The Business Matrix: Saturday 4 May 2013

Services sector soars in April

Another dose of money-printing by the Bank of England looks off the agenda after services firms, from IT and accountancy to hotels and restaurants, produced their strongest growth since April 2012. The Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply’s activity index, where a score over 50 indicates growth, improved to 52.9 last month from 52.4 in March.

Commerzbank loses bonus fight

Commerzbank finally gave up its four-year legal war yesterday with 104 London investment bankers who have been fighting for €52m (£44m) in unpaid bonuses. The decision came a week after losing in the Court of Appeal, which ruled unanimously to uphold an earlier verdict which found the German bank’s staff were entitled to their bonuses.

Geddes predicts lower premiums

Paul Geddes, boss of Direct Line insurance, said the implementation of motor legal reforms should result in cuts in the cost of cover, particularly for younger drivers paying high premiums. Insurers have had to cope with the impact of a ban on referral fees.

Man Group still a way off recovery

Man Group’s Manny Roman said a recovery in the fortunes of his hedge fund was still some way off. The firm saw its assets under management tumble to $54.8bn (£35.2bn) from $57bn at the start of the year despite improved performance from its AHL fund.