US auditors told to include more detail in reports August 13, 2013 AMERICA’S accountancy watchdog has voted to bring in sweeping new rules on audits for listed companies. The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, set up in the wake of the Enron scandal, said yesterday auditors should go beyond the current practice of giving just three boilerplate paragraphs of opinion alongside a pass or fail mark. The [...]
Facebook snaps up translation and voice recognition company August 13, 2013 FACEBOOK plans to buy the maker of a speech recognition and language translation app, providing technology that could bolster the social networking company’s mobile efforts. Facebook did not disclose the financial terms of its deal for Pittsburgh-based Mobile Technologies. Facebook’s management director Tom Stocky said in a blog post: “Voice technology has become an increasingly [...]
Mears soaring in spite of extra costs from Morrison purchase August 13, 2013 MEARS, the social housing support services group, yesterday unveiled a 15 per cent jump in first-half profits, despite spending £6.4m on restructuring costs after acquiring the Morrison social housing business. The firm’s adjusted pre-tax profit rose to £15.5m and revenues rose 49 per cent to £457.8m. The Morrison business boosted revenues by £128m over the [...]
Coalition hit by claims over £520,000 legacy August 13, 2013 POLITICAL party funding figures rarely reveal much beyond Labour’s continued reliance on trade union subsidies and the Conservatives’ enduring popularity with successful businessmen. But yesterday’s official register contained a real mystery: the single biggest individual donor to British political parties in the last three months was a lady identified only as “Ms Joan L B [...]
Li & Fung feels effects of slow Europe demand August 13, 2013 LI & FUNG, the Chinese firm that supplies consumer goods to some of the world’s biggest companies, fell short of forecasts announcing a 69 per cent slump in half-year profits yesterday. The supplier, which counts Wal-Mart, Toys R Us and Abercrombie & Fitch among its customers, posted a profit distributable to shareholders of $96m (£62.1m), its [...]
New York Times chairman Arthur Sulzberger sells some of his shares August 13, 2013 NEW YORK Times chairman Arthur Sulzberger Jr has sold some of his shares in the company. Sulzberger sold 50,000 Class A shares last Thursday for $600,000 (£388,020), or $12 each, according to a US Securities and Exchange Commission filing. A New York Times spokeswoman said the sale was part of Sulzberger’s normal estate-planning and represented [...]
Hon Hai’s second quarter profit tops forecasts but margins tough August 13, 2013 TAIWAN’S Hon Hai Precision Industry is trying to reduce its reliance on Apple, it said yesterday, and is turning its focus to businesses ranging from software development to e-commerce. Hon Hai said its net profit rose 35 per cent to T$16.98bn (£366.7m) last quarter from a year earlier. Margins are still under pressure, however. The [...]
Whirlpool buys 51 per cent stake in China home appliance maker August 13, 2013 HOME appliance maker Whirlpool said yesterday it will acquire a controlling stake in Hefei Rongshida Sanyo Electric for $552m (£357m) to expand in China’s fast-growing market for washing machines and fridges. Hefei Sanyo was set up in 1994 as a joint venture between Japan’s Sanyo Electric, now a unit of Panasonic, and Heifei State-Owned Assets [...]
Ackman quits JC Penney board three years into turnaround push August 13, 2013 JC PENNEY said yesterday that activist investor Bill Ackman had resigned from the board, three years after embarking on a public and at times acrimonious campaign to turn around the struggling department store operator and less than a week after demanding the ousting of its chairman Thomas Engibous and interim chief executive Myron Ullman. JC [...]
Groupama shores up balance sheet with €518m SocGen sale August 13, 2013 FRENCH insurer Groupama has sold its remaining stake in bank Societe Generale for €517.8m (£445m) as it continues moves to shore up its balance sheet. Groupama, which had come under pressure from ratings agencies, said that the sale of its 1.86 per cent Societe Generale stake would allow it to boost financial flexibility and cut [...]