Low-cost airline easyJet lifted first-quarter revenue by 10.5 percent and said it was on track to deliver much higher full-year profit, tapping into a recovery in budget air travel. The airline, the biggest carrier at London's Gatwick airport, posted revenues of 607.5 million pounds ($991.6 million) as total revenue per seat grew 4.2 percent to
More
Poland’s leading tour operator, Itaka, has expressed interest to take a minority stake in government-owned Eurocypria, with an option to buy a larger share of the charter operator in the future, sources close to the bid have told the Financial Mirror. Itaka, Eurocypria’s main travel partner in Poland, is keen to have a say in
More
Greek markets took a beating on Wednesday and borrowing costs surged as the government said it is considering all options to raise funds, including selling bonds directly to the public. In a sign of the challenge the country faces to repair its ailing public finances and raise 53.3 billion euros in financing needs this year,
More
President of the Republic of Cyprus Demetris Christofias will meet Thursday in Nicosia with the President of the European Council Herman van Rompuy. The EU President is visiting Cyprus as part of his tour to the capitals of EU countries, where he will meet leaders of EU member states to prepare the informal European Council
More
President Barack Obama said on Wednesday he knew there was frustration about the bank bailouts but he was optimistic about the prospects for the U.S. economy this year. "We had to salvage a financial system that could have made things much worse. We had to take the steps that we did at the beginning of
More
China easily beat its 2009 growth target after a blistering fourth quarter performance that set the stage for further monetary tightening and put it on course to overtake Japan to become the world's second-largest economy. Gross domestic product surged 10.7 percent between October and December, compared with a year earlier, a tad below market forecasts
More
European shares fell from 15-month closing highs by midday on Wednesday, with miners slipping on concerns about China reining in monetary policy, though drugmakers gained from doubts on U.S. healthcare reform. At 1209 GMT, the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index of top shares was down 0.6 percent at 1,062.35 points, having finished the previous session at
More
New U.S. housing starts unexpectedly fell in December, likely the result of unusually cold weather, while producer prices rose for a third straight month. The Commerce Department said on Wednesday housing starts fell 4 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 557,000 units, pulled down by a drop in groundbreaking activity for single-family dwellings.
More
Britain's labour market showed signs of stabilisation at the end of last year, with the biggest fall in benefit claims in nearly 3 years and the first fall in an internationally comparable unemployment measure in 18 months. However, overall employment levels fell, after the number of people of working age who were neither in jobs
More
Britain's top share index fell 0.9 percent at midday on Wednesday, with miners weighed by an uncertain demand outlook in China, and banks weaker after Q4 results from Bank of America disappointed investors. By 1214 GMT the FTSE 100 was down 50.79 points at 5,462.35 having closed up 18.75 points, or 0.3 percent, on Thursday
More