Shell boss pledges focus on financial performance after weak Aussie dollar and Nigerian troubles drag down earnings August 1, 2013 Royal Dutch Shell has reported an annual fall in second quarter earnings amid a weakened Australian dollar and disruption to operations in Nigeria. Earnings in the second quarter of the year fell to $2.4bn (£1.48bn) after net charges of $2.2bn after tax – mainly due to impairments in upstream earnings. Excluding an accounting adjustment, second [...]
Before the open – 01/08 August 1, 2013 Asian shares were up last night on the back of unexpected good manufacturing data from July. The NBS purchasing managers’ index came in at 50.3 – up from 50.1 the month before and above expectations of 49.8 (above 50 indicates growth, below contraction). HSBC’s measure of manufacturing PMI, however, said the industry shrank, coming in [...]
SocGen surprises with a more than doubling in profits amid cost-cutting August 1, 2013 French bank Societe Generale has reported a second quarter net income more than double what it was a year ago following growth in fixed income and equities and a return to growth in foreign retail operations. SocGen saids its quarterly net income grew to €955m (£838m) from €436m in the same period one year ago. [...]
Obama gives “full-throated defense” of Fed candidate Summers July 31, 2013 President Barack Obama has given a full defense of Lawrence Summers, according to House Democrats. Summers is tipped as a hot candidate to replace Ben Bernanke as chairman of the Federal Reserve when he departs. Representatives Gerry Connolly and Brad Sherman have said that Obama believed that Summers has been "unfairly criticised". While Obama is [...]
Cameron under pressure to apologise to former treasurer wrongly accused in “cash for access” scandal July 31, 2013 Former Conservative co-treasurer Peter Cruddas has won £180,000 in libel damages over allegations in the Sunday Times that he charged for secret meetings with prime minister David Cameron. The High Court in London also said the newspaper would have to pay £500,000 in costs. It said that it was “dismayed” with the outcome and planned [...]
US data misses out on hat-trick as new orders stumble July 31, 2013 US data has just missed out on going three-for-three as the Chicago purchasing manager's index has missed, rising from 51.6 to just 52.3. That's the fourth miss of the last five prints. The headline number was leaked just before it was expected to be printed at 14.45. New ordesrs are down from 54.6 to 53.9, [...]
Ryanair boss says hand luggage charges “inevitable” and pushes for new runways at existing airports July 31, 2013 Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary has said the introduction of charges for hand luggage on planes is “unlikely in the short term but it’s probably inevitable”. Speaking at a news conference in London, the budget airline boss said it’s likely that companies would see the charges as a new revenue stream to be exploited, but [...]
Rumours of Twitter float as Facebook trades close to IPO price July 31, 2013 Despite founder Jack Dorsey's protestations – many don't believe a Twitter float will be avoided for much longer. As Facebook's stock has seen a revival, speculation that we may see an IPO as early as this year is back. Floating at $38, Facebook has been considered a bit of an underperformer, but it's now come [...]
Dell special committee reject founder’s sweetened deal conditional on voting changes July 31, 2013 The special committee of Dell’s board has reportedly said it is not willing to change voting provisions for the $13.75 per share offer made by founder Michael Dell with Silver Lake Management for the company, David Faber of CNBC tweeted today. Michael Dell told the Wall Street Journal the $13.75 offer was his best and [...]
IMF heats up German election by saying Eurozone may need to take losses on Greece July 31, 2013 The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said that Greece needs the backing of the Eurozone in order for there to be any chance of it paying back the bailout funds it has been given. To meet its 2020 debt target of a fall to 124 per cent of GDP from this years’ peak of 176 [...]