NAB sees UK profits double October 27, 2010 THE owner of Clydesdale and Yorkshire Banks announced a rise in full year pre-tax profits of over 50 per cent yesterday after it advanced £4.7bn in mortgages and wrote down fewer bad debts. National Australia Bank (NAB) said lending had been subdued in the year to 30 September but that it was “firmly on track” [...]
Blockbuster gets $125m financing October 27, 2010 Movie rental company Blockbuster yesterday won court approval for $125m in financing to keep operating while in bankruptcy, and to pay claims made by film studios. The financing authorised by US Bankruptcy Judge Burton Lifland will allow the nation’s largest video renter to continue paying employees and stocking its shelves with games and DVDs while [...]
Las Vegas Sands’ results cheer October 27, 2010 Las Vegas Sands, the casino operator run by billionaire Sheldon Adelson, posted a better-than-expected third-quarter profit yesterday due to strong results at its new Singapore resort and in Macau. After adjusting for one-time items, Sands earned 34 cents a share in the quarter, up from three cents a year ago, beating the 23 cents per [...]
Conoco sees profits more than double October 27, 2010 THE third-largest oil company in the US, ConocoPhillips, said its quarterly profit more than doubled yesterday as crude oil and natural gas prices returned to highs not seen since last year and refining results improved. It said quarterly profits rose to $3.1bn (£1.9bn) compared with $1.5bn a year ago. The figures included adjusted profits in [...]
E.On admits to second €2.6bn charge on Mediterranean assets October 27, 2010 GERMAN utilities company E.On admitted yesterday net profit would be lower as a result of taking €2.6bn (£2.2bn)in impairment charges on its assets in the Mediterranean. As much as €1.1bn will be written off in goodwill, with a further €1.5bn of impairments to be made on other assets in Italy, Spain and France. E.On said: [...]
UK hands out 144 licences for oil and gas October 27, 2010 BRITAIN has granted 144 oil and gas exploration licenses in its 26th licensing round, but plans a more thorough investigation into the environmental impacts of 45 other prospective licences, the government said yesterday. The licences cover 268 blocks, almost as many as the 303 awarded in the previous licensing round. Seven of the 83 companies [...]
Shell’s Nordic operations sold to St1 in $640m deal October 27, 2010 Royal Dutch Shell has agreed to sell its Finnish and Swedish operations, including a refinery in Gothenburg, to Finnish firm St1 for $640m (£406m), as the oil major continues to cut back its downstream activities. The deal includes an 87,000 barrels of crude oil per day refinery, 565 filling stations and Shell’s bulk fuel business [...]
P&G profits slide despite sales pick-up October 27, 2010 PROCTER & Gamble (P&G) posted better-than-expected quarterly profits yesterday saying products as well as its strength in emerging markets helped push sales volume growth. However, P&G said its profit fell almost seven per cent to $3.08bn (£1.9bn), or $1.02 per share, in the first quarter to 30 September, from $3.31bn, or $1.06 per share, a [...]
Revenues see Virgin Media back in profit October 27, 2010 VIRGIN Media’s third quarter results showed a healthy return to profit after last year’s loss of £78.1m, marking its first quarter in the black since the collapse of predecessor NTL. Pre-tax profit for the third quarter this year has jumped up to £9.9m, with earnings-per-share rising from an 18p loss last year to a 13p [...]
How to sell spades and avoid a knife in the back October 27, 2010 It was 6.30am and the teams were on their way to the Science Museum for their next challenge. “It’s either going to be something to do with science or museums”, decided Jamie, showcasing the kind of mind they could have used at Bletchley Park. In fact this was the chocolate teapot challenge: teams pick through [...]