Debenhams chief to retire as profit rises April 14, 2011 Debenhams said its chief executive of eight years would retire in September as it posted a 4.5 per cent rise in first-half profit and resumed its dividend. The firm said Rob Templeman would be succeeded by Michael Sharp, the current deputy chief executive. Templeman will remain as a consultant for up to one year after [...]
Bank of of Ireland net loss falls April 14, 2011 Bank of Ireland defied expectations for another huge net loss in Irish banking but high funding costs and a spluttering local economy underlined the challenges facing the country’s largest lender. In an industry decimated by reckless lending, Bank of Ireland will be one of only two big banks left under government plans to shrink a [...]
Glencore names Simon Murray new chairman April 14, 2011 Commodities giant Glencore has announced its new chairman amid a morning of controversy that saw former BP chairman Lord Browne widely but wrongly flagged to take the position. Simon Murray, executive chairman of fund manager General Enterprise Management Services International (GEMS) and former Hutchison Whampoa group managing director, is the new non-executive chair of the [...]
JP Morgan profit hits $5.6bn April 13, 2011 JP Morgan Chase has seen a rise in first-quarter profits, helped by an improved performance in its credit card business. The second-largest US bank announced profits of $5.6bn (£3.4bn) for the three months to the end of March, up from the $3.3bn it made a year ago. Its card services unit made a $1.3bn profit, [...]
Unilever and P&G fined for price fixing April 13, 2011 Consumer goods giants Unilever and Procter & Gamble were fined 315.2 million euros (£281m) by EU regulators for fixing washing powder prices in eight EU countries. Germany’s Henkel, which alerted the European Commission to the cartel in laundry detergents, was not fined. The penalty for Unilever was 104m euros while P&G was fined 211.2m euros. [...]
Alterian shares fall 30pc after profit alert April 13, 2011 Marketing software provider Alterian issued a second profit warning in just over a week, and said its full-year results would be materially lower than anticipated. Its shares plunged by 30 per cent after the announcement. “The expected further shortfall arises from both revenue and routine operating costs in comparison with market expectations,” the company said [...]
UK unemployment falls April 13, 2011 UK unemployment fell by 17,000 in the three months to the end of February to 2.48m, according to official figures. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the jobless rate among men had fallen, but had risen among women. Youth unemployment stood at 963,000, with the jobless rate for young people remaining above 20%. The [...]
Begbies warns over companies on the brink April 13, 2011 The number of British companies in serious financial distress soared in the first quarter with restaurants, professional services businesses and the leisure industry in particular difficulty, a report showed. Begbies Traynor, a corporate recovery company that helps wind up or restructure firms, said its Red Flag Alert database showed 186,554 UK businesses were facing significant [...]
Tullow in Ghana oil output boost April 13, 2011 Crude oil production from Ghana is nearing 80,000 barrels per day and should reach its 120,000-bpd target by August, the operator of the country’s sole producing field said on Tuesday. “Production today stands at about 70,000 barrels per day and I expect it to reach about 75,000-80,000 barrels by next week,” Stuart Wheaton, an official [...]
JD Sports urges caution despite sales lift April 13, 2011 Sportswear retailer JD Sports Fashion said it was extremely cautious about the future despite bucking the general gloom on the high street to post a 21 per cent rise in year profit. The firm, which trades as JD Sports, Size, Bank, Scotts and Chausport, said Wednesday it made an underlying pretax profit of 81.6 million [...]
