Redrow calls for state help on mortgages September 9, 2010 THE head of housebuilder Redrow called on the government to take action over the sickly first-time buyer market in a bid to revive overall sales, after reporting better-than-expected annual results. Steve Morgan, the founder of Redrow who returned in a boardroom coup last year, described state intervention as a “no-brainer” due to low mortgage availability [...]
Arm shares rise to eight-year high as new chip is unveiled September 9, 2010 BRITISH chip designer Arm Holdings unveiled a new processor that could help it extend its dominance in mobile phones into new markets, sending its shares to a new eight-year high yesterday. Arm, led by chief executive Warren East, is making inroads into bigger rival Intel’s territory with design wins including Apple’s iPad tablet computer. Texas [...]
Premier Farnell boosts dividend after beating quarterly forecast September 9, 2010 ELECTRONIC components distributor Premier Farnell more than doubled its profit in the second quarter, beating market expectations, helped by strong growth in China and a recovery in North America. The company, which counts Philips, Microsoft and Nokia among its customers, posted underlying pre-tax profit of £23.8m for the three months to 1 August, up from [...]
Dana will be sold at £1.9bn, market says September 9, 2010 INVESTORS and analysts said it was “game over” for Dana Petroleum last night after the state-owned Korea National Oil Corporation (KNOC) stuck with its £1.9bn takeover offer. KNOC called Dana’s bluff a day after the Aberdeen-based exploration company put out a defence document arguing for a much higher offer. Dana, led by pugnacious chief executive [...]
Tweedie tells politicians to let IASB find his successor September 9, 2010 European politicians should not interfere in how the next chief of a global accounting rule setting board will be selected, the board’s current chairman said yesterday. David Tweedie, chairman of the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB), which sets accounting rules used in over 100 countries, including the EU, said the selection of his successor should [...]
Google makes bid to speed up web searches September 9, 2010 GOOGLE’S search engine now displays results before users finish typing. The new technology, dubbed Google Instant, can shave two seconds to five seconds off every Internet search, Google said yesterday, and could entice users to search more on its website. And with competition increasing from Internet rivals such as Microsoft, Yahoo and Facebook, the technology [...]
Morrisons in move towards online sales September 9, 2010 SUPERMARKET giant Morrisons has reported pre-tax profit of £412m for the first half of the year – as it confirmed that it was considering a move into retail. The profit was eight per cent down on the same period last year, but in line with forecasts. Underlying profit was up taking into account a one-off [...]
HMV hit by World Cup fever September 9, 2010 ENTERTAINMENT company HMV has said that this summer’s World Cup triggered a 14.9 per cent fall in sales in the UK and Ireland. The firm said potential customers had spurned DVDs, CDs and books to watch the football, hitting the figures which covered the 19 weeks to September. HMV, which owns the Waterstone’s chain, has [...]
Home Retail Group issues bleak warning over profit September 9, 2010 HOME Retail Group yesterday warned that its half-year profits will be down by as much as a quarter due to the tough consumer climate. Like-for-like sales at its Argos stores dropped by 6.5 per cent in the six months to 28 August. Meanwhile, Homebase’s like-for-like sales dipped only 0.8 per cent as the good weather [...]
ANALYST VIEWS: HOW HAS MORRISONS DONE IN ITS FIRST SET OF RESULTS UNDER NEW BOSS DALTON PHILIPS September 9, 2010 SAM HART | CHARLES STANLEY New chief executive, Dalton Philips, came across very well on his first outing in front of the analyst community. His strategic update highlighted a number of opportunities to drive the top line and improve operational efficiency. We expect Morrison to deliver low double-digit growth in underlying JONATHAN JACKSON | KILLIK [...]