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World stock markets rose strongly Tuesday ahead of expected gains on Wall Street and amid some relatively positive corporate news, particularly from the struggling British retailing sector.
British clothing company USC filed for a form of bankruptcy protection Monday, as the economic downturn claimed another major UK retailer.
British tourists going to continental Europe to celebrate the New Year were getting fewer euros for their pounds on Tuesday than at any time since the common European currency's 1999 launch.
British children's clothing retailer Adams Childrenswear Ltd. is on the brink of a form of bankruptcy protection, a spokeswoman for the 75-year-old company said Monday, which would make make Adams the latest well-known British retailer to fall victim to the economic downturn.
Britain's financial services watchdog said Wednesday that it imposed a record number of fines in 2008 as it cracked down on offenses like mortgage fraud and improper sales of insurance.
The majority of The Officers Club's menswear stores were sold on Wednesday, a day after the company went into administration. The deal will save more than 1,000 jobs, but adds yet another name to the growing list of British retailers that have failed to survive the financial downturn.
Whittard, a venerable British tea and coffee merchant, was sold to a private equity company Tuesday by administrators appointed under bankruptcy laws.
House prices in Britain will fall 10 percent next year as banks rein in lending and buyers are deterred by the economic slowdown, a leading surveyors' group forecast Wednesday.
About 200 Woolworths stores in Britain have shut their doors for good.
The world's largest oil producers and consumers called for more cooperation Friday on measures to increase stability in oil prices and guarantee the investment necessary for future supplies.
An independent review of Britain's state-owned postal service, due to be published Tuesday, was expected to call for the company to be partly privatized and could result in the sale of stakes in the business to foreign companies, according to media reports.
Cadbury PLC, the world's biggest candy maker, said Tuesday it expects a strong rise in profits for 2008 despite seeing sales growth in North America slow in the fourth quarter.
A survey of senior business executives from around the world rated companies based in Russia as the most likely to pay bribes to win business in other countries.
The British Red Cross has canceled its winter fundraising ball — and that's just the tip of the iceberg.
The drop in British house values slowed in November, although prices were still nearly 14 percent lower than a year ago as banks curbed lending and worried buyers avoided the property market amid the credit crunch, a housing survey said Thursday.
Shareholders of Barclays PLC, Britain's second largest bank, voted overwhelmingly in favor of a plan to raise 7 billion pounds ($10.5 billion), largely from funds in the Middle East.
Just a year shy of celebrating its centenary, retailer Woolworths Group PLC was on the verge of collapse Thursday as financial administrators appointed to the company raced to find a buyer for its 800-strong chain of outmoded stores.
Royal Bank of Scotland PLC shareholders approved a 20 billion pound ($30 billion) government bailout Thursday, a plan intended to help the struggling lender survive the global financial crisis.
The number of British people petitioning for bankruptcy jumped 7 percent in the third quarter, while company failures rose 13 percent, as the financial crisis hiked the cost of loans, Britain's Ministry of Justice reported Friday.
Royal Bank of Scotland will cut around 3,000 jobs worldwide over the next several weeks to reduce costs amid the global financial crisis, according to British media reports.
Shares of RAB Capital PLC surged 29 percent Friday morning after the hedge fund announced it would save money by closing a number of troubled funds and revealed its balance sheet was stronger than analysts had expected.
SABMiller PLC — which brews Grolsch and Peroni Nastro Azzurro lagers — said net profit for the first half of its financial year rose 46 percent because of a one-time, $437 million gain from its role in establishing joint venture MillerCoors.
British drug maker GlaxoSmithKline PLC said Tuesday it is planning to close one of its English plants, which employs 620 people, by 2013 because the majority of drugs made at the plant are losing their patent protection and facing generic competition within a year.
British drug maker GlaxoSmithKline PLC said Tuesday it is planning to close one of its English plants, which employs 620 people, by 2013 because the majority of drugs made at the plant are losing their patent protection and facing generic competition within a year.
The financial crisis has hit Britons' hopes for early retirement.
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