Hester: RBS loss is sign of our strength February 23, 2012 RBS chief Stephen Hester yesterday said his bank exists in an “Alice in Wonderland world” in which the £2bn net loss it booked for 2011 is a sign of growing strength because it shows an ability to “take the costs of clean-up”. The lender, which is 83 per cent government owned, also made a pre-tax [...]
Chasing good returns in Wonderland February 23, 2012 CURIOUSER and curiouser,” says Alice, after eating a cake that causes her to grow suddenly to the height of a giant. It is no wonder that RBS’s beleaguered boss Stephen Hester is starting to feel like his bank operates “in an Alice in Wonderland world”, as he put it yesterday. Unlike Alice, he has managed [...]
Dividend soon on Apple stock February 23, 2012 APPLE could be close to paying a dividend, it was revealed, as chief executive Tim Cook told investors the board is “thinking about this very deeply.” He dropped the hint during the company’s first annual general meeting since the death of Steve Jobs, who famously refused to pay a dividend. Apple is sitting on a [...]
Goldman M&A stalwart retires February 23, 2012 GOLDMAN Sachs M&A banker Luca Ferrari, an adviser to mining group Xstrata on its potential mega-merger with Glencore, is retiring after 12 years with the firm, according to a company memo. Ferrari is currently responsible for the northern European mergers and acquisitions business and became a partner in 2006. Prior to Goldman, he spent nine [...]
Centrica sees mild weather dent profits February 23, 2012 CENTRICA yesterday said that milder weather in the UK had reduced energy consumption and dented profits. But the British Gas owner said its production and exploration business was booming – with profits up a third – as commodity prices rise. The company’s full-year adjusted operating profit was up one per cent year-on-year in 2011 at £2.42bn. [...]
ANALYST VIEWS: HOW DO YOU RATE CENTRICA? February 23, 2012 KEITH BOWMAN HARGREAVES LANSDOWN The results continue to underline management’s strategy to create a more balanced business. The expanding upstream business has effectively compensated for more difficult conditions for its downstream supply operations. In all, the progressive dividend policy remains attractive. Its diversified energy play continues to grow. We say Buy. GRAHAM SPOONER THE SHARE [...]
P&G set to cut 5,700 positions February 23, 2012 PROCTER & Gamble plans to cut about 5,700 non-manufacturing jobs as part of a new plan to reduce costs by $10bn by the end of fiscal 2016, chief executive Bob McDonald said yesterday. The world’s largest household products company has about 57,000 non-manufacturing employees among its total workforce of about 129,000. P&G also trimmed earnings [...]
AIG reports a $19.8bn profit February 23, 2012 BAILED-OUT insurer AIG last night reported a whopping $19.8bn (£12.6bn) profit for the fourth quarter, nearly double the amount seen this time last year, after an accounting determination let it release the value of some tax benefits. And the firm’s property insurance unit, Chartis, returned to profitability in the quarter. It earned $348m, despite $368m [...]
City AM interview Paul Fisher of the Bank of England February 23, 2012 Senior Bank of England official Paul Fisher was interviewed on Wednesday 22nd February 2012, by Allister Heath and Julian Harris from City A.M. The edited transcript is as follows: Paul, would you like to start with how you see the outlook at the moment? I think it continues to be a story where the outlook [...]
Claims rise as takings triple for Swiss Re February 23, 2012 SWISS Re bucked the market trend and tripled its profit in 2011, despite a series of natural disasters that severely damaged the insurance industry. The firm beat expectations to record a full-year profit of $2.63bn (£1.68bn), compared with $863m in 2010. Swiss Re also announced plans to raise its dividend and said the current year [...]
