Stock exchange ditches auditor April 22, 2014 THE LONDON Stock Exchange has picked EY as its new auditor, becoming the latest blue-chip company to shake up its accounting relationship. PwC has audited the LSE’s books since the accounting group was formed in 1998 from the merger of Price Waterhouse and Coopers & Lybrand. EY, formerly known as Ernst & Young, will take on [...]
Pets at Home hit by lower target price from bank April 22, 2014 GOLDMAN Sachs, one of the banks that advised on the recent £1.23bn flotation of Pets at Home, initiated research on the company yesterday with a target price for the stock of 242p – or 3p below the 245p flotation price. The research note from Goldman will inevitably anger some of the original investors in the [...]
AT&T dials up strong revenue as wireless contract sales increase April 22, 2014 AT&T last night reported a strong first quarter, with its best revenue growth in more than two years. America’s second largest telecoms company said last night that its results had been boosted by increased sales of wireless plans. Randall Stephenson, AT&T chairman and chief executive, said: “Customers really like the new mobility value proposition and [...]
Profits soar at Comcast helped by NBC strength April 22, 2014 BROADCAST network Comcast has posted healthy first-quarter results, helped by advertising revenue income from the NBC network. America’s largest cable operator revealed net income in the quarter of $1.87bn, up from $1.44bn a year ago. Revenue grew 14 per cent to $17.4bn. The results beat analyst expectations, and shares were trading up as markets closed [...]
Ukraine peace deal unravelling fast as violence flares in the east April 22, 2014 A FRAGILE peace deal, agreed between Russia and Ukraine last Thursday, looks to be unravelling after reports that two pro-Ukrainian supporters, one a politician, were tortured and killed emerged yesterday. Acting Ukrainian President Oleksandr Turchynov called for counter-terrorist operations, suspended last week as part of the peace deal, to resume in eastern Ukraine. “The terrorists [...]
Harley-Davidson roars to bumper profits April 22, 2014 HARLEY-DAVIDSON posted a stronger-than-expected quarterly profit yesterday, lifted by strong sales growth outside its core North American market, sending its shares more than seven per cent higher. The Milwaukee-based bike company reported first-quarter net income of $265.9m, or $1.21 a share, up from $224.1m, or 99 cents a share, a year earlier.
By George! Cam wants us to give our saint a party April 22, 2014 HAVE you been prepping for your St George’s Day celebrations? It’s 23 April today, so surely you’ve had this evening planned for weeks? No, us neither, but the Prime Minister has rolled up his tweeds, settled into a cup of Yorkshire and launched an effort to make St George’s Day more of a, erm, day. [...]
Board meeting: Ladbrokes gets in kerfuffle at Man Utd ground April 22, 2014 IT WOULD appear David Moyes wasn’t the only person asked to leave Old Trafford yesterday, as Ladbrokes’ spin doctor Alex Donohue also had to do the walk of shame away from the Man Utd grounds. He had been on site with his chalk board, peddling the odds on who would replace Moyes and chatting to [...]
Tesco steps up assault with more price cuts April 22, 2014 TESCO yesterday launched a fresh round of price cuts and slashed its online shopping charges as it steps up its efforts to stop customers defecting to its discount rivals. The retailer dropped prices on over 30 products yesterday including bacon, sugar, broccoli and some of its bread ranges. The price of six Tesco free-range medium [...]
Tasty earnings at Yum Brands as China tucks into KFC and pizza April 22, 2014 KFC parent company Yum Brands last night posted healthy first quarter results, largely in line with analyst expectations. The group revealed net income of $399m, up from $337m (£237m) in the first quarter of 2013. Revenue was $2.72bn for the quarter, which narrowly missed predictions of $2.79bn. Results in China were strong, despite concerns over [...]