Oracle earnings beats forecasts March 20, 2012 ORACLE beat Wall Street’s earnings estimates last night as new software sales came in at the high end of the company’s forecast, offsetting a sharp drop in hardware revenue. The software maker’s stock rose 2.6 per cent after the news that third quarter revenues rose three per cent to $9bn and net income rose 18 [...]
Boom in home workers lifts Regus profits March 20, 2012 REGUS, the world’s biggest serviced office supplier, yesterday said it would open 200 new centres this year as it unveiled a sharp rise in annual profits. Mark Dixon, chief executive, told City A.M. the company was benefiting from booming demand for temporary office space, as the growing number of people who work from home seek [...]
Emerging markets are ripe for expansion March 20, 2012 IT is social change rather than recovering business investment that is behind the improving fortunes of Regus. Over the last two years, the company has added 1m new customers – and two thirds of them are people who work from home. For many, the days of travelling to big city centre headquarters are over. Currently, [...]
RBC snaps up overseas Coutts units from Royal Bank of Scotland March 20, 2012 ROYAL Bank of Canada has agreed to buy some overseas divisions of the prestigious Coutts private banking business from Royal Bank of Scotland, giving RBC access to high net worth individuals in fast-growing emerging markets. Canada’s largest bank is buying Coutts’ Latin American, Caribbean and African private banking arms, which managed around £1.5bn of assets, [...]
it’s goodbye barcap in bank’s big rebrand March 20, 2012 BARCLAYS has never been afraid to shake things up when it comes to branding, regularly changing its logo since the famous Spread Eagle was first adopted back in the 18th century. But now the bank has left itself with nowhere left to go, after saying yesterday it has brought all of its operations under one [...]
Risk-takers rewarded as former Olympus boss Woodford wins March 20, 2012 AND SO we boldly go to the British Museum, where the fourth annual FT Boldness in Business Awards were held last night. The world’s risk-takers and whistleblowers mingled with athlete Christine Ohuruogu; Locog chief Paul Deighton; and Lakshmi Mittal, head of co-sponsor ArcelorMittal. Michael Woodford MBE (pictured), the man who exposed camera firm Olympus’s huge [...]
Debenhams results bring retail cheer March 20, 2012 DEPARTMENT store group Debenhams has posted a “resilient” sales performance for the first half of the year, providing a glimmer of hope that rising consumer confidence may be coming to the aid of high street spending. Chef executive Michael Sharp, who replaced Rob Templeman last year, said a successful January sale and the popularity of [...]
ANALYST VIEWS: WHAT IS YOUR OUTLOOK FOR DEBENHAMS? March 20, 2012 KEITH BOWMAN | HARGREAVES LANSDOWN Debenhams continues to be given the benefit of the doubt. Self-help measures have propelled a group recovery, with moves overseas and online further supporting investor sentiment. With the valuation still seen as reasonable and hopes of a share buy-back persisting, market consensus denotes a buy. ANDREW WADE | NUMIS Debenhams [...]
Metro sees flat earnings this year as economy woes weigh March 20, 2012 GERMANY’S Metro, the world’s fourth largest retailer, yesterday said it did not expect earnings to grow in 2012 due to a stuttering global economy and costs from expanding its cash and carry and consumer electricals stores businesses. The group, which also runs hypermarkets and department stores, said sales should grow in the coming year, but [...]
AstraZeneca gives up on Targacept antidepressant March 20, 2012 ASTRAZENECA has thrown in the towel on an experimental antidepressant targeting nicotine receptors after the drug licensed from Targacept failed in two remaining clinical trials, thinning out its pipeline further. While the news had been widely expected, since two previous Phase III studies also missed their targets, it hit shares in Targacept hard and the [...]