H&T profits fuelled by soaring gold price August 23, 2011 Pawnbroker H&T said it expected full-year results to be above the top end of current market expectations, driven mainly by surging gold prices that boosted its first-half pretax profit. Spot gold prices soared above $1,910, scoring a record top for a fourth consecutive session, as persistent worries about global economic growth burnished bullion’s safe-haven appeal. [...]
Persimmon profit up 52pc August 23, 2011 Housebuilder Persimmon is targeting a rise in operating margin to about 15 percent in the next two years, Chief Executive Mike Farley told Reuters. Farley added that he expects the company to achieve double-digit operating margin growth next year. “We’d like to think in the next two years or so we have operating margin back [...]
UBS to cut 3,500 jobs worldwide August 23, 2011 Swiss bank UBS plans to slash around 3,500 jobs, almost half of them from its investment bank, as it seeks to shave some two billion Swiss francs from annual costs by the end of 2013. UBS had already said it would cut jobs when it posted a lower-than-expected second-quarter profit last month as its underperforming [...]
ECB buys €14bn of government bonds August 22, 2011 The European Central Bank bought €14.291bn (£12.4bn) of government bonds last week, down from €22bn the previous week but still enough to signal its renewed bid to tame debt market tensions is not about to wilt. The ECB reactivated its controversial bond-buying programme earlier this month after Italy and Spain came closer to succumbing to [...]
John Lewis: We will buck Xmas gloom August 22, 2011 John Lewis said it would outperform a falling retail market this Christmas, benefiting from the strength of its presence in the capital and investment, particularly in Internet shopping. Andrew Murphy, retail director at the department store chain, said UK consumers were feeling cautious and vulnerable amid government cutbacks, rising prices and fears the economy could [...]
IG boosted by market volatility August 22, 2011 The recent market volatility and heavy trading volumes have boosted sales at British spread-betting company IG Group, the company said. IG said it now expected revenues of more than £94m for the quarter ending 31 August, up from £79m in the corresponding period a year earlier. “IG Group Holdings has benefited from record levels of [...]
Oil price drops on hopes of Libyan export resumption August 22, 2011 Brent crude dropped more than $3 to below $106 a barrel on the potential for a resumption of exports from OPEC-member Libya as a six-month civil war there appeared close to an end. Libya pumped around 1.6M barrels per day (bpd), nearly two per cent of global supply, before the war cut output. Most of [...]
Amlin slumps to first half loss August 22, 2011 Lloyd’s of London insurer Amlin crashed to a £192.3m pre-tax loss in the first half of 2011 after absorbing a surge in claims from the Japanese earthquake and other natural disasters. Amlin had earlier this month already flagged up a loss of about £180m, some £65m more than analysts were expecting, because of a bigger-than-expected [...]
John Lewis sales rise despite looting fears August 19, 2011 John Lewis said its revenue rose last week even though the UK saw widespread looting and rioting, as customers turned to the web. Sales at its department stores increased by 2.9 per cent to £52.9m in the week to 13 August. Sales excluding VAT were up 1.3 per cent. The department store chain said: “John [...]
FTSE in tailspin as recession fears grip markets August 19, 2011 The FTSE 100 continued its downward spiral this morning as banking stocks plunged amid escalating fears that the global economic recovery was being derailed. Investors piled into gold to take it to yet another record price as equities took a hammering across the globe. A raft of grim economic data plus the ongoing eurozone debt [...]
