Best Buy chief executive resigns April 10, 2012 Best Buy Co (BBY.N) said its chief executive Brian Dunn has resigned from the world’s largest consumer electronics chain, as the company looks to please investors looking for change at the top. The company, which faces stiff competition from discounters and online retailers, has missed sales expectations for several quarters in a row. Best Buy [...]
French economy grinds to a halt April 10, 2012 France’s economy posted no growth in the first quarter and there are no sign of a strong recovery in activity in the coming months, according to a Bank of France survey. In its monthly report, the Bank of France indicated that the euro zone’s second largest economy avoided a recession, after it grew by 0.2 [...]
US jobs blow dents markets April 10, 2012 The FTSE 100 tracked losses in Asia this morning as bleak US jobs data took its toll on investor sentiment with miners and banks hit. On Friday the US Labour Department reported that the number of unemployed workers was almost 13m and hiring slowed, raising the alarm over the state of the country’s economic recovery. [...]
Nissan to invest $200m in UK car project April 10, 2012 Japanese carmaker Nissan said it will spend $200m to build a new hatchback at its UK plant as Prime Minister David Cameron began a tour of Japan and Southeast Asia aimed at boosting trade and investment ties. The investment, announced hours before Cameron’s plane touched down at Tokyo’s Haneda airport, underscored the business focus of [...]
Sony forecasts $6.4bn annual loss April 10, 2012 Sony Corp forecast a record $6.4bn net loss for the business year just ended, its fourth straight year of losses and double earlier forecasts, inflated by writing off deferred tax assets in the United States. In a bid to ease investor concerns over its deteriorating bottom line, the Japanese consumer electronics giant said it would [...]
German exports rise again April 10, 2012 Germany’s exports were up in February, marking the second consecutive month of growth. Exports were up 1.6 per cent following a 3.4 per cent increase in January. German firms had the most success in markets outside the eurozone where they recorded growth of 13.4 per cent compared with the year before.
Vedanta hit by fall in iron ore output April 10, 2012 India-focused miner Vedanta posted a drop in full-year iron ore output, as a ban on mining in the southern Indian state of Karnataka and logistical bottlenecks continued to bite. Iron ore is typically one of London-listed Vedanta’s most profitable products along with zinc, accounting for almost a third of profits. The miner said its iron [...]
China in export led trade surplus April 10, 2012 China returned to an export-led trade surplus of $5.35bn in March, heralding the prospect that a rebound in the global economy is lifting overseas orders just in time to compensate for a slowdown in domestic demand The surprise return to surplus from February’s $31.5bn deficit confounded expectations that trade would remain $1.3bn in the red, [...]
Facebook to pay $1bn for firm with 13 staff April 9, 2012 SOCIAL NETWORKING giant Facebook has snapped up Instagram, a two-year-old photo-sharing application that employs just 13 staff, for $1bn (£629m) in its largest acquisition to date. The hugely popular application allows users to add filters and special effects to photos taken on their smartphones and share them through Instagram or other networking sites like Facebook, [...]
Greece falls deeper into recession as Portuguese banks ask for record ECB funds April 9, 2012 GREECE’S economic nightmare continued apace last month as industrial output plummeted again, according to figures released yesterday, while Portugal’s banks were forced to tap the European Central Bank (ECB) for a record amount of funding. Unemployment figures due out on Thursday are expected to show another rise in Greek joblessness in January – 21 per [...]