Profits plunge at John Wood March 2, 2010 British energy services company John Wood Group said yesterday that full-year pretax profit fell 31 per cent in 2009 as oil explorers cut spending, offsetting the company’s confidence on its long-term growth. Pre-tax profits fell to $264.8m (£177.2m) from $384.1m in 2008, the company said after global exploration and production spending fell 15 per cent [...]
Construction slump hits Keller March 2, 2010 Ground engineer Keller Group posted a 34 per cent fall in pre-tax profit, hurt by a shortage of contracts due to a severe downturn in global construction, and sees a challenging 2010. The company was comfortable with analysts’ forecasts of pre-tax profit between £58.6m and £69.5m for 2010, chief executive Justin Atkinson said yesterday.
KPMG survey: Employment in UK is rising March 2, 2010 THE number of people placed in permanent employment in the UK grew at its fastest pace last month since July 2007. Vacancies and salaries also increased and staff availability was at its weakest since April 2008, according to the report by KPMG and The Recruitment and Employment Confederation. Demand for staff also rose last month, [...]
Intel’s vice-president forced to take leave as suffers stroke March 2, 2010 INTEL’S executive vice-president Sean Maloney has suffered a stroke at his home and will take several months’ medical leave. The firm said the senior figure, who is also general manager of the Intel Architecture Group, is expected to make a full recovery. Analysts believe the company sees Maloney, 53, as the natural successor to 59-year-old [...]
Apple sues Taiwanese rival HTC over iPhone patent infringement March 2, 2010 APPLE is suing phone rival HTC, claiming it has broken patents related to the iPhone. Taiwan-based HTC was the first company to manufacture a mobile based on Google’s Android operating system, which has emerged as a significant competitor for the iPhone. It also makes the Nexus One phone that Google is selling directly to users. [...]
Lufthansa to scrap payout as profits slip March 2, 2010 LUFTHANSA posted a 2009 operating profit that was better than expected yesterday after the German flagship carrier started slashing costs to become more lean and compete with low-cost carriers and Asian rivals. Its operating profit dropped to €130m (£118.1m) in 2009 from €1.3bn a year earlier – beating the €31m analysts had forecast – Lufthansa [...]
British Gas beats BT in the utilities price war March 2, 2010 IT seems that British consumers are very sensitive to the details of their arrangements with their utility suppliers. This week we compare one utilities company that has benefited from this (British Gas), and one that has suffered (BT). It appears that British Gas’ announcement of a seven per cent price cut for all households has [...]
GAM hit as clients shun high-risk assets March 2, 2010 GAM Holding’s full-year net profit tumbled 60 per cent as clients pulled money from hedge funds in favour of safer lower-margin products, the Swiss-listed asset manager said yesterday. Net new money rose to Sfr414m (£256.7m), GAM said after Sfr2bn of client money flowed into the group in the second half, though this was mainly into [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS March 2, 2010 HAYS Numis Securities reiterates its “sell” rating on Hays citing another set of earnings downgrades post its half year results. Following a tough period of trading, the business faces additional UK public sector pressures which could lead it to lag a wider staffing recovery. While the dividend yield remains attractive it prefers Hays’ rivals. HSBC [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS March 2, 2010 Jupiter Asset Management The asset manager has appointed John Tevenan as a sales director in its global financial institutions group, responsible for developing relationships among global wealth management businesses. Tevenan joins in May and is currently UK sales director at Investec Asset Management, where he has worked since 2005. He has also held roles at [...]