Renault hit by €3bn loss after crisis year February 11, 2010 FRENCH carmaker Renault posted a wider-than-expected yearly net loss yesterday and fought shy of predicting a profit in 2010, sending its shares down more than five per cent. Renault , maker of the Twingo, Clio and Modus models, expects economic conditions to remain tough in 2010 and sees a 10 per cent drop in the [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS February 11, 2010 HSBC The bank has appointed Chris Barrow as global head of sales for its recently-launched HSBC Prime Services business, targeted at hedge funds and institutional fund managers across Europe and Asia. Barrow joins from Nomura, where he was international head of sales for prime services, and has also worked as head of sales and marketing [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS February 11, 2010 BHP BILLITON Standard & Poor’s says that BHP’s first-half earnings were stronger than expected, although still 28 per cent lower year-on- year. The broker agrees with the group’s statement that China is key to short-term prospects, and thinks that concerns over monetary tightening are overdone. Maintains its “Buy” recommendation. PUNCH TAVERNS Collins Stewart’s target price [...]
EU seals deal to rescue Greece February 11, 2010 A NUMBER of euro zone officials have sealed a deal to help Greece in its debt crisis, European Union President Herman Van Rompuy has said. The agreement came after a summit between Van Rompuy, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet and [...]
Sports Direct wins the double February 11, 2010 SPORTS Direct has seen a surge in sales and been cleared by a competition commission investigation. Britain’s largest sports retailer raised its full-year profit guidance after the sales jump for the 13 weeks to 24 January. Retail sales rose 9.4 per cent to £326m – lifting gross profit to £136m. Sports Direct – which is [...]
BT to tackle record £9bn pension fund deficit February 11, 2010 STRONGER third quarter profits at telecoms giant BT were today overshadowed by concerns over its record £9bn pension deficit as it published the results of its long awaited evaluation. The FTSE 100 group said it had agreed a 17-year recovery plan for the scheme under which it will pay £525M a year for the first [...]
Rolls Royce raises dividend after profit surge February 11, 2010 ROLLS Royce have posted a 4 per cent rise in full-year profit with its defence contracts helping to boost the figures. The company reported an underlying pre-tax profit of £915m on sales that were 14 per cent higher at £10.4bn for the year to the end of December 2009. Revenues climbed 14.7 percent to £10.4bn [...]
Credit Suisse returns to profit February 11, 2010 CREDIT Suisse has returned to profit after reporting a record loss in 2008. The bank made a profit of 6.7bn Swiss francs (£4bn) in 2009 – compared with a loss of 8.2bn Swiss francs in the previous year. Credit Suisse said it was pulling in new clients and that its asset management business was thriving. [...]
Travelport scraps its £2bn float February 10, 2010 THE biggest stock market flotation in two years was sensationally pulled last night, in a move that will send tremors through the IPO market. The shock announcement came after the firm had already slashed the price range from 210p to 290p – valuing the company at £2.16bn – to just 180p to 190p. But a [...]
Europe closes in on Greek rescue deal February 10, 2010 EUROPEAN Union leaders will lay the groundwork for a financial rescue of Greece at a summit today, but any support is likely to require a big commitment from Athens on getting its economy in order. Germany and possibly France are expected to take the lead in any aid package the EU draws up to help [...]