Ocado forced to slash float price July 20, 2010 OCADO caved in to investor pressure yesterday by slashing its IPO valuation by 20 per cent, in a desperate eleventh hour bid to keep the float alive. Ocado’s management were accused of arrogance for failing to listen to analysts and investors who baulked at the initial £1.1bn price-tag attached to the business. The online grocer [...]
Mac sales push Apple profits up July 20, 2010 APPLE stunned investors last night after posting better than expected third quarter results, bolstered by hearty Mac computer sales. For the period ended 26 June, revenue climbed by 61 per cent to $15.7bn (£10.2bn), while net quarterly profit almost doubled on the same period last year and came to $3.25bn. The California based group tied [...]
Crew reject BA pay offer July 20, 2010 BRITISH Airways is facing the prospect of further strikes after cabin crew staff yesterday rejected a new pay offer made by the airline. Just under half of the 11,000 registered members of Unite, the union representing the crew, voted on the pay package with 3,419 standing against the offer, while 1,686 favoured it. BA called [...]
Why Britain needs to save far more July 20, 2010 THERE is no better way to kill a dinner party discussion than to bring up the subject of pensions. Just ask your friends when they expect to retire, and how much they hope to earn when they stop working. The usual answer – apart from the lucky few who still enjoy final salary schemes – [...]
Yahoo profit disappoints July 20, 2010 YAHOO posted nearly flat second quarter revenue yesterday after taking a hit from the fall off in web advertising spend. Yahoo said its revenue in the three months ended 30 June was $1.6bn (£1.05bn), compared with $1.57bn in the same quarter last year disappointing the market which expected it to do better. The company said [...]
Stelios sends easyJet threats July 20, 2010 EasyJet owner Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou yesterday threatened to remove the budget airline’s “easy” brand if it didn’t improve its punctuality. In a letter sent to the airline’s lawyers, Herbert Smith, Stelios set a 17 October deadline for easyJet to improve its performance, claiming it was “completely unacceptable and contrary to the brand values upon which [...]
Hypo Real Estate to fail stress test July 20, 2010 Hypo Real Estate (HRE), the German bank nationalised during the financial crisis, is set to become the first bank to fail a European stress test. HRE, which is already being propped up with €100bn (£84bn) of public funds, is likely to need more capital from the German government to pass muster. Europe is testing how [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING July 20, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES STUDY POINTS TO PENSION GAP AMONG EXECUTIVES Executives at FTSE 100 companies earn retirement benefits that cost roughly twice as much as those offered to those in the FTSE 250, according to a study released on Wednesday. The study, prepared by actuarial consultants Lane, Clark & Peacock, looks at the way FTSE 250 [...]
Goldman sees profits plunge July 20, 2010 GOLDMAN Sachs was yesterday accused of massaging its figures downwards to ease political pressure as it reported an 83 per cent collapse in second quarter net income. In what one observer described as a “well-orchestrated earnings announcement”, Goldman said net income for the three months to June came in at $453m (£297m), or 78 cents [...]
Goldman Sachs July 20, 2010 ALL good things must come to an end, but Goldman’s seemingly runaway success has screeched to an ungodly halt. Some might accuse the investment bank of massaging the numbers downwards to stop a witch hunt in its tracks, but spinning can only get one so far. Even stripping out the effects of the UK bonus [...]
