GREEN MACHINE July 14, 2009 TOYOTA yesterday rolled out its first hybrid-only Lexus luxury model and said it was revving up plans to add two more petrol-electric hybrid vehicles to its line-up next year in a bid to rival Honda’s low emission vehicles. President Akio Toyoda, the grandson of Toyota’s founder, who took over the top role in June, said: [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS July 14, 2009 UNILEVERJP Morgan said that Unilever is on a path to growth and a higher valuation as it upgraded the stock to “overweight”. The broker said that, despite outperforming most peers in the year-to-date, Unilever still trades at discounts of nine per cent and 13 per cent to peers in foods and households and personal care [...]
City workers favour small banks July 14, 2009 Two thirds of financial services professionals believe that any bank considered “too big to fail” should be forced to shrink, according to research released today. The Securities & Investment Institute (SII) found that 67 per cent of respondents thought banks’ size should be curbed, to combat moral hazard. The findings back up Bank of England [...]
Leisure & Gaming poor results July 14, 2009 Leisure & Gaming yesterday reported a “disappointing” set of second quarter results. The online sports betting firm saw a sharp fall in its net win percentage in three months to June with no large football tournaments taking place. Amounts wagered rose to ¤38.5m , boosted by poker tournament fees, earning net win of ¤5.2m (2008: [...]
Burger King scraps $1 burger July 14, 2009 Fast food chain Burger King yesterday scrapped plans to sell its double cheeseburger for $1 (60p) in the US after franchisees voted down the proposal for a second time. Burger King has been trying to win more diners on value points from arch-rival McDonalds, but franchisees shot down the plan after concerns it will hit [...]
GOLDMINE $ACHS July 14, 2009 STAFF at Goldman Sachs are in line for an average pay packet of $1m (£612,000) each this year, after the bank reported second quarter net income that smashed expectations. The Wall Street giant booked a profit of $3.44bn, or $4.93 per share, for the three months to 26 June, up 64 per cent from $2.1bn, [...]
business to suffer as posties vote to walk out this friday July 14, 2009 THOUSANDS of postal workers are set to strike on Friday, bringing chaos to businesses across London, as a row over jobs, pay and modernisation at Royal Mail intensifies. Over 12,000 members will stage a 24-hour walk-out on Friday, the Communication Workers’ Union (CWU) said yesterday, accusing Royal Mail of cutting wages and jobs without discussing [...]
Intel’s results boost sector July 14, 2009 INTEL, the world’s biggest chipmaker, reported better-than-expected second quarter net profits of $1bn (£610m) yesterday, fuelling hopes that the worst is behind the technology sector, as its reporting season opens. The company said its revenues of $8bn were down 15 per cent year-on-year, but up 12 per cent from the first quarter, and beat analysts [...]
Why Goldman Sachs is doing so well July 14, 2009 SO Meredith Whitney was right. The high-profile Wall Street analyst upgraded her advice to potential Goldman Sachs investors from “neutral” to a “buy” – and the investment bank, whose European operations are based in Fleet Street, responded with a hugely positive set of numbers. Net profit for the three months to June hit $3.4bn from [...]
Oil saves US retail figures July 14, 2009 CAR and petrol sales salvaged an otherwise lacklustre June for US retailers, data out yesterday revealed. The report from the US Commerce Department showed sales at retailers rose 0.6 per cent from a month earlier, beating economists’ expectations of a 0.4 per cent advance. But outside of car showrooms and petrol stations, the sales results [...]