Colliers fortunes tick up amid property recovery January 21, 2010 REAL estate consultancy Colliers CRE yesterday said it had seen a strong pickup in revenues in the fourth quarter of 2009, with momentum set to continue into this year as conditions in the property market continue to improve. Colliers, which completed an £18.4m equity fundraising in October to strengthen its balance sheet and brought in [...]
SSL Russian venture lifts expectation January 21, 2010 THE owner of the Durex and Scholl Footwear brands SSL yesterday said the recent acquisition of Russia’s most popular condom brand has continued to perform ahead of expectations, boosted by strong sales of core consumer brands and continued investment in advertising and promotion. Despite a difficult trading environment in some countries, the company has seen [...]
CITY VIEWS: IS THE RECESSION PROMPTING YOU TO CURTAIL SPENDING ON YOUR DAILY COFFEE? January 21, 2010 RANJEEV JETHWANI | EX-LEHMAN BROTHERS “I just bought a coffee maker so I’m actually drinking more coffee now, just not from outside. The downturn hasn’t affected my coffee consumption, but it is too expensive at £3 a cup. Meeting in a coffee shop is a cheaper way to meet friends than going for a meal.” [...]
Profits up in bumper year for Goldman January 21, 2010 Goldman Sachs’ profit for 2009 jumped more than five-fold to $13.4bn (£8.28bn), the bank revealed yesterday. The result, up from $2.32bn last year, was buoyed by the bank’s vastly reduced compensation pool, down from an expected $22bn to $16bn. It reported net revenues of $45.2bn and net earnings of $13.4bn for the year ending 31 [...]
Sony Ericsson reports loss January 21, 2010 SONY Ericsson has reported a €167m (£146m) fourth quarter loss. This compares with a loss of €187m in the same period last year. The market has been hit by the global economic downturn – with cash-strapped customers putting off some consumer purchases. The company said it expected unit volumes in global handset sales to have [...]
US unit could be up for sale, says Wimpey January 21, 2010 TAYLOR Wimpey, one of Britain’s biggest housebuilders, is understood to be considering spinning off its North American business through a sale or stock market flotation, which could enable it to slash its debt mountain. The company’s adviser JP Morgan Cazenove is thought to have started sounding out rival and other institutions on their appetite for [...]
Poll on economy hurts Labour January 21, 2010 THE number of voters that think Labour has handled the recession effectively hasn’t changed since August, according to a new PoliticsHome poll. The results of the poll, which show that just 36 per cent of voters give the government credit for its handling of the recession, will make grim reading for the Labour Party. It [...]
United Utilities gets a lift as dividend cut reassures January 21, 2010 United Utilities shares surged four per cent to top the FTSE 100 risers yesterday. The rise of 21p to 529.5p came after the water firm vowed to cut dividends in the next financial year by just 12.5 per cent. Analysts had predicted a cut of over 20 per cent. The UK’s largest water firm will [...]
William Hill pulls out of its Spanish joint venture selling it for just one euro January 21, 2010 WILLIAM HILL, the bookmaker, completed its withdrawal from Spain yesterday when it sold its 50 per cent stake in its Victoria Apuestas joint venture for just one euro. The British firm sold the stake to its Spanish partner Codere Group. William Hill decided that the slow granting of local regulatory consents, along with slower than [...]
RED-BLOODED PROFITS AT ENTERTAINMENT ONE January 21, 2010 FILM and TV content group Entertainment One said yesterday it expects full year results to come in ahead of expectations after a successful string of releases including the popular Twilight vampire movies. The group also said it had agreed a heavily-discounted debt buyback, under which it will repurchase £14.5m worth of exchangeable notes for a [...]