Ryanair profit hit by soaring fuel costs July 25, 2011 Ryanair, Europe’s largest low-cost airline, posted quarterly profits below market expectations due to higher fuel and operating costs. The Irish airline, which operates more than 1,500 flights a day, said it expects average income yields to rise by 12 to 15 per cent in its second quarter ending in September, but warned traffic would fall [...]
Yorkshire to buy Egg units from Citi July 25, 2011 Mortgage lender Yorkshire Building Society is to buy the mortgage and savings business of Egg Banking from American bank Citigroup, as Citi continues to sell non-core assets after its bailout during the credit crisis. Yorkshire, owned by its customers, said the Egg businesses it was acquiring comprised of a £2.5bn savings book and a 430 [...]
Reckitt earnings boosted by Suboxone drug July 25, 2011 Consumer goods group Reckitt Benckiser posted a 10 per cent rise in second-quarter earnings on Monday helped by last year’s SSL acquisition and the success of the film version of its Suboxone drug. The British group said it was well positioned to achieve its 2011 targets of a 12 per cent rise in net revenue [...]
Moody’s: Greek default almost certain July 25, 2011 Ratings agency Moody’s has cut Greece’s debt ratings by three notches to Ca, leaving it just one notch above what is considered default, and said the chance of a default is now “virtually 100 per cent”. The rating agency warned that last week’s bailout package agreed by euro zone leaders will make it easier for [...]
Verizon tops forecasts July 22, 2011 Verizon Communications’s second-quarter profit topped Wall Street estimates as it added more subscribers than expected in its first full quarter selling the Apple iPhone. Verizon Wireless, owned by Verizon and Vodafone Group, added 1.3 million net subscribers in the quarter compared with the average expectation for about 930,000, according to seven analysts contacted by Reuters. [...]
FTSE gains fuelled by Eurozone deal July 22, 2011 The FTSE 100 tracked other global markets upwards as the sealing of a second bailout for Greece produced a collective sigh of relief from investors, governments and financial institutions. Leaders of the Eurozone threw a lifeline to debt-stricken Greece that includes an extra €109bn of government money as well as a significant contribution from private [...]
John Lewis sales lifted by rain July 22, 2011 John Lewis reported higher weekly sales as wet weather drove shoppers to its shops and its summer sale stimulated trade. Department store sales increased 3.7 per cent to £59.9m in the week to 16 July and were up 2.1 per cent excluding VAT sales tax. “Continued mixed weather helped drive a solid final week for [...]
Beazley reports loss after quake pay-outs takes toll July 22, 2011 Lloyd’s of London insurer Beazley said it sank to a loss in the first half of the year after taking a $183m (£112m) hit from natural disasters including the Japanese earthquake. Beazley, the first listed Lloyd’s insurer to report interim results, made a pretax loss of $24.2m over the six months of 2011, compared with [...]
Murdoch sees second deal hit buffers July 22, 2011 In a further blow to Rupert Murdoch, a $2bn (£1bn) takeover bid by an Australian pay-TV business part-owned by his News Corp is expected to be blocked by the country’s competition watchdog. The bid by Foxtel, in which News Corp has a 25 per cent stake, for rival Austar will create a pay-TV monopoly, the [...]
Vodafone boosted by emerging market growth July 22, 2011 Vodafone reiterated its outlook after faster-growing markets such as India and Turkey helped the world’s largest mobile company by revenue to withstand tough trading and increased regulation in Europe. Vodafone posted first-quarter organic service revenue growth of 1.5 per cent, down from the 2.5 per cent recorded in the previous quarter but broadly in line [...]
