Rolls Royce shares plummet on SFO corruption probe February 13, 2014 Rolls Royce shares have taken a hit this morning, currently down almost 15 per cent after the engine manufacturer confirmed that it may face prosecution for alleged corruption in overseas dealings. What's more, it also saw reported profit before tax plunge 36 per cent – to £1.8bn in 2013 from a year earlier – due in part to [...]
Royal Mail rival DX to float February 13, 2014 Deja vu. We've got another delivery company initial public offering on its way, by the looks of things. Delivery company DX announced its intention to float on the Aim this morning. The London float would see the nearly 40 year old company valued at considerably less than its once nationalised peer, but willing to put [...]
Lloyds returns to profit and ups bonus pool 8pc February 13, 2014 Lloyds Banking Group has reported it returned to profit in 2013 – the first time since its bailout six years ago. Statutory profit before tax stood at £415m for the year – an 140 per cent increase from the £606m loss it made in 2012. The results, said boss Antonio Horta-Osorio, confirm the 33 per [...]
City prepares for Merlin Entertainments results magic show February 12, 2014 Merlin Entertainments is set to announce its maiden set of results on 27 February since its successful return to the market in November, sparking a flurry of analyst notes this week predicting good things from the Alton Towers owner. In a note from Deutsche Bank, analysts have restated a “buy” recommendation and target price [...]
Energy networks to face MP grilling February 12, 2014 Energy suppliers could breathe a (brief) sigh of relief today as the Energy and Climate Change Committee’s latest inquiry isn’t about them. As the public furore into rising energy bills rumbles on, the committee of MPs is now looking into energy network costs, which regulator Ofgem estimates make up around 23 per cent of a [...]
Flappy Bird’s earnings pale in comparison with these big players February 12, 2014 When Flappy Bird creator Nguyen Ha Dong revealed he was making over $50,000 (£30,250) a day from the game, before he removed it from distribution, pundits were certainly shocked. But the smartphone App Store gold rush, those are rookie numbers compared to some larger game makers. Supercell, behind both Hay Day (the eighth highest grossing [...]
Morrisons shares are buzzing on this takeover rumour February 12, 2014 Morrisons shares jumped over five per cent this morning on rumours that the founding family is planning to take the company private. According to Bloomberg, a number of private equity firms have been approached to see if any is interested in a buyout, which would be valued at over £7bn. Reported names include CVC Capital [...]
SocGen hikes 2013 dividend on fourth quarter profit February 12, 2014 Societe Generale, France’s second-biggest bank, has said this morning that a strong performance by its domestic retail banking unit helped it turn €322m (£267m) profit in the fourth quarter. A year earlier, SocGen made a loss of €471m. It confirmed that, by mid-May, it’ll present a ‘roadmap’ for achieving a 10 per cent return on equity [...]
Could falling Japanese stocks see Abenomics end in tears? February 4, 2014 The Nikkei took the biggest hit of any advanced economy stock index yesterday, dropping over four per cent. The Japanese stock index is down by about 14 per cent from its December peak. Is Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s radical easing policy slipping up? Despite fears of a new bear market, this isn’t even the biggest [...]
Blackstone rips past estimates as floats deliver January 30, 2014 WALL Street titan Blackstone shot the lights out with its quarterly results yesterday, shattering analysts’ profit expectations after prospering from a bout of multi-billion deals including the UK float of Legoland owner Merlin Entertainments. The group, which offers an array of private equity and real estate funds for the world’s biggest investors, said pre-tax profits [...]