Porsche set for 5bn of losses July 29, 2009 CARMAKER Porsche said yesterday it was in advanced talks to sell off its cash-settled options on Volkswagen (VW) shares, and that it expects to report pre-tax losses of up to €5bn (£3.8bn) in its current fiscal year. That figure compares with a year earlier pre-tax profit of €8.6bn, the bulk of which came from gains [...]
Virgin nets a key deal with Disney’s ESPN July 29, 2009 ESPN, the Disney-owned media group that has picked up live Premier League football rights from the defunct Setanta, yesterday agreed a carriage deal with Virgin Media, the cable company. The deal is similar to Virgin’s previous deal with Setanta, whereby Virgin customers paying for the highest television package will get the channel, which will show [...]
Madoff: I thought I had been caught on several occasions July 29, 2009 BERNARD Madoff, who is serving 150 years in prison for his $65bn (£40bn) Ponzi fraud, thought he had been rumbled several times, he said in an interview from behind bars. Speaking to lawyers representing a group of victims who are suing him, Madoff said he was surprised that his huge fraud – which took place for [...]
Macquarie sees jump in profits July 29, 2009 MACQUARIE, Australia’s largest investment bank, yesterday predicted a rise in first-half profit and signalled its intention to expand into Europe and the US. The bank said its first-half profit would come in somewhere between the results for the first and second halves of its last fiscal year, suggesting a profit of around A$440m (£221m). In [...]
Greener buses for Stagecoach July 29, 2009 BUS and rail group Stagecoach yesterday confirmed it was investing £71m in its greener, smarter bus fleet. The news comes after the company said earlier this year it would make a multi-million pound investment in hundreds of new vehicles to benefit customers across its provincial bus operations. In total, the group has ordered 434 new [...]
Losses triple at BAA as its traffic drops July 29, 2009 AIRPORT operator BAA yesterday said losses at its London airports had more than tripled to £545.7m in the first half of the year. Exceptional items pushed the company into the red, but BAA said its underlying earnings were up 28 per cent to £469.9m. The airport operator took a hit from finance costs linked to [...]
Rexam unveils its 350m cash call July 29, 2009 REXAM, Europe’s biggest drinks can maker, yesterday announced a fully underwritten £350.7m cash call to protect its investment grade credit rating. The company, which manufactures cans for Pepsi Bottling Group and Red Bull, is the first firm to launch a rights issue to maintain its credit rating, rather than from a distressed or opportunistic position. [...]
ArcelorMittal falls into the red as sales slow July 29, 2009 ARCELORMITTAL, the world’s largest steelmaker, posted its third quarterly loss in a row yesterday and forecast only a gradual second-half pick-up after weak demand hit prices. The group reported a second quarter net loss of €581m (£502m), against a profit of €3.7bn a year earlier. Chief financial officer Aditya Mittal said the company had seen [...]
CITY VIEWS: SHOULD BRITISH AIRWAYS CHARGE FOR IN-FLIGHT MEALS? July 29, 2009 ABI COOPER LAING O’ROURKE“Yes, I think it will affect the number of people who fly with them. I suppose it does depend on the journey length, however, as budget airlines already charge for in-flight meals. Perhaps passengers used to short-haul flights with these airlines won’t mind.” ZAIN HIRANI STANDARD BANK“I think it’s a small thing [...]
EasyJet board bows to Stelios over growth July 29, 2009 BUDGET airline easyJet predicted a full-year pre-tax profit of £25-50m yesterday, despite the massive industry slump, but bowed to pressure from biggest shareholder Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou and halved its future growth rate target to 7.5 per cent. Stelios had rowed with the company’s board late last year over his worries about the expansion plans of [...]