Retail sales up faster than forecast August 19, 2010 RETAIL sales volumes rose nearly three times faster than economists had forecast in July, with almost all non-food sectors showing strong growth, according to official data. Public borrowing measures, meanwhile, were lower than a year ago but still the revealed the uphill task the government has to face to bring down a 2009/10’s record budget [...]
Mastercard in £333m deal for DataCash August 19, 2010 MasterCard has agreed to buy British payment service provider DataCash Group for about £333m in cash to expand its e-commerce business. MasterCard, which makes money from processing credit and debit card payments on its network, said it would pay 360 pence per share, representing a 54 per cent premium to DataCash’s Wednesday close. “The acquisition [...]
John Menzies sees profit treble August 19, 2010 NEWSPAPER distributor John Menzies saw half-year profits almost treble. It made £20.6m compared with £7.4m for the same period last year. The company, which also distributes airport cargo worldwide, was boosted by new contracts with Lufthansa/bmi at London Heathrow. John Menzies started in Scotland in 1833 but is now a “time-critical logistics company” – a [...]
GM files for IPO and plots dual listing August 19, 2010 General Motors took a big step towards repaying a controversial taxpayer-funded bailout by declaring plans for a landmark stock offering that represents a critical test for the Obama administration. The car maker said it planned to list the shares on the New York Stock Exchange and the Toronto Stock Exchange in an initial public offering [...]
Bank of England voted 8-1 to freeze interest rate August 18, 2010 Bank of England policymakers considered the case for both easing and tightening policy this month, before voting eight to one to keep interest rates at a record low of 0.5 per cent, minutes showed. Monetary Policy Committee member Andrew Sentance called for a 25 basis point rate hike for the third month running, minutes of [...]
BHP Billiton launches hostile bid for Potash August 18, 2010 BHP Billiton, the world’s biggest miner, has launched a hostile $39bn (£24.9bn) bid for Potash Corp after the Canadian fertiliser group’s board rejected the world’s largest takeover offer this year. BHP Billiton said it was submitting it directly to shareholders and bypassing Potash Corp’s board, which a day earlier called the bid of $130 a [...]
Maersk swings back to profit and raises forecast August 18, 2010 Moller-Maersk, the world’s largest container shipping company, has returned to profit in the first half of the year. The group reported a net profit of 14.15bn Danish kronor (£1.57bn), while revenues grew by 20 per cent. In the same period a year ago it had reported a loss of 3.02bn kronor. Meanwhile, DP World, the [...]
Henderson hit by “fragile” investors August 18, 2010 Anglo-Australian fund manager Henderson Group posted lower-than-expected profits in the first half as outflows accelerated in the second quarter on volatile markets and “fragile” investor confidence. Henderson said pre-tax profit was £41.6m in the first six months. That compared to its own estimate of between £47m and £49m. Last month the fund manager announced it [...]
Stagecoach sees sales rise August 18, 2010 Stagecoach said underlying sales rose across its UK and US bus and rail operations over the last three months and that it expects to meet its profit expectations for the year. Like-for-like revenues at its British rail business, which includes London commuter franchise South West Trains, grew seven per cent in the 12 weeks to [...]
Britain’s AAA status more secure says Moody’s August 17, 2010 THE top AAA ratings of the UK, US, France and Germany continue to be well positioned, Moody’s Investors Service has said. The “distance to downgrade” for these four sovereigns has been reduced, the credit rating agency said, adding that large AAA-rated governments face different challenges from those they faced a few months ago. For example, [...]
