Sainsburys Bank has determined that cost of a two day trip to Moscow to watch the UEFA Champions League final between Manchester United and Chelsea will cost each supporter an average of GBP624. This is without a flight, which would add greatly to the total.
Over GBP300 of this will be spent on the hotel room, with meals, transfers and sundry expenses taking up the rest. The total spend for adds up to around GBP40 million says Sainsburys Bank, which is a lot of money to put into Russian coffers.
Good advice from Sainsburys Bank is to shop around for the best rate on currency since it can make a real difference. They also recommend combining a good rate with good quality service to get the best overall package.
According to the Lloyds TSB Business Unit the economy in Scotland is growing, albeit at a lower than hoped for rate.
Looking at the last three months almost 40 percent of businesses in Scotland reported that turnover was up, a third remained unchanged whilst 28 percent had seen a reduction. When combined these figures show a net gain of 11 percent – better than the quarter before but much less than the same time last year. A Lloyds TSB economist reported that Scottish businesses were expecting their figures to reduce in the next 6 months though their actual performance was better than the rest of the country.
Both manufacturing and service industries had enjoyed growth over the last quarter, which is a very healthy situation, though some business owners were telling the Lloyds TSB survey that they were beginning to notice the access to credit tightening up which could be a concern in the future.
The German retail banking arm of Citibank, part of the Citigroup financial giant, saw the number of interested German parties drop to one when Commerzbank withdrew from the race.
There is interest from outside Germany still, but within the borders of the country only Deutsche Bank remains an interested party. A couple of other big European players are looking at Citibank in Germany with interest, with a move expected before the end of the month. It continues what has been a turbulent time in the German banking market as a number of organisations have changed hands recently.
With around 3.25 million customers the German Citibank is expecting offers in the region of EUR4 to EUR5 billion, especially as it runs profitably and is one of the leaders in consumer financing, generating handsome returns.