28 Jun
Posted by Jacob Stewart as Credit Cards Guide
The 90-year-old group, which has issued four profit warnings this year, said on Thursday it made a profit before tax of just £2.6m in the 53 weeks to the end of April, compared with £67.3m last year. Like-for-like sales fell 11pc.
HMV Group
However, charges from its Waterstone’s book stores and Canadian arms, which were both sold this year, meant the group plunged to a loss of £121.7m.
HMV has been struggling for years with the rise of digital downloads and cut-price competition from supermarkets.
Its problems came to a head this year with a downturn in consumer spending which has driven a string of retailers, including Jane Norman and Focus DIY, out of business, and led others such as chocolate-maker Thorntons to close 120 stores.
HMV sold its Waterstone’s bookchain in May to Russian billionaire Alexander Mamut for £53m, and this week confirmed the sale of its loss-making Canadian business to Hilco UK for £2m.
The group is trying to switch its emphasis to faster-growing markets such as new technology products, live music and event ticketing, and secured its immediate future this month with a £220m refinancing package with state-backed lenders Lloyds Banking Group and RBS.
28 Jun
Posted by William Torres as Credit Cards Articles
The long-anticipated Federal Reserve ruling on the Durbin Amendment swung decisively in favor of the banks: the new ceiling on swipe fees, at 21 cents, is substantially higher than the 12-cent cap initially proposed. The Fed’s final judgment limited so-called swipe fees to 21 cents, plus 0.05% of the transaction. What’s more, the law will take effect in October instead of July 21st as planned.
Card issuers cannot charge swipe fees of more than 21 cents. These rules will take effect on October 1st, but will exempt prepaid debit cards. According to the Fed, 21 cents is the 80th percentile of fraud costs, and that the cap satisfied the “reasonable and proportional” stipulation. On top of the 21-cent-plus-5-basis-points cap, issuers can charge an extra penny if they comply with certain fraud protection procedures. For a transaction of $38, which the Fed estimates to be the average, the interchange fee would come out to 24 cents. That’s nearly half of the current average of 44 cents.
The Federal Reserve promised to study the debit interchange market to ensure that the regulations are having the desired effect without the collateral damage threatened by banks. Chairman
27 Jun
Posted by Jacob Stewart as Credit Cards Guide
Peter Benoist
The bank branch that will be acquired has $40 million in deposits, said Jerry Mueller, a senior vice president at Enterprise. Enterprise said it intends to operate the location as a full-service branch of Enterprise Bank & Trust, subject to regulatory approval, beginning in the fourth quarter, most likely in October.
“It’s a great fit for us,” Mueller said. “We focus on privately held businesses and Olive Boulevard has access to Creve Coeur and the business community. It is also surrounded by a nice residential area.”
Enterprise’s acquisition does not include any loans, he said.
The Creve Coeur bank became part of BankLiberty last year when state regulators shut down Champion Bank, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. sold the failed bank to BankLiberty of Liberty, Mo. BankLiberty assumed all of Champion’s deposits and about $152.6 million of the failed bank’s assets. The Creve Coeur location is BankLiberty’s sole St. Louis location with rest in the Kansas City area.
The Olive Boulevard location will be Enterprise’s fifth branch in the St. Louis metropolitan area. Enterprise’s other St. Lou
Lingering concern over Greece’s finances has weighed on an exchange traded fund indexed to Sweden. The Swedish economy is expected to expand this year but will begin to slow, according to recent research.
Sweden’s National Institute of Economic Research projected that GDP will grow a faster-than-expected 4.4% this year, as compared to its previous 4.2% estimate, according to RTTNews.
“Conditions for growth are significantly more favorable in Sweden than in most other OECD countries,” remarked the NIER, according to Reuters.
However, next year’s projections has been lowered to 2.9% from 3.1% due to slowing growth in household spending and inventory stockpiling. The NIER also stated that unemployment is dropping to 7.5% this year, 7.2% in 2012 and 6% by 2015 — unemployment currently stands at 7.9%.
The think tank also believes rates will increase to 2.25% by year’s end and 3% by 2012 from the current 1.75%. The Riksbank expects to raise rates in the coming months, with the next rate hike due next month. Sweden’s cons
26 Jun
Posted by Dustin Ramirez as Credit Cards Articles
It may not have been as tough as 2009 or 2010, but this year hasnt been easy for all too many Americans. So it was good to hear last Thursday that 62 percent of respondents to a survey of holders of rewards credit cards said that they plan to get away this summer, presumably leaving only 38 percent who expect to have a staycation at home, or who perhaps are on permanent vacation due to lack of employment.
Credit card rewards useful
The research, which was commissioned by Capital One, also found that 40 percent of those interviewed expected to redeem credit card rewards to help fund their 2011 summer vacation, compared with about one-third last year. Those who intended to take the redemption route said theyd be cashing in their points or miles as follows:
Unfortunately, Capital One didnt reveal how those figures relate to last years findings, but you might well guess that redemptions for gas are way higher than in the past, simply because of the dizzying heights to which fuel prices have risen.