Osborne: UK will not contribute to Eurozone bailout October 27, 2011 Britain will not contribute to a euro zone bailout fund, Chancellor George Osborne said following a deal to address the euro zone crisis. “We are not going to contribute to the euro zone bailout, but we are members of the IMF … We aren’t turning our backs on the IMF,” Osborne told BBC radio. “The [...]
William Hill revenue growth slows October 27, 2011 Britain’s biggest operator of high street betting shops, William Hill said revenue growth slowed in the third quarter as the company came up against comparatives boosted by last year’s World Cu in South Africa. William Hill, which has 2,350 betting shops and takes more than a million bets a day, said net revenue grew by [...]
Paragon buys RBS consumer loans portfolio October 27, 2011 Buy-to-let mortgage specialist Paragon has agreed to buy a portfolio of unsecured consumer loans from part-nationalised British bank Royal Bank of Scotland for £43m, and added it could snap up further assets in the near future. “We are extremely pleased to announce a further loan portfolio acquisition through our investment division, Idem Capital,” Paragon Chief [...]
Shell profits double on higher oil prices October 27, 2011 Royal Dutch Shell has reported a doubling of net profits in the third quarter compared to the same period last year, thanks to higher oil prices. Europe’s largest oil company by market value said it’s current cost of supply (CCS) net income was $7.2bn (£4.4bn). Excluding one-offs, the result was $7bn, ahead of an average [...]
GSK returns to growth October 26, 2011 GlaxoSmithKline’s sales returned to growth in the third quarter as Britain’s biggest drugmaker put patent expiries and a collapse in revenue from troubled diabetes pill Avandia behind it. GSK is emerging from a revenue trough caused by a slump in sales of Avandia due to heart risks and loss of patent cover on herpes drug [...]
BBVA profits fall October 26, 2011 Profits at BBVA fell more than expected in the first nine months of the year, Spain’s second-biggest bank reported on Wednesday, as volatile financial markets depressed trading revenues in the third quarter. Net profits fell 14 per cent to 3.14bn euros ( £2.7bn) missing the average market forecast of 3.21bn euros. Excluding the hit on [...]
SocGen says it would turn to shareholders rather than taxpayers for funds October 26, 2011 Societe Generale could turn to its own shareholders if it ever needed to raise additional capital and has no need for government funds, its chief executive said. “If we ever needed it, which I doubt, we could call for funds from our shareholders, and in any case we won’t seek public funds,” Frederic Oudea told [...]
Olympus chairman steps down over scandal October 26, 2011 Japan’s scandal-hit Olympus Corp said its chairman and president Tsuyoshi Kikukawa has stepped down due to a series of media reports on the company’s problems and a plunge in its share price. Shuichi Takayama, a managing director of the company, was appointed to replace him as president. Kikukawa had taken over as Olympus’s chief executive [...]
Everything Everywhere says customer base stabilising October 26, 2011 Britain’s biggest mobile operator Everything Everywhere posted lower revenue in the third quarter due to regulatory cuts but said its customer base was stabilising while it was also making good progress in cost-cutting. The company, which runs T-Mobile and Orange brands in the UK, said its total customer base shrunk by 1.4 per cent to [...]
BAT sales increase with price hikes October 26, 2011 British American Tobacco, the world’s second-biggest cigarette maker, increased its sales by seven per cent in the first nine months of the year after raising prices to offset a decline in overall demand. The London-based maker of Kent, Dunhill, Lucky Strike and Pall Mall cigarettes said price rises, good performances from these top four brands [...]
