BAT in £1.25bn buy back February 23, 2012 British American Tobacco , the world’s second-biggest cigarette maker, increased its share buyback to £1.25bn ($1.96 billion) after it raised prices and saw strong growth in emerging markets to help boost its annual earnings. The London-based maker of Kent, Dunhill, Lucky Strike and Pall Mall cigarettes completed a share buyback of 750 million pounds in [...]
Credit Agricole posts record loss February 23, 2012 French bank Credit Agricole reported a record quarterly net loss of 3.07bn euros (£2.58bn), performing worse than expected as it was hit by the cost of shrinking its balance sheet and the Greek debt crisis. The semi-cooperative bank, which is under new management and trying to return to its low-risk retail lending roots, was hit [...]
RBS losses widen to £1.8bn February 23, 2012 State-owned Royal Bank of Scotland posted a fourth quarter loss of nearly £2bn, hurt by writedowns on assets and restructuring costs. RBS, 82 per cent owned by the government after a state bailout during the 2008 credit crisis, reported a fourth-quarter loss of £1.8bn, pushing it back into the red after it made a third-quarter [...]
Centrica profits edge up February 23, 2012 British Gas owner Centrica reported a small increase in full-year profit as higher commodity prices and mild weather offset gains in its upstream oil and gas business. The company, however, said it plans to deliver improved earnings growth this year, driven largely by higher oil and gas production. Centrica, which owns Britain’s biggest household energy [...]
Blues stuck in a crisis, admits Cech February 22, 2012 Chelsea keeper says players to blame for Napoli defeat that threatens manager Villas-Boas CHELSEA goalkeeper Petr Cech admits the club is in the midst of a crisis and says “silly mistakes” were to blame for the defeat to Napoli that has nudged manager Andre Villas-Boas ever closer to the sack. Tuesday’s 3-1 reverse in Italy [...]
Vickery urges England to turn on the power by recalling Tuilagi February 22, 2012 FORMER England captain Phil Vickery believes head coach Stuart Lancaster must be bold enough to tinker with a winning team and unleash Manu Tuilagi against Wales in Saturday’s pivotal Six Nations clash. Despite Lancaster’s tenure having commenced with victories away from home against Scotland and Italy, both performances were depressingly reminiscent, despite the significant change [...]
Rampant City to welcome Tevez back into the fold February 22, 2012 MANCHESTER CITY 4 vs PORTO 0 MANCHESTER CITY manager Roberto Mancini is ready to integrate Carlos Tevez back into his first team squad, but the Argentina striker faces an uphill struggle to win back his place on the evidence of last night’s crushing Europa League victory over Porto. The Premier League leaders stormed into the [...]
Broad happy to count on Cook February 22, 2012 ENGLAND Twenty20 captain Stuart Broad insists his authority would not be undermined were he to hand one-day skipper Alastair Cook his first cap in the shortest format of the game since November 2009 today. Cook, who presided over a surprising 4-0 whitewash over Pakistan in the ODI series, has been added to the Twenty20 squad [...]
Couch and Barrow seal bronze February 22, 2012 BRITAIN celebrated its first medal success at the Olympic Aquatics Centre last night after Sarah Barrow and Tonia Couch took bronze in the 10metre synchronised platform. The pair scored 83.52 with their final dive – a back 2.5 somersaults, 1.5 twists – to pip the Australian duo of Alex Croak and Melissa Wu and create [...]
Pearce ponders options ahead of Holland test February 22, 2012 ENGLAND interim manager Stuart Pearce will today name his first senior squad ahead of next week’s friendly against Holland at Wembley. The Under-21 boss has avoided having to handle one potential hot potato after John Terry, stripped of the armband last month, was ruled out for two months on Tuesday with a knee injury that [...]
