Homeserve’s British boss steps down after 13 years at the firm October 23, 2013 THE BOSS of Homeserve’s British business is stepping down after 13 years at the embattled boiler repair and insurance firm. Jonathan King is quitting to pursue a non-executive career, the firm announced yesterday. He has steered the firm through several investigations into its selling practices, which saw the firm fined £750,000 by Ofcom last year. [...]
Boeing soars on rising demand for Dreamliner October 23, 2013 BOEING shares took off yesterday after the plane manufacturer lifted its profit forecasts for 2013 and pledged to build more Dreamliners in the coming years. The American firm said its consumer plane division, which makes up more than half of its revenues, posted a 15 per cent rise in turnover in the three months to [...]
Caterpillar slows to a crawl as group awaits mining recovery October 23, 2013 CATERPILLAR posted a lower-than-expected quarterly profit yesterday and cut its full-year forecast yet again as weak demand from mining customers continued to bedevil the heavy equipment maker. The firm, which makes a range of distinctive yellow machinery, also said it expects flat results next year. Caterpillar said it had axed 3,000 more jobs in the [...]
Peugeot steps back from tie-up with GM as car sales slide further October 23, 2013 PSA PEUGEOT Citroen and General Motors are scaling back their alliance as the French car firm pursues an investment by China’s Dongfeng and the US group seeks greater control of its destiny in Europe. Peugeot, whose exposure to recession-hit European markets led to a €5bn (£4.26bn) loss last year, said yesterday a small car programme [...]
Europe growth is small beer for Heineken as other regions slump October 23, 2013 HEINEKEN the world’s third largest brewer by volume, yesterday lowered its guidance for full-year profit after beer sales in eastern European dropped sharply and slipped in Brazil and in its large African markets. The group, which makes Europe’s best-selling Heineken lager, Sol, Tiger and Strongbow cider, said it now expected net profit before one-offs to [...]
Tupperware finding new markets October 23, 2013 Tupperware sales are booming in Turkey, Brazil and Malaysia, though the plastic storage boxes are losing popularity in Europe, the firm revealed yesterday. Florida-based Tupperware posted a one per cent rise in global sales to $603m (£372m) for the third quarter, with much of this growth driven by emerging markets. Sales in Germany fell by [...]
Bristol-Myers Squibb’s sales lift October 23, 2013 Bristol-Myers Squibb reported quarterly earnings that exceeded expectations yesterday, fuelled by strong sales of cancer and diabetes drugs, but stuck to its earlier full-year 2013 profit forecast. The pharma firm earned $692m (£428m) in the third quarter, it said. Global revenue rose nine per cent to $4.07bn, topping Wall Street expectations of $3.99bn. Diabetes drug [...]
Eli Lilly profit beats expectations October 23, 2013 Pharma company Eli Lilly reported higher-than-expected quarterly earnings yesterday, helped by cost cuts and a big price increase for top-selling antidepressant Cymbalta, which begins facing generic competition in December. Eli said it earned $1.2bn (£742m) in the third quarter, beating expectations. Yet analysts expect its earnings to fall as much as 25 per cent in [...]
City Moves for 24 October 2013 | Who’s switching jobs October 23, 2013 Investec Private Bank The private bank has announced the appointment of Eden Riche as head of high net worth lending. He has previously held senior roles at RBS and Lehman Brothers Europe. Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking Ender Tanar has joined the bank as head of central Europe. He has over 28 years’ experience in the finance [...]
BP clinches big natural gas deal with Argentina October 23, 2013 ARGENTINA’S state-run energy firm YPF has picked BP to supply the bulk of its liquefied natural gas (LNG) needs in both 2014 and 2015 following a major recent tender, a source with direct knowledge of the deal said. South America’s third-biggest economy last month launched its annual tender to secure approximately 5.57m tonnes of LNG [...]