Bottom Line: Investors tricked by a scary drop in earnings but treats lie in store October 31, 2013 AFTER BP’s forecast-beating results on Tuesday, Shell had a tough act to follow. So it’s no wonder that the profit miss – $4.5bn versus estimates of $5.1bn – has got investors running scared. It doesn’t help that the oil giant just can’t seem to find what it’s looking for. Stunted efforts in the Arctic have [...]
Labour firms up commitment to High Speed 2 October 31, 2013 LABOUR yesterday reaffirmed its commitment to the High Speed 2 (HS2) railway, following weeks of speculation that it could drop support for the new north-south link. Shadow transport secretary Mary Creagh told the House of Commons that Labour are the “the true friends of HS2”, despite recent speculation that shadow chancellor Ed Balls was willing to cancel [...]
Spending cuts shore up profits at BNP Paribas October 31, 2013 PROFITS increased at BNP Paribas in the third quarter despite the weak economy in France, thanks to a tough cost-cutting programme, the bank said yesterday. The biggest bank in the country made profits of €1.36bn (£1.15bn) in the three-month period, up 2.4 per cent on the €1.33bn in the same period of 2012. Its revenues [...]
Big banks could face tougher rules on publishing trading risk October 31, 2013 THE WORLD’S biggest banks may be forced to publish the risks they are taking in their trading books on both easy and tough measures, global regulators said yesterday. The Basel Committee on Banking Supervisions’ aim is to allow investors and the authorities to get a better look at the quality of the lenders. However, the [...]
Emergency cash facilities go permanent October 31, 2013 THE BANK of England yesterday came to a deal with a range of foreign central banks to secure emergency funding in a range of currencies. The swap facilities mean that when international currency markets are squeezed, one central bank can use the facility to obtain liquidity from another. America’s Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank, [...]
AstraZeneca to be probed over heart drug trial October 31, 2013 ANGLO-Swedish pharma giant AstraZeneca revealed the identity of its new chief financial officer (CFO) yesterday, but the firm has been hit by falling profits and an investigation in the US over a major clinical trial. Announcing a 29 per cent drop in core operating profits for its third quarter, the firm also said that Marc [...]
Smith & Nephew picks its new chair as wound care boosts sales October 31, 2013 BRITISH medical devices group Smith & Nephew picked veteran industrialist Roberto Quarta as its new chairman yesterday as it posted five per cent higher quarterly sales, boosted by strong demand for wound care products. Quarta, an Italian-American businessman now based in Britain, will join as a non-executive director on 4 December and is slated to [...]
Exxon’s profit falls but output still increasing October 31, 2013 EXXON Mobil, the world’s largest publicly traded oil company, reported higher-than-expected quarterly results yesterday as output rose for the first time in more than two years, but refining weakness hurt earnings. Exxon and other large oil companies struggling to boost production in recent years have spent heavily on new projects. In the first nine months [...]
MasterCard earnings up 14 per cent as buyers switch to plastic October 31, 2013 MASTERCARD, the world’s second-biggest credit and debit card company, reported a 14 per cent rise in quarterly profit yesterday as more people across the world used plastic instead of cash. MasterCard and larger rival Visa have been trying to capture new business in emerging markets, where cash payments still dominate but use of cards is [...]
Hope for US recovery as good job numbers defy shutdown worries October 31, 2013 STRONG business activity data yesterday countered fears that the US economy would slow down after the government shutdown. New orders hit their highest level since 2004, with the Institute of Supply Management Chicago business barometer jumping from 55.7 to 65.9, the strongest reading since March 2011. Weekly unemployment claims also fell, in welcome news for [...]
