Dell outlook disappoints August 21, 2012 DELL last night warned of a “challenging” second half as customers cut back on computer purchases in anticipation of the launch of Microsoft Windows 8 software late in 2012, sending its shares down three per cent. The American PC maker said revenues fell eight per cent to $14.5bn (£9.2bn), broadly as expected, but warned that [...]
CPP profits slump after FSA probe August 21, 2012 Shares in credit card protection firm CPP closed 23 per cent lower yesterday after the firm announced a 24 per cent drop in underlying pre-tax profits to £19.2m for the first half of 2012. The York-based company said it had said aside a further £7.5m to meet potential compensation claims relating to the ongoing Financial [...]
Moody’s downgrade Man Group August 21, 2012 Rating agency Moody’s yesterday followed the lead of equity analysts around the country and downgraded alternative fund manager Man Group following poor performance. The agency announced it had downgraded Man’s debt rating by one notch following the conclusion of a review started in April. It said the downgrade reflected the firm’s decline in assets under [...]
Siemens said to be mulling job cuts August 21, 2012 German engineering conglomerate Siemens is in early internal talks to cut thousands of jobs in response to a weakening economy, particularly in Europe, a German newspaper reported. Decisions could be made in October or November, according to daily Boersen-Zeitung, which did not specify its sources. A Siemens spokesman declined to comment. Siemens has 410,000 staff [...]
Virgin turns 50 shades of red over route loss August 21, 2012 VIRGIN Trains is pulling out all the stops in its attempts to get back the West Coast franchise, which it lost to FirstGroup last week. The firm’s spinners have dusted off their finest quills to pen a sprawling 50-point paean to just how great Virgin is at running trains. Though at least half the points [...]
For better or worse: 28-year-old wife steals Asil Nadir’s spotlight August 21, 2012 NOT much is known about how Polly Peck International founder Asil Nadir spent his 17-year exile in northern Cyprus. But one thing’s for sure – he wasted no time in wooing his wife Nur, who’s been a constant presence at the Old Bailey this week during her husband’s trial for theft. According to reports, Asil [...]
Shell planning to invest $1bn in China shale August 21, 2012 ROYAL Dutch Shell plans to spend at least $1bn a year exploiting China’s potentially vast resources of shale gas, the firm’s top China executive said yesterday, part of an aggressive strategy to expand in the world’s biggest energy market. Shell in March secured China’s first product sharing contract for shale gas, hoping that getting in [...]
Persimmon bucks the gloom to deliver a surge in earnings August 21, 2012 PERSIMMON reported a surge in half year profits yesterday as it focused on selling higher priced family homes in more affluent areas of the country, but warned that mortgage conditions for homebuyers remained tough. The UK’s largest housebuilder by market value said pre-tax profits rose 65 per cent to £98.7m in the six months to [...]
Asda says disposable income is up for first time in two years August 21, 2012 BRITISH households were £1 a week better off in July compared to the same month a year earlier, the largest annual increase in more than two years, according to the latest figures from Asda’s income tracker. Families had £151 a week left over last month after paying bills, up 0.6 per cent on the previous [...]
Ferrexpo profit dented by rising costs and falling iron ore prices August 21, 2012 UKRAINIAN iron ore producer Ferrexpo said yesterday its core profit fell 40 per cent in the first half, hurt by a rise in the cost of extracting the metal and lower global iron ore prices. Ferrexpo said higher energy costs and domestic inflation in Ukraine pushed up the cost of extracting each tonne by 25 [...]
