Kraft boosted by Cadbury August 5, 2010 KRAFT Foods reported higher-than-expected quarterly profit and raised its target for cost savings from the acquisition of Cadbury yesterday, sending its shares up 4.8 per cent. But the largest US food company left its expectation for 2010 unchanged because it plans to reinvest the extra cash from the profit and cost savings into its brands. [...]
Opel offers lifetime warranties August 5, 2010 Opel, the car brand owned by General Motors (GM), will offer lifetime warranties on cars up to 160,000km as the carmaker bids to attract new buyers amidst declining sales. The warranty, which covers the car’s engine, electronic and cooling system, is effective immediately. Opel saw a 40 per cent sales slump last month, despite rolling [...]
Deutsche Telekom sales down August 5, 2010 Deutsche Telekom reported second-quarter results in line with expectations and confirmed its outlook on the back of solid earnings in Germany, its biggest market. Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda), excluding its T-Mobile UK venture with Orange UK were €5bn (£4.14bn), down 4.7 per cent on sales of €15.5bn, which fell 4.4 [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING August 5, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES GOOGLE AND VERIZON EYE WEB ACCESS DEAL Google and Verizon have agreed on the outline of a plan covering key aspects of how internet services are carried over communications networks, establishing what could become a financial and operational blueprint for the next phase of the web’s development. US HEDGE FUNDS EMBRACE THE BENEFITS [...]
Barclays set to leave UK if it’s broken-up August 5, 2010 BARCLAYS mounted a staunch defence of “big banking” yesterday as its first-half performance failed to impress analysts, who described the hefty profit boost as “low quality”. Chief executive John Varley used his results speech to warn the government against breaking up large institutions into separate investment and retail banks. Varley argued FTSE 100 companies needed [...]
BarCap makes lion’s share of profit despite revenue drop August 5, 2010 PROFIT at Barclays Capital made up 87 per cent of the banking group’s overall earnings, though much of its £3.4bn profit was due to unexpected one-off items and credit changes. While pre-tax profit for the half had almost trebled compared to the first half of 2009, this includes a £851m gain on its own credit. [...]
Barclays August 5, 2010 WHAT a let-down. Barclays’ first-half numbers were like a huge picnic hamper that turns out to hold a couple of stale scotch eggs. Investors quickly saw through the headline pre-tax profit of £3.9bn, which was 13 per cent ahead of consensus. The number was flattered by a strong decline in writedowns to £3bn, a large [...]
Profits surge at Schroders as assets rise August 5, 2010 UK FUND manager Schroders beat analysts’ forecasts for first-half earnings yesterday, as new asset management products helped it brave weakening markets in the second quarter. The company reported a sharp rise in pre-tax profit to £188.2m over the period, comfortably beating consensus analyst forecasts for between £150m and £168m. Falling equity markets had slowed new [...]
Zurich Financial suffers as weather disasters weigh August 5, 2010 SWISS insurer Zurich Financial Services reported a 51 per cent drop in second-quarter net profits to $707m (£445m) yesterday as earnings were hit by payouts for weather-related losses and the earthquake in Chile. This compares with a profit of $1.43bn during the same period last year by the firm led by Martin Senn. The Zurich-based [...]
Generali bullish for full-year as sales boosted August 5, 2010 ASSICURAZIONI Generali, Europe’s third-largest insurer, posted a 73 per cent rise in net profit yesterday, boosted by life insurance, and forecast a rise in full-year results. Italy’s largest insurer’s net profit was €873m (£723.5m), in line with consensus analyst forecasts of €869m. “A growth in operating margins and in net results, compared with 2009, is [...]