‘Bond market tantrum risks’: Gilt traders brace for Labour leftward pivot as Starmer future uncertain
Thomas Cook chief quits after profit warnings August 3, 2011 Thomas Cook chief executive Manny Fontenla-Novoa hs resigned after the holiday company issued three profit warnings in a year. Sam Weihagen, his deputy, will be interim chief executive while a successor is found Thomas Cook said that Fontenla-Novoa had left the company “with immediate effect”. In a brief statement Fontenla-Novoa, who had run the group [...]
Legal and General hikes dividend by 25pc as profit beats forecast August 3, 2011 British life insurer Legal & General raised its shareholder payout by a quarter as it reported better-than-expected first half profits, helped by strong growth at its investment management and international divisions. L&G, Britain’s fourth-biggest insurer, made a pre-tax operating profit of £523m in the six months to June 30, down from £542m a year earlier, [...]
Next sales hold up with home shipping boost August 3, 2011 Retailer Next posted first-half sales towards the top end of company guidance, boosted by its online and home shopping business and showing resilience against a tough consumer backdrop. The firm maintained its full-year profit forecast on and predicted pressure from rising costs, like higher cotton prices, would ease next year. Britain’s retailers are mostly struggling [...]
Northern Rock narrows loss August 3, 2011 Nationalised lender Northern Rock posted a first-half loss of £78.8m and said it continues to work on plans for an eventual sale of the company back to the private sector. Last year it made a first-half loss of £140m, and the company said it now expects to start trading profitably some time in the second [...]
StanChart profit up 17pc August 3, 2011 Asia-focussed Standard Chartered Bank reported a market-beating 17 per cent rise in first-half pretax profit on Wednesday, helped by strong growth in emerging markets and keeping it on track for another year of record profits. The London-headquartered bank reported a pretax profit of $3.636bn (£2.233bn), up from $3.12bn a year earlier. “We are maintaining our [...]
US consumer spending slips August 2, 2011 US consumer spending unexpectedly fell in June to post the first decline in nearly two years as incomes barely rose, a government report showed, suggesting economic growth could remain subdued in the third quarter. The Commerce Department said consumer spending slipped 0.2 per cent, the first drop since September 2009, after edging up 0.1 per [...]
Deutsche Post ups forecast August 2, 2011 Deutsche Post nudged up its 2011 outlook as it cut costs and garnered more customers seeking supply chain services. As the economy improves, manufacturers of machine parts, cars and other goods ramp up production and pay Deutsche Post to transport parts and finished products. Europe’s biggest express delivery and mail company said on Tuesday it [...]
BNP Paribas profits flat August 2, 2011 BNP Paribas has reported broadly flat profits of 2.12bn euros (£1.85bn) for the three months to the end of June. The French bank said its figures reflected the putting aside of 534m euros to cover its exposure to Greek debt. BNP Paribas holds the most Greek debt of any of the French banks, about 5bn [...]
Construction grows at solid pace August 2, 2011 Construction industry grew slightly faster than expected last month, a survey showed on Tuesday, in a sign of hope for the overall economy after a slew of weak indicators. The Markit/CIPS construction purchasing managers’ index ticked down to 53.5 points in July from 53.6 points in June, beating analysts’ expectations of a dip to 53.0 [...]
Xstrata profits surge by 30pc August 2, 2011 Xstrata came broadly in line with forecasts with a 30 per cent jump in first-half core profit and more than doubled its dividend, pointing to a stronger second half as its copper unit helps the miner recover from a flood-hit start to 2011. The fourth-largest UK-listed diversified miner – which last week unveiled production numbers [...]
