Correction April 25, 2012 ■ An article in yesterday’s edition of the newspaper incorrectly attributed a quote to Moody’s chief credit officer Alastair Wilson. The quote began: “It’s incumbent on all of us, including ratings agencies, to do the role we play…” It and the response to a question by Andrew Leadsom MP was in fact said by Fitch [...]
Lloyds sells £1.4bn SME bond April 25, 2012 ■ The government fully guaranteed £1.4bn of debt raised by Lloyds bank yesterday to put towards the Treasury’s credit easing programme. The bank will pay 1.5 per cent on the five-year bond, lower than its normal borrowing costs, but it has a duty to pass on the cost-savings to small businesses in the form of [...]
Luxury division cushions PPR April 25, 2012 ■ French luxury and retail group PPR posted a rise in first-quarter revenue yesterday, helped by buoyant luxury sales, which offset sluggish growth at its retail outlet Fnac and sports and lifestyle company Puma. The luxury division, which includes Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent and accounts for almost half of company sales, grew 17.8 per [...]
Overseas units help to protect profit at BBVA April 25, 2012 OVERSEAS expansion helped cushion Spanish bank BBVA from the worst of the crisis in its home country as it yesterday revealed a better than expected €1.01bn net profit for the first quarter. The smaller than expected 13 per cent decline in profit from €1.15bn a year earlier was largely thanks to its performance beyond Spain. [...]
HSBC to slash 2,000 UK jobs in global cost-cutting spree April 25, 2012 HSBC will announce that it is culling 2,000 jobs in the UK this morning as part of its programme to cut 30,000 roles by the end of next year. The cuts will include some London-based jobs in wealth management, which it is understood the bank is shrinking in response to the retail distribution review (RDR), [...]
Nasdaq upbeat as declares its first dividend April 25, 2012 NASDAQ OMX declared its first quarterly dividend yesterday, but said first-quarter net earnings declined due in part to lower US trading volumes for stocks and derivatives. The exchange operator said it would pay a quarterly dividend of 13 cents a share, a two per cent yield, reflecting its strong cash flow and capital generation. It [...]
Bolt runs Virgin Media to record first quarter April 25, 2012 VIRGIN Media yesterday reported record first quarter revenues as it raced past the £1bn line on the back of a prominent ad campaign featuring Usain Bolt. The Branson-branded media company grew revenues 2.4 per cent to just over £1bn while operating income climbed 18 per cent to £131m. Virgin Media boasted its lowest customer churn [...]
Ericsson beats hopes due to margin boost April 25, 2012 THE World’s largest mobile network gear maker Ericsson reported first-quarter core profit above expectations yesterday as it got a boost from higher margin network projects. But it warned that operators remained cautious on spending due to the weak global economic outlook. Earnings before interest and tax, excluding the company’s loss-making joint ventures, but including restructuring [...]
Siemens cuts full-year outlook as delayed wind projects weigh April 25, 2012 GERMAN engineering conglomerate Siemens slashed its full-year outlook yesterday after incurring another major charge related to delayed offshore wind power projects in the second quarter. The announcement comes a day after Siemens named a new chief for the affected Power Transmission division, having ousted the unit’s former chief executive Udo Niehage. “We are addressing the [...]
Software firm SAP maintains 2012 forecasts April 25, 2012 GERMAN business software group SAP fell short of expectations for sales of a new database product called Hana, raising concerns about the success of the product and sending SAP shares down against the sector trend. Although the world’s biggest maker of business software said it saw strong momentum for its main products, including Hana and [...]
