Analyst Views: What did you make of BT’s second quarter financial results? October 31, 2013 JERRY DELLIS | JEFFERIESUnchanged outlook suggests new chief executive plans an evolutionary approach. Early impact from BT Sport is encouraging. Consumer line loss reduced more sharply than expected, retail broadband net adds nearly double the second quarter last year. ROBIN BIENENSTOCK | BERNSTEINThese are the first set of results presided over by new chief executive [...]
Government lending must be simplified October 31, 2013 GOVERNMENT schemes designed to boost lending to small businesses are too fragmented and do not respond quickly enough to changing market conditions, according to a report released today by the spending watchdog. The National Audit Office (NAO) found that the relevant departments “have not clearly articulated” what they are attempting to achieve with the schemes. The report [...]
Shares in Shell slide as refining costs hit profits October 31, 2013 ROYAL Dutch Shell’s shares fell five per cent yesterday after the oil major posted a decline in third-quarter earnings due to narrow refining margins, higher exploration costs and security issues in Nigeria. The FTSE 100-listed firm said that earnings excluding one-off items were $4.5bn (£2.8bn) compared with $6.6bn in the third quarter of 2012. “We [...]
Bottom Line: Investors tricked by a scary drop in earnings but treats lie in store October 31, 2013 AFTER BP’s forecast-beating results on Tuesday, Shell had a tough act to follow. So it’s no wonder that the profit miss – $4.5bn versus estimates of $5.1bn – has got investors running scared. It doesn’t help that the oil giant just can’t seem to find what it’s looking for. Stunted efforts in the Arctic have [...]
Labour firms up commitment to High Speed 2 October 31, 2013 LABOUR yesterday reaffirmed its commitment to the High Speed 2 (HS2) railway, following weeks of speculation that it could drop support for the new north-south link. Shadow transport secretary Mary Creagh told the House of Commons that Labour are the “the true friends of HS2”, despite recent speculation that shadow chancellor Ed Balls was willing to cancel [...]
Spending cuts shore up profits at BNP Paribas October 31, 2013 PROFITS increased at BNP Paribas in the third quarter despite the weak economy in France, thanks to a tough cost-cutting programme, the bank said yesterday. The biggest bank in the country made profits of €1.36bn (£1.15bn) in the three-month period, up 2.4 per cent on the €1.33bn in the same period of 2012. Its revenues [...]
Big banks could face tougher rules on publishing trading risk October 31, 2013 THE WORLD’S biggest banks may be forced to publish the risks they are taking in their trading books on both easy and tough measures, global regulators said yesterday. The Basel Committee on Banking Supervisions’ aim is to allow investors and the authorities to get a better look at the quality of the lenders. However, the [...]
Emergency cash facilities go permanent October 31, 2013 THE BANK of England yesterday came to a deal with a range of foreign central banks to secure emergency funding in a range of currencies. The swap facilities mean that when international currency markets are squeezed, one central bank can use the facility to obtain liquidity from another. America’s Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank, [...]
AstraZeneca to be probed over heart drug trial October 31, 2013 ANGLO-Swedish pharma giant AstraZeneca revealed the identity of its new chief financial officer (CFO) yesterday, but the firm has been hit by falling profits and an investigation in the US over a major clinical trial. Announcing a 29 per cent drop in core operating profits for its third quarter, the firm also said that Marc [...]
Smith & Nephew picks its new chair as wound care boosts sales October 31, 2013 BRITISH medical devices group Smith & Nephew picked veteran industrialist Roberto Quarta as its new chairman yesterday as it posted five per cent higher quarterly sales, boosted by strong demand for wound care products. Quarta, an Italian-American businessman now based in Britain, will join as a non-executive director on 4 December and is slated to [...]