Antofagasta pushes production up after challenging first quarter July 30, 2015 Chile-based miner Antofagasta yesterday reported an improvement in production during the second quarter, after difficulties with protesters at its Los Pelambres mine and heavy rains and Centinela hit results in the first three months of the year. Copper production was up to 157,000 tonnes, an increase of 7.2 per cent on the first quarter, although [...]
Tullow Oil profit halves as price of oil stays low July 30, 2015 Tullow Oil posted half-year results in line with expectations yesterday, despite the continuing weak oil price leading to significant drops in revenue and profit. Revenue was down by 35 per cent in the six months to 30 June, from $1.27bn (£811m) to $820m, while gross profit plummeted by 50 per cent, from $681m to [...]
Facebook share price dips despite soaring sales and 1.49bn monthly active users July 30, 2015 Social media giant Facebook received a bit of a poke last night when it reported a nine per cent fall in quarterly profit after spending heavily to boost mobile revenue and develop products. Shares dipped in after hours trading, despite the company saying that it has 1.49bn monthly active users – up 13 per [...]
Barclays boss John McFarlane looks to cut costs despite profit rise in bid to streamline bank July 30, 2015 Barclays, Britain’s largest bank after HSBC, yesterday delivered £3.1bn of pre-tax profits for the first half of this year, boosted by a 36 per cent rise in the performance of its investment banking arm, which chipped in almost half the total. The investment bank made £1.44bn pre-tax profit. John McFarlane, who joined the bank as [...]
RBS to cut Citizens stake to 20pc after $2.6bn sell-off of shares July 30, 2015 The Royal Bank of Scotland is accelerating its exit from US bank Citizens Financial after unveiling a proposal to sell its remaining stake in the lender within the next five months. The bank, which is expected to unveil a half-year loss this morning, will sell up to a 18.4 per cent stake in the Citizens [...]
John ‘Mac the Knife’ McFarlane raises fears with investors that egos will rule the roost at Barclays July 29, 2015 Is there a bank director with a thicker hide than John McFarlane? The tone of yesterday’s interim results from Barclays, which comfortably beat City forecasts, would more ordinarily be accompanied by the praise of a chairman for their chief executive. Instead, the newly installed executive chairman, McFarlane, struggled to find reasons for burying him. The [...]
Taylor Wimpey boosted by General Election as profits rise July 29, 2015 Taylor Wimpey said yesterday it would return more cash to shareholders after pre-tax profit rose by a third to £238m in the first half, boosted by a pick-up in trading following the General Election. Chief executive Peter Redfern said that since May it has seen a significant improvement in consumer confidence and mortgage availability, which [...]
Twitter share price plucked on user growth worries wiping billions from value July 29, 2015 Twitter investors must be spitting feathers. Shares in the social network have swooped 13 per cent lower, wiping several billion from the company's market value, after reporting muted growth in user numbers. “Monthly users grew only 0.7 per cent sequentially to 304m, while US monthly users remained at 65m, showing no growth. Annually, global users [...]
GSK share price rises as it beats expectations – but profits dip July 29, 2015 GSK's shares leaped 3.7 per cent to 1,377p in early afternoon trading after earnings per share beat expectations – despite it taking a hit on Advair. The figures The British pharmaceutical giant's core operating profit for the second quarter fell four per cent to £1.35bn. Net profit fell 77 per cent to £149m compared to the same period last [...]
UK house prices: Rightmove share price jumps as it absorbs business from rivals July 29, 2015 It seems the launch of an estate agent-run portal which forces agents to choose between Rightmove and Zoopla has done no harm to the former, after it reported a 16 per cent rise in revenues during the first half of the year. The figures The housing boom continues to benefit Rightmove: revenues rose to £93.1m in [...]