Irish Life shares up as losses shrink August 31, 2010 Irish Life & Permanent shrank first-half losses, defying expectations for a bigger shortfall, and said it expected Irish mortgage arrears to peak this year, sending its shares up 12 per cent at one point. Irish Life’s stock was the only bright spot on the country’s financial index on as investors were prepared for yet more [...]
Carrefour profit up 7.6 per cent August 31, 2010 Carrefour, Europe’s top retailer, said the summer sales trend was mixed in Europe but demand was holding up in emerging markets and confirmed it expected operating profit to rise this year. Tight cost control and buoyant emerging markets lifted first-half profit by 7.6 per cent, in line with guidance given in July, the company said. [...]
Markets fall as fears over economic recovery mount August 31, 2010 The FTSE 100 dropped today (Tuesday) led by falls in risk sensitive assets such as banks and commodity stocks as fears intensified over the sustainability of the global recovery. The index shed 61.37 points, or 1.2 per cent at 5,140.19, erasing the 0.9 per cent gain on Friday, as traders returned after the Bank Holiday [...]
888 scraps dividend after World Cup hits poker August 31, 2010 Online gaming firm 888 scrapped its dividend, preserving cash to pay for acquisitions after the weak economy and World Cup sapped appetite for poker games and hit first half profit. “In order to continue investing for future growth, and to support potential acquisitions, the board has decided not to declare an interim dividend,” Chief Executive [...]
Hermes in 52 per cent profit jump August 31, 2010 French luxury goods group Hermes has posted a 52 per cent rise in first-half operating profit, boosted by leather goods, and slightly raised its financial targets for the full year. Profit rose to 304.5m euros (£250.6m) in the first six months of the year from 199.8m euros a year ago, Hermes said. Net profit rose [...]
Indian economy grows by 8.8 per cent August 31, 2010 India’s economy grew at its fastest rate for more than two years in the last quarter, official figures have shown. GDP rose by 8.8 per cent in the three months to June compared with the same period last year. India – the world’s eleventh largest economy – is the second fastest-growing after China. Strong industrial [...]
Credit Suisse raises stakes on UK bonuses August 30, 2010 CREDIT Suisse, the second largest Swiss bank by assets, will this week provide many of its UK managing directors with early bonuses, in an effort to hang on to its star performers. Sources said that the bank, which trimmed its bonus pool for 2009 to alleviate the cost of the UK government’s 50 per cent [...]
Sanofi’s £12bn bid is rejected August 30, 2010 FRENCH pharmaceuticals giant Sanofi-Aventis is poised to go hostile with its $18.4bn (£11.9bn) offer for Genzyme after the US biotechnology company again refused to enter talks. Genzyme rejected Sanofi’s $69-per-share approach for the second time yesterday. Boss Henri Termeer said the board was “not prepared to engage in negotiations… based upon an opportunistic proposal with [...]
Bank of Japan eases policy as yen climbs August 30, 2010 THE Bank of Japan (BoJ) boosted its cheap loan scheme yesterday, bowing to government pressure for action to protect a fragile recovery by curbing the yen’s rise, while cabinet ministers signalled they may intervene to weaken the currency. The yen surged more than one percent against the dollar after the central bank beefed up the [...]
Obama speech fails to prop up markets August 30, 2010 US STOCKS accelerated declines yesterday after comments from US President Barack Obama did little to soothe investors anxious over the slowing pace of the recovery. Obama said he and his economic team discussed additional steps to promote economic growth, including looking at tax cuts for businesses. Stocks had been trading lower prior to the comments [...]