non payment of invoices and improve your cash flow.

Prevention is Better Than a Cure

When it comes to unpaid invoices and overdue accounts the ideal solution to the problem is to not get them at all. Utilising a credit referencing agency such as Creditsure can make you aware of just who it is you are offering credit to, if they have a history of judgement for non-payment or if they are credit worthy at all. Preventing the debt from accruing can save both time and money in the long run.

For further information you can contact Creditsure by contacting them directly on 0844 875 4066 or by clicking on the following link. Creditsure Credit Checks

Time Is Money

The time you and your staff spend chasing a debt is time that could be spent running and improving your company. As the old saying goes “Time is money” and time wasted is money wasted. Don’t delay when your accounts become overdue. The more expedient a company is in utilising a debt collection agency to handle their bad debt ledger the quicker the company can get the money they are rightfully owed.

Don’t Accept Excuses.

“We are just waiting for a payment to clear.” “A cheque is on its way.” Sound familiar? Debtors will try every means possible to avoid paying a debt including telling you what you want to hear without any real intention of resolving the issue. Don’t accept excuses – once a payment is overdue then let the professionals take over.

Make a Statement

By utilising the services of a reputable debt collection agency you send out a clear message that late/non-payment of debts is unacceptable which can act as a deterrent to both new and existing clients who may have been considering not paying an invoice on time.

Professional Expertise

We live in a world of heavy legislation and compliance. A simple phone call to somebody that owes you money can be construed as harassment. Let the experts deal with it. A reputable debt collection agency will not only recover your debt professionally and expediently but will do so in way that won’t harm your reputation or your relationship with your customer.

Any business who is experiencing difficulties with late payment of invoices, overdue accounts or any other form of non payment should contact Federal Management immediately on 0844 875 4022 to take the first steps in resolving the situation.

Tags: debt collection, federal management, improve your cashflow, unpaid invoices
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