What the other papers say this morning – 17 January 2014 January 16, 2014 FINANCIAL TIMES EE float put on hold by owners The flotation of EE, Britain’s largest mobile operator, has been put on hold by Orange and Deutsche Telekom, after the joint owners concluded they would secure a higher valuation for the business when its 4G telephone services take off. Orange and Deutsche Telekom – which has [...]
Surge in share issues gives Goldman a lift January 16, 2014 GOLDMAN Sachs’ profits dipped in the final quarter of 2013 with trading incomes down in fixed income, currencies and commodities, the giant bank said yesterday. However, its investment banking income surged, stopping the quarter from becoming a washout and driving up overall profits for the full year. Goldman’s profits came in at $2.3bn (£1.4bn) in [...]
Bottom Line: Back to the valuable basics for big banks January 16, 2014 THE RECOVERY is proving unexpectedly bumpy for the big US banks. Trading revenues have been crushed at Goldman Sachs, Citi and others, with bond and equity markets not behaving quite as expected. That is a shame for many reasons – despite the obsessions of politicians and regulators who casually dismiss this work as “casino banking,” [...]
but staff left in the dark as bank holds out on salary updates January 16, 2014 GOLDMAN Sachs has deferred decisions on its European-based employees’ salaries for 2014. The bank, which normally would have told employees their new salaries alongside the announcement of its financial results, will instead communicate this towards the end of the month. The bank has decided to change its pay structures ahead of new EU bonus rules [...]
Citi disappoints market with low profit gain January 16, 2014 PROFITS more than doubled at Citigroup in the fourth quarter, the bank said yesterday, but the improvement was smaller than analysts expected. Shares fell on the announcement that the group made $2.7bn (£1.7bn) in the final three months of 2013, even though the figure was well above the $1.2bn seen in the same period of 2012. Revenues [...]
BlackRock’s results benefit from bull run for equity markets January 16, 2014 THE WORLD’S largest money manager BlackRock yesterday reported a higher-than-expected quarterly profit, benefiting from strong markets and a flow of new money into its exchange-traded funds. The New York-based company said fourth-quarter net income, a measure of profits, rose 24 per cent to $841m (£514.68m) while revenues increased nine per cent to $2.8bn. BlackRock has [...]
Ashley takes option for stake in Debenhams January 16, 2014 SPORTS Direct has sold its stake in Debenhams just four days after acquiring it in favour of an option that could eventually see it owning an even greater share of the struggling department store group. The sportswear giant controlled by billionaire Mike Ashley said yesterday that it has sold its entire 4.6 per cent interest [...]
Home Retail names Argos boss Walden as next chief executive January 16, 2014 HOME RETAIL GROUP yesterday announced that it has appointed the head of its Argos business to take over from outgoing chief executive Terry Duddy. John Walden, a former Best Buy executive who joined Argos last April, was a clear favourite to take over the post from Duddy, who will step down in March. The news [...]
Ocado delivers Christmas cheer January 16, 2014 OCADO said its online grocery service for Morrisons launched “on time and on budget” last week as it reported bumper Christmas sales. Sales rose 21.3 per cent to £111.1m for the six weeks to 5 January as it benefited from extra capacity at its new fulfillment centre in Warwickshire. Ocado boss Tim Steiner said the [...]
Halfords sales pedal forward January 16, 2014 HALFORDS said sales kept up a strong pace over Christmas thanks to “sparkling” performance from its cycling business. The FTSE 250 group, which is eight months into a £100m three-year turnaround plan, said that sales at stores open more than a year increased by 5.2 per cent in the 15 weeks to 10 January. Bikes [...]