BIG CURRY FETCHES A FORTUNE FOR ARMY April 29, 2010 OFF to the Guildhall yesterday for the Lord Mayor’s annual “Big Curry”, a Bacchanalian feast in aid of ABF The Soldiers’ Charity. City types in attendance dug deep into their pockets for Britain’s brave soldiers – the event’s committee featured such business luminaries as Lloyd’s of London chairman Lord Levene, Bernard Cazenove, Sir Trevor Chinn [...]
Standard Life boosted by a return to risk April 29, 2010 STANDARD Life said high street savers’ appetite for equities and fixed income would continue to return this year as it beat market expectations to deliver a 30 per cent rise in sales. The Edinburgh-based insurer posted first quarter sales of £4.6bn, nearly £1bn more than analysts expected. Other stocks in the sector were buoyed as [...]
Raymarine set to reveal formal takeover offer April 29, 2010 ELECTRONICS maker Raymarine was last night locked in talks with a mystery third party over the possible sale of its main holding company. An announcement of a concrete offer from the unknown suitor, thought to be a private equity firm, could be made to the stock exchange as early as this morning. Raymarine says the [...]
Exxon profit buoyed by higher oil prices April 29, 2010 Exxon Mobil yesterday said first-quarter profit rose 38 per cent on higher crude prices and output, but the results missed Wall Street expectations as recently enacted US healthcare legislation took a toll on results at the largest US oil company. “Our results reflect higher crude oil realisations and stronger chemical margins while the downstream industry [...]
BP shares plummet as oil leak worsens off Gulf of Mexico April 29, 2010 Shares in London-based BP fell seven per cent yesterday after the oil major said a leaking well in the Gulf of Mexico was gushing at five times the rate initially thought. Investors are growing increasingly concerned about the impact of the leak. Since the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig caught fire, BP’s shares have fallen 11 [...]
BG Group remains resilient despite weak gas prices hitting first quarter April 29, 2010 Gas producer BG Group delivered improved quarterly output and underlying profits yesterday even though weak gas prices took a toll on its bottom line. The British group reported a five per cent fall in first-quarter net profit to $960m (£626.7m) as a glut in the global gas market hit gas prices, but underlying profits rose, [...]
ENI to approve EDF entry into South Stream April 29, 2010 Eni should approve French utility EDF’s entry to its South Stream gas pipeline venture within weeks, giving a boost to the mammoth project which had appeared to be stalling as gas prices plunged. Eni chief executive Paolo Scaroni yesterday said the allocation of a stake to EDF did not necessarily have to be equally split [...]
William Hill is confident as online surges April 29, 2010 BRITAIN’S second-biggest bookmaker William Hill said it had made an encouraging start to the year, boosted by strong online sales, and was confident of meeting its full-year forecasts. William Hill, which has around 2,300 betting shops in Britain and Ireland, said in a trading statement for the 13 weeks to the end of March that [...]
Asia boosts Unilever’s profit April 29, 2010 CONSUMER goods giant Unilever’s drive to increase volume growth paid off for the fourth quarter in a row as it beat forecasts with a rise in underlying sales in early 2010, with a boost from strong emerging market growth. Unilever, which makes Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, Knorr soup and Dove soap, said yesterday that [...]
Procter & Gamble quarterly earnings smash forecasts on emerging markets April 29, 2010 Procter & Gamble posted a higher profit than it anticipated, helped by growth in developing markets and its biggest volume gain in four-and-a-half years, and it raised the low end of its fiscal-year earnings outlook. The world’s largest household products company said profit fell to $2.59bn (£1.69bn), or 83 cents per share, in the third [...]