CHEERS FOR HEINEKEN October 28, 2009 BREWING giant Heineken yesterday raised its 2009 profit forecasts after an extensive cost-cutting programme off-set a decline in beer volumes. The group posted third quarter sales of €4.07bn (£3.65bn), after reporting a six per cent decline in beer volumes. Heineken chose to cut-costs, rather than drop the prices of its premium beers.
CITsecures $4.5bn from its creditors and rebuffs Icahn October 28, 2009 STRUGGLING commercial lender CIT Group yesterday obtained $4.5bn (£2.7bn) of additional financing from its creditors, just as it seeks to complete a debt exchange. The new financing, which adds to a $3bn loan arranged in July, is being provided by a group of lenders including some of CIT’s bondholders. CIT said it made the new [...]
Joblessness takes its toll on BAT sales October 28, 2009 BRITISHAmerican Tobacco, the cigarette giant behind the Dunhill and Lucky Strike brands, yesterday revealed that its sales volumes had dropped for the first time in two years, hit by downturns in key territories. BAT said volumes had fallen in Japan, Russia, Brazil, Italy and South Africa, taking volumes overall for the group down three per [...]
Sky rivals call on Ofcom to speed up its probe into the pay-TV market October 28, 2009 Broadcasters have urged Ofcom to speed up its review of the pay-TV industry, calling on it to implement rules to force Sky to wholesale premium sports and movies content to rivals at fixed prices. The watchdog yesterday published submissions to its third consultation on the pay-TV review, which showed that Sky’s rivals are becoming increasingly [...]
WHAT’S THE OUTLOOK FOR BG GROUP AFTER THESE RESULTS? October 28, 2009 RONNIE CHOPRA FALCON SECURITIES “All the large integrated oil companies are struggling with production growth, and new discoveries are struggling to replace the existing assets. BG has a first-class portfolio of assets across the globe which would make an attractive fit for a predator. BG has outstanding growth prospects.” HENK POTTS BARCLAYS WEALTH “Despite the [...]
BG looks to a bright future despite losses October 28, 2009 BG GROUP, the oil and gas major, said yesterday that profits had tumbled on the back of an energy price slump, but maintained the outlook for the immediate future was bright. Profits at the group, which had pleased investors with a string of recent discoveries in Brazil, fell to £838m, including one-time items, for the [...]
Chips are down for Wolfson October 28, 2009 Wolfson Microelectronics swung to a $1.5m (£914,000) pre-tax loss in the third quarter, short of analysts’ expectations, and said trading remained challenging. The chipmaker, which was dropped by Apple from its latest iPhone, reported revenue of $35.4m and a pre-tax loss of $1.5m, compared with a profit of $8.3m a year ago. Analysts were expecting [...]
Anti-piracy law forges ahead October 28, 2009 Business secretary Lord Mandelson said yesterday he was confident plans to cut the internet connections of persistent illegal filesharers will be approved by parliament. The controversial proposals – which have split the entertainment industry – follow France’s move to ban illegal peer-to-peer sharers for up to a year. Broadband provider TalkTalk slammed the plans, saying [...]
FOOTBALL-CRAZY PWC GETS STUCK IN ON ENGLAND’S WORLD CUP BID October 28, 2009 GOOD news for the multitude of football fans in the City: the team behind England’s bid to host the 2018 FIFA World Cup have secured themselves a powerful ally. PricewaterhouseCoopers, the accountancy giant, today announces it is the first sponsor to officially back the bid, responsible for working on crucial aspects of the proposal such [...]
GSK sales jump as swine flu fever boosts demand October 28, 2009 DRUGS giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK)?yesterday reported a three per cent growth in group sales due to a boost in demand for its swine flu vaccine and a surge in sales from emerging markets. GSK yesterday posted pre-tax profits of £1.9bn for the three months ending 30 September from £1.2bn the year before. The group yesterday said [...]