Carrefour issues profit warning August 31, 2011 Europe’s largest retailer, Carrefour, warned full-year profits would slump 15 percent as it cuts prices in a bid to reverse market share losses in its home market and elsewhere in Europe. Carrefour also unveiled a well-flagged 22 per cent fall in first-half operating profit on Wednesday and cautioned that the economic climate was “increasingly challenging.” [...]
Tesco to quit Japan after 8-year struggle August 31, 2011 Tesco has put its loss-making Japanese business up for sale, abandoning an eight-year attempt to break into a tough retail market and underscoring its new boss’s commitment to investor returns. The supermarket group said it would trigger a sale process in the coming months for its 129 small-format Japanese stores in the greater Tokyo area. [...]
Eurozone business confidence plunges August 30, 2011 Eurozone economic confidence is plummeting at the fastest rate since late 2008, according to the European Commission. A survey from the commission adds to evidence that growth across the 17-country bloc has stalled, triggering fears of a lurch back into recession. Business and consumer confidence had dropped far more than expected in August adding to [...]
Mortgage approvals up but borrowing weak August 30, 2011 Lenders approved the highest number of mortgages since May 2010 last month, but unsecured consumer borrowing was unexpectedly weak, Bank of England figures showed. Separate figures showed the Bank’s preferred money supply gauge – M4 excluding intermediate other financial corporations – picked up to show growth of 0.6 per cent on the month, after a [...]
Bovis sees profits double August 30, 2011 Housebuilder Bovis Homes expects to deliver further improvements to investors after strong trading in 2011 enabled it to post a 19 per cent increase in private home reservations. Bovis said revenue during the first half of 2011 was up 16 per cent to £134m, with operating profit at £10m with an operating margin of 7.5 [...]
Computacenter half year profits up 25pc August 30, 2011 IT firm Computacenter said it was on track for the year after product sales in Germany and France and continued overall demand for IT services delivered a 25 per cent rise in first-half pretax profit. The company, which counts Lloyds Banking Group as a customer, posted adjusted pretax profit of £26.6n on group revenue, including [...]
Bunzl beats forecasts after acquisition boost August 30, 2011 Distributor Bunzl posted an 11 per cent rise in first half pretax profit, ahead of market expectations, benefiting from acquisitions and an improved operating margin. FTSE-100 listed Bunzl, which supplies carrier bags, take-away boxes and healthcare products, said pre-tax profit rose to 138.8 million pounds, ahead of a company-supplied consensus forecast of £132.8m. Sales rose [...]
Regus profits up as sales grow August 30, 2011 Office space supplier Regus expects further improvements in its sales after it posted a 34 per cent rise in first-half adjusted pre-tax profit on a pick up in demand from big businesses for temporary space amid economic uncertainties. Luxembourg-headquartered Regus, which offers ready-to-use offices for rentals as short as half a day, said on Tuesday [...]
Bernanke speech fails to impress markets August 26, 2011 Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke stopped short of signaling further action to boost growth, but said it was critical for the economy’s health to reduce long-term joblessness. The FTSE 100 and Dow dropped more than one per cent after the comments in a speech which had been widely anticipated as a rallying point for the [...]
Car bomb rips though UN building in Nigeria August 26, 2011 A car bomb ripped through the United Nations’ headquarters in the Nigerian capital of Abuja, killing at least 10 people, security sources and witnesses said. They said the car rammed into the office building before exploding in an attack similar a June assault on the Abuja police headquarters claimed by Boko Haram, a Nigerian radical [...]
