BMW expects a big rise in its earnings this year March 17, 2010 BMW, the world’s biggest premium carmaker by sales, expects a significant rise in pre-tax profit this year, helped by demand for new models like its 5 Series sedan and better results in all three businesses. “We want to see visible progress in 2010 towards achieving our profitability targets for 2012,” chief executive Norbert Reithofer said [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS March 17, 2010 ASTRAZENECA Panmure reiterates its “buy” stance on AstraZeneca saying the company’s emerging markets review was comprehensive and makes Panmure more comfortable in its investment thesis. It highlights the key guidance as AstraZeneca’s assertion that it would attain some 25 per cent of its revenues from emerging markets by 2014. This calculation alone justifies a “buy” rating [...]
Northgate to focus on cost cuts March 17, 2010 Van hire group Northgate will continue to focus on cost reductions due to tough ongoing economic conditions and said its forecast for full-year profit remained unchanged. Northgate, which rents out light commercial vehicles in Britain, Ireland and Spain, yesterday said hire revenue per rented vehicle improved in the UK. In Spain, underlying hire revenue per [...]
BPC sees its losses narrow March 17, 2010 BPC, an oil and gas firm with offshore licence permits in the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, yesterday reported a narrower net loss in its fiscal 2009, helped by lower expenses. Fiscal 2009 loss narrowed to $2.425m (£1.582m) from $3.561m a year ago. Loss per share for the latest year were 0.31 cents, narrower than 0.49 [...]
Chemring sees trading rise March 17, 2010 Military-goods maker Chemring said yesterday trade in the first four months of its fiscal year was five per cent up on the same period a year ago, despite deliveries being hit by extreme winter weather. Chemring, whose countermeasures products help fighter planes avoid missile attacks, said adverse weather conditions in the first few weeks of [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS March 17, 2010 CB Richard Ellis Jonathan De Mello is to join the property group as head of its retail consultancy team, effective from April. De Mello is one of the most respected analysts in the retail sector and joins from the Experian Property Consultancy. His consultancy clients have included the likes of Blackstone Private Equity, Henderson Global [...]
UniCredit ups payout as its results cheer March 17, 2010 UNICREDIT, Italy’s largest bank, returned to a cash dividend yesterday as it battles to win round politically-connected shareholders who have been fighting a revamp plan by the lender’s boss. Shares in the eurozone’s third-largest lender by market value jumped to a seven-week high in early trade in response to the higher than expected payout on [...]
Google prepares to fight on regulatory front March 17, 2010 GOOGLE is a company of contradictions. It claims to be open, but guards its secrets fiercely. It presents itself as a green company, but owns the world’s largest cluster of computers, using huge amounts of power to keep them cool. It is a quintessentially modern company that is run by like a feudal kingdom, with [...]
Playtech profits up by a quarter March 17, 2010 Playtech, the world’s biggest provider of online gaming software, reported a 25 per cent increase in 2009 earnings, boosted by new products and a joint venture with William Hill. The firm, which is the biggest company on AIM, said its earnings were £84m, up from £67m. Playtech, whose licensees include Paddy Power, Bet 365, BetFred [...]
Miller Group eases losses March 17, 2010 Miller Group, the UK’s largest privately-owned housebuilder, reported reduced full-year pre-tax losses yesterday in another sign that the housing market is picking up. The Edinburgh-based group saw its pre-tax losses for 2009 decline to £72.4m, from a £170m loss in 2008. The firm saw its sales fall 25 per cent to £783m. Miller’s house-building business [...]