Kraft profit hit by Cadbury takeover costs February 11, 2011 Kraft Foods, which took over Cadbury last year, has reported a fall in quarterly profits. The takeover saw sales rise by 30 per cent but net profit fell 24 per cent to $540m (£335m) as the cost of integrating the businesses took its toll. Kraft also warned that it would be increasing prices to offset [...]
BAA passenger numbers rise February 11, 2011 Airports operator BAA said 3.8 per cent more people used its airports in January compared with the year before. A total of 7.5m people went through BAA airports, with strong growth at Heathrow. BAA saw a rise in passengers at five of its six UK airports, with only Stansted recording a fall last month. BAA [...]
Carillion in £306m offer for Eaga February 11, 2011 Builder Carillion has made a recommended cash offer to buy energy-saving scheme operator Eaga for £306.5m as it looks to enter the energy efficiency market. “Low carbon and its related energy efficiency markets present a compelling opportunity for growth for the group,” Carillion said in a statement on Friday. “As one of the leading green [...]
De Beers returns to profit February 11, 2011 De Beers, the world’s largest diamond producer, returned to a profit in 2010 as production rose 34 per cent amid a strong recovery in diamond prices, although it remains cautious about the market this year. It posted net earnings after one off items of $598m (£372), compared with a net loss of $220m in 2009, [...]
Nokia teams up with Microsoft to take on Apple February 11, 2011 Nokia and Microsoft have teamed up to take on Google and Apple in the fast-growing smartphone market using Windows Phone as the software platform for its smartphones as part of new chief executive Stephen Elop’s overhaul of the world’s biggest cellphone maker. Nokia has rapidly lost share in the higher-margin smartphone market to the likes [...]
Ocado shares fall after John Lewis pension fund sells out February 11, 2011 Retailer John Lewis’s pension trust has sold its stake of about 10 per cent in online grocer Ocado – sending its shares down 17 per cent. Ocado, whose shares have climbed sharply in recent weeks, said the sale would not affect its commercial relations with upmarket grocer Waitrose, a John Lewis unit. Ocado mainly sells [...]
UK industrial output rises February 10, 2011 Manufacturing output unexpectedly fell in December, but a surge in energy production due to the cold weather meant that overall industrial output rose as expected, official data showed. The Office for National Statistics said that manufacturing output fell 0.1 per cent in December after a 0.6 per cent rise in November. Analysts had forecast a [...]
Hargreaves Lansdown in profit surge February 10, 2011 Hargreaves Lansdown on Thursday posted a 38 per cent rise in first-half underlying pre-tax profit, aided by buoyant global markets, and the British wealth manager and stockbroker said it was well placed to build on the momentum. The Bristol-based company, which provides investment management products and services to private investors in the UK, declared an [...]
Rolls Royce in 4pc profit rise February 10, 2011 Rolls-Royce posted a four per cent rise in full-year profit, helped by solid growth at its civil aerospace and energy units and said it had paid most of the costs associated with last year’s technical setbacks. The world’s second-largest maker of aeroplane engines reported an underlying pre-tax profit of £955m on revenues six per cent [...]
Diageo misses target and pins hopes on new markets February 10, 2011 Diageo, the world’s biggest spirits group, expects higher profit growth this year due to a growing recovery in its key emerging markets after it missed forecasts with a nine per cent rise in half-year earnings. The maker of Smirnoff vodka, Johnnie Walker whisky and Guinness beer said despite a weaker performance in Europe, it is [...]
