US retail sales growth fuelled by car industry May 14, 2010 US retail sales rose more than expected last month – fuelled by the automotive industry. Total retail sales rose by 0.4 per cent following an upwardly revised 2.1 per cent rise in March, according to the Commerce Department. Compared to April 2009, sales were 8.8 per cent higher. The figures represented the seventh consecutive month [...]
Wolseley ups forecast after cost cutting pays off May 14, 2010 THE world’s largest builders merchant distributor Wolseley anticipates beating market expectations for the full year after operating profit more than doubled in the third quarter on cost cutting. Wolseley posted an underlying operating profit of £101m, rising from £48m for the same period last year. However, revenue slipped two per cent on a like-to-like basis [...]
John Lewis sees another sales rise May 14, 2010 JOHN Lewis has posted another week of sales growth with fashion sales up by more than a fifth. The employee-owned firm – which is seen as a bellwether of the UK retail sector – said sales at its 28 department stores and one “at home” store increased 17.7 per cent to £55.1m in the week [...]
Ladbrokes suffers as punters stake less May 14, 2010 LADBROKES has seen revenue dip by six per cent in the first four months of 2010, as punters staked less in its betting shops. the group said that in UK stores the amount placed on bets plunged by ten per cent. Meanwhile profits from gaming machines fell after VAT was put back up to 17.5 [...]
Gartmore loses £1bn after manager’s suspension May 14, 2010 FUND manager Gartmore said clients withdrew more than £1bn in the wake of the suspension of one of its top fund managers. In a trading statement the company said that after a first quarter which had seen net inflows of £126m, it had since seen about £1.1bn of net outflows. Guillaume Rambourg returned to work [...]
EADS profit plunges over costly Airbus May 14, 2010 EUROPE’S largest Aerospace group EADS’s first-quarter profit plunged by almost two-thirds after persistent cost worries over its A380 superjumbo, it said. The parent company of Airbus posted a 64 per cent drop in operating profit to €83m (£71.3m), missing average market expectations. The figures included a slim profit of €7m profit for the Airbus commercial [...]
Wall Street hit as bank probe widens May 13, 2010 TOP banks and rating agencies have been subpoenaed by the New York authorities as part of a probe into how they dealt with subprime securities in the run-up to the financial crisis. UBS, Citigroup, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Credit Agricole, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley are the subjects of a [...]
Pru deal held on knife edge May 13, 2010 ONE of Prudential’s most vocal supporters has urged the insurer to be honest about recent regulatory problems when it publishes the prospectus for its mammoth rights issue. Chief executive Tidjane Thiam and chairman Harvey McGrath have effectively staked their careers on pushing through the $21bn (£14bn) cash call and $35.5bn acquisition of AIA in Asia. [...]
Cameron right to cut ministers’ pay May 13, 2010 IT was good to see David Cameron announcing a 5 per cent pay cut for all government ministers. The savings will be relatively trivial when compared with the £163bn budget deficit but that wasn’t really the point: any organisation that wishes to usher in a new culture where belt-tightening is the norm must be ruthless [...]
BP: we weren’t prepared May 13, 2010 TONY Hayward, BP’s embattled chief executive, admitted yesterday that the oil giant could have been more prepared for a deepwater leak and that as a result his job could be on the line. After two days of grilling from US Senate representatives, Hayward said that with hindsight, BP could have done more in the past [...]