PartyGaming profit up August 6, 2010 INTERNET gambling firm PartyGaming posted a 14 per cent rise in first-half profit and said it had traded in line with internal hopes in its second-half so far. The merger deal with Austria’s bwin, announced last week, will create a $3.3bn (£2.1bn) online gaming business positioned to profit from deregulation of the lucrative United States [...]
Old Mutual profit soars after cost cutting August 6, 2010 Anglo-South African financial conglomerate Old Mutual reported a better than expected 43 per cent jump in half-year profit, helped by cost cuts, and said it had sold its US life unit for $350m (220 million pounds). Old Mutual had an IFRS operating profit of £735m in the first six months of 2010, up from 513 [...]
Tomkins boosted by takeover plan August 6, 2010 CAR parts maker Tomkins which is in the process of being acquired, posted a 229 per cent rise in first-half adjusted operating profit but warned on second-half performance. Tomkins reported adjusted operating profit of $295.5m (£185.9m) for the first six months of the year, beating the $89.8m posted in the same period last year, and [...]
RBS reports £9m profit August 6, 2010 Royal Bank of Scotland has seen profits of £9m for the first half of 2010. The bank, which is 83 per cent taxpayer-owned, was helped by improving bad debt losses as it moved from a £248m loss in the first quarter to a £257m profit between April and June. it lent £12.7bn to business in [...]
Barclays profit up 44pc August 5, 2010 BARCLAYS has reported A pre-tax profit of £3.95bn for the first half of 2010. The lion share of the profit came from the bank’s investment banking arm, Barclays Capital, which made £3.4bn. Barclays also said it lent £18bn to UK households and businesses over the six month period. Barclays chief executive John Varley said of [...]
Swiss Re smashes profit forecasts August 5, 2010 Swiss Re the world’s second-biggest reinsurer, smashed expectations with a $812m (£511m) net profit in the second quarter as recovering financial markets boosted asset values and investment returns. Operating income of $1.2bn at the Zurich-based reinsurer’s asset management unit more than offset a further $130m hit from the Chile earthquake and a $200m hit from [...]
Commerzbank in £291m profit August 5, 2010 Commerzbank has reported a net profit of 352m euros (£291m) for the second quarter of the year. The German bank’s profit compares with a loss of 761m euros a year earlier. It was also higher than forecast. The lender said it now hoped to return to full-year profit in 2010 and not 2011 as it [...]
Societe Generale profit triples August 4, 2010 PROFITS at French bank Societe Generale have more than tripled after an impressive performance in its retail banking division. The group said net profit for the three months to June came in at 1.08bn euros (£900m) compared with a profit of 309m euros a year ago. But the bank warned that economic recovery was still [...]
BP “static kill” hailed a success August 4, 2010 BP has said the “static kill” of its ruptured Gulf of Mexico oil well has worked – a major step forward in sealing the leak permanently. The sealing has involved pumping in specially fromulated mud, forcing oil back down into the well. BP said the well is being monitored, and further pumping of mud could [...]
Santander buys 318 RBS branches August 4, 2010 SPAIN’S Santander has bought more than 300 UK branches from Royal Bank of Scotland for about £1.65bn. Santander, the euro-zone’s biggest bank, said the valuation of the deal could be adjusted when it completes, which is expected to happen in December 2011. The price will be a £350m premium to net asset value, which was [...]
