China’s GDP grows by 8pc on stimulus efforts July 16, 2009 CHINA looks set to hit its full-year growth target of eight per cent after a surprisingly strong second quarter notable for a surge in investment driven by powerful fiscal and monetary stimulus. Annual gross domestic product growth accelerated in the second quarter to 7.9 per cent from 6.1 per cent in the first quarter, making [...]
Teletext to be switched off for good July 16, 2009 ASSOCIATED Newspapers said yesterday that it will shut down its loss-making Teletext analogue television service in January 2010, two years ahead of schedule, because the economic downturn has accelerated a fall in audiences and revenue. The company, owned by the Daily Mail and General Trust (DMGT), added it will also pull the plug on a [...]
CITY VIEWS: HAVE WE SEEN THE END OF THE FINAL SALARY PENSION SCHEME? July 16, 2009 RON BRADLEY DBM CONSULTANTS“Those who still have a final salary pension scheme are very lucky. It will be everybody for themselves in the future, and up to individuals to look after themselves in retirement. There has been a corporate retreat on pensions and financial responsibility. I use SIPP – a Self Invested Personal Pension.”DAVID SIMKINS [...]
Henderson profits to fall 50 per cent July 16, 2009 HENDERSON, the fund manager that acquired failed rival New Star, yesterday warned that its first half profits are likely to be 50 per cent lower than last year as its assets under management continued to plummet. In a trading update the group warned it will report its first-half pre-tax profits were between £25m and £28m, [...]
Barclays brings Goldman man onto its board July 16, 2009 BARCLAYS named Goldman Sachs veteran Reuben Jeffery as a non-executive director yesterday, on the same day the Walker report called for more banking expertise on bank’s boards. The bank said Jeffery, who served in the US government as under secretary of state for economic, energy and agricultural affairs from 2007 until earlier this year, joins [...]
Autonomy on target but shares slump July 16, 2009 SOFTWARE firm Autonomy reported a record second quarter performance yesterday, but shares dropped as some analysts expressed disappointment at the firm’s cautious outlook. The company, which specialises in meaning-based search technology, said that second quarter revenues grew by 55 per cent to £195.1m year-on-year, and profit-before-tax was up 64 per cent to £71.7m. “Despite the [...]
JJB Sports gets unlikely share boost from Gates July 16, 2009 In a bizarre turn-around, beleaguered retailer JJB Sports yesterday revealed that billionaire Bill Gates had taken a stake in the embattled company. The Microsoft tycoon made the acquisition through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the philanthropic organisation created to “help all people lead healthy, productive lives”. On Tuesday, the foundation, which is also backed [...]
US jobless claimants come down July 16, 2009 The number of Americans lining up for jobless benefits tumbled in the last week, a decline seen as distorted by upheaval in the car industry, while a key regional factory index slipped in July, reports showed yesterday. At the same time, US home foreclosures raced to a record high in the first half of 2009, [...]
Tottenham tycoon Joe Lewis gets his ally a seat on pub group M&B’s board July 16, 2009 JOE Lewis, the Bahamas based billionaire who controls football club Tottenham Hotspur, yesterday won his battle to gain a seat on the board of pub group Mitchells & Butler (M&B). Lewis has appointed Richard McGuire, a former Citigroup investment banker, as a non-executive on the board after passing the stake threshold needed for a board [...]
ANALYST VIEWS: WERE AUTONOMY’S RESULTS ALL POSITIVE? July 16, 2009 JULIAN YATES INVESTECThe results were slightly behind our expectations, but ahead of consensus. Deferred revenue is at record levels but was helped by the Interwoven acquisition and was actually below the level we expected. Overall, there is little in these results to encourage us to change our “hold” stance on the shares. ROGER PHILLIPS EVOLUTION [...]