SSE share price down as Ferrybidge coal-fired power station goes up in flames July 31, 2014 SSE’s Ferrybidge coal-fired power station was evacuated yesterday after fire ripped through part of the plant. There were no casualties. The station was on summer shutdown and not generating. The station is scheduled to close by 2023. SSE shares were down 0.34 per cent at 1,457p. Smoke rises from the Ferryside power station [...]
Santander fears bonus clawback will hit London July 31, 2014 Tough rules to claw back bankers’ bonuses years after they are paid could put the UK at a competitive disadvantage to rivals globally, Santander’s UK boss Ana Botin said yesterday. And she warned it could be unfair to penalise what seemed good business decisions at the time, but were later viewed as bad choices with the [...]
TSB gaining market share with strong current account switches July 31, 2014 Relaunched high street bank TSB yesterday reported pre-tax profits of £128.5m in the first half of the year. In its first set of results since floating on the stock market, the bank pleased investors with a strong flow of new customers. TSB accounted for 9.2 per cent of all new current accounts in the period, [...]
Last winter of discontent hits Centrica profits July 31, 2014 The temperature just wasn’t right for profits at British Gas owner Centrica last winter, as group profits were walloped by an extreme polar freeze in the US, contrasting with a mild UK winter. Operating profits at Centrica plummeted 40 per cent in the first half of 2014, down to £890m from £1.49bn over the same [...]
Schroders fails to please investors despite selling £5bn more funds July 31, 2014 Blue-blooded fund manager Schroders yesterday reported record half-year profits but saw shares dip after falling short of analysts’ profit expectations. The FTSE 100 group, led by the former boss of Morgan Grenfell Michael Dobson, said pre-tax profits excluding exceptionals for the six months ending June rose to £261.5m – 15 per cent higher than last [...]
Submarine firm in market float July 31, 2014 FRENCH firm Alcatel-Lucent yesterday said it planned to pursue a float of its submarine cable business next year. Alcatel-Lucent Submarine Network manufactures cables at a site across the Channel in Calais, and runs vessels to lay them on the seabed. The initial public offering would be used by the French firm, listed in New York, [...]
Afren is hit by suspensions July 31, 2014 OIL EXPLORER Afren’s shares crashed over 26 per cent yesterday, after it suspended its chief executive Osman Shahenshah and chief operating officer Shahid Ullah, following alleged “unauthorised payments” to both from third parties. The action followed an internal review. Afren, active in Africa and the Middle East, postponed its half-year results, saying there was no [...]
Astrazeneca sweetens the pill as profit forecasts help boss Pascal Soriot July 31, 2014 British drugmaker Astrazeneca yesterday confounded City expectations by raising its sales and profit forecasts for this year, two months after fending off a near-£70bn takeover approach from bigger US rival Pfizer. Astrazeneca, the country’s second-largest pharmaceutical firm, reported a second consecutive quarter of revenue growth, beating City forecasts with second-quarter revenues of $6.5bn (£3.8bn), up [...]
Bottom Line: Big banks’ investors might be the last to benefit from the recovery July 31, 2014 Traditionally, banks are cyclical businesses – they make money in the good years, and they find it tough in bad times when unemployment rises and borrowers struggle to repay their loans. As you would expect, British banks have come out with a decent set of financial results for the first half of this year as [...]
Russia tensions kick Adidas to profit warning July 31, 2014 Adidas shares plunged 15 per cent yesterday after the sportswear giant became the latest big European company to warn that the Ukraine crisis was taking a toll on the business. The sportswear giant, which supplies kit to Premier League clubs such as Russian-owned Chelsea FC, warned that it would miss its profit and revenue targets [...]