Easyjet rides financial storm August 6, 2009 BUDGET airline easyJet, the orange-branded carrier founded by Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou, yesterday said its aircraft were fuller and that it saw an increase in its airline traffic last month, as demand for bargain flights holds up despite the slump. The company flew 4.66m passengers in July, up from 4.47m in the same period last year. [...]
BANK SHOCKS WITH NEW 50bn BOOST August 6, 2009 THE Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) shocked the markets yesterday with an unexpected increase of its quantitative easing programme to £175bn, equivalent to 12 per cent of GDP and above the maximum authorised by chancellor Alistair Darling in March. Sterling fell more than a cent against the dollar after it hit nine-month highs [...]
Ladbrokes chases William Hill in the exodus to Gibraltar as profits slump August 6, 2009 BETTING firm Ladbrokes yesterday confirmed it would be following the fleeing footsteps of William Hill by moving its online gambling arm to Gibraltar, which it says will save £7m a year. Chief executive Christopher Bell blamed “intense competitive pressures” for the move. UK based gambling firms must cough up 15 per cent of their earnings [...]
BARCLAYS TO SOOTHE STAFF August 6, 2009 BARCLAYS said yesterday that it would sweeten its pension arrangements to placate irate staff angered by the closure of the firm’s final salary pension scheme. Staff gathered outside the bank’s extraordinary general meeting to protest against the scrapping of the plan, which has a £3.5bn deficit. But chairman Marcus Agius said the bank was considering [...]
Lloyds may opt out of costly APS August 6, 2009 LLOYDS Banking Group is considering pulling out of the government’s asset protection scheme (APS) and opting for an independent capital raising instead, City A.M. understands. A Lloyds board member said the company had not “ruled anything in, or ruled anything out”. Shares in the bank yesterday rose 12.3 per cent to 104.7p on the back [...]
Ray of hope for Unilever as profits hit August 6, 2009 CONSUMER goods giant Unilever yesterday provided a ray of hope that consumer confidence may be creeping back as it returned to growth in the second quarter of this year. The group behind brands ranging from Ben & Jerry’s ice cream to Hellman’s Mayonnaise and Dove soap said sales volumes fell in most regions around the [...]
New loss for Commerzbank August 6, 2009 GERMANY’S Commerzbank has suffered a net loss of €746m (£636m) in the second quarter of the year as it battles through the financial crisis. The bank narrowed its first quarter loss of €861m, as revenues rose by 31 per cent to €3.1bn, compared to €2.3bn in the first quarter. Provisions against risky loans were up [...]
Deutsche Telekom close to unveiling T-Mobile fate August 6, 2009 DEUTSCHE Telekom yesterday said that its second-quarter core profit and sales were in line with expectations, and that it will present its strategy for T-Mobile UK in the coming weeks. The announcement will end months of speculation over whether the firm will sell its struggling UK operation to one of its competitors. Earnings in the [...]
Car sales rise on scrappage August 6, 2009 NEW car sales went up for the first time in 15 months in July, as business secretary Lord Mandelson’s “cash for bangers” scheme trickled down to dealers, helping drive up sales by 2.4 per cent year-on-year. The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said 157,149 new cars were registered in the UK last month, [...]
ARE YOU CHEERED BY UNILEVER’S RETURN TO GROWTH? August 6, 2009 GRAHAM JONES PANMURE GORDON“Unilever certainly deserves credit for restor-ing volume growth more strongly than we had expected, with two per cent growth in the second quarter after a fall. While we are trimming our sterling profit forecasts by four to five per cent to reflect recent sterling strength, we are raising our price target to [...]