William Hill boosted by World Cup July 20, 2010 BOOKMAKER William Hill said first half earnings would be fractionally higher on the year before with the football World Cup offsetting the company’s worst ever results from horseracing at Royal Ascot. William Hill, which has around 2,300 betting shops in Britain and Ireland, said it expected earnings before interest, tax and amortisation to be around [...]
IG earnings surge by 25pc in volatile markets July 20, 2010 IG Group – Britain’s biggest spread betting firm – met expectations with a 25 per cent rise in profits after volatile markets during the European sovereign debt crisis encouraged customers to place more bets. The company had a pretax profit of £157.6m in the year to 31 May, up from £125.9m the previous year, and [...]
Oil “seepage” not related to BP leak July 20, 2010 BP can keep its blown-out Gulf of Mexico well capped for at least another day, after it was determined that nearby seepage was not related to the leak, US officials have said. Thad Allen said the energy company could continue a pressure test for 24 more hours at the well, which was capped last week, [...]
Ryanair profit plunges after ash cloud crisis July 20, 2010 RYANAIR’S first-quarter profit has plunged by 24 per cent because of the volcanic ash cloud which grounded planes across Europe earlier in the year. The airline said the Icelandic ash cloud had caused it to scrap almost 10,000 flights at a cost of €50m. As a result its pre-tax profit was €93.7m (£80m) for three [...]
Nokia Siemens to buy Motorola unit for $1.2bn July 19, 2010 NOKIA Siemens Networks will buy Motorola’s telecom network equipment business for $1.2bn (£784.8m), getting a stronghold in the North American market and taking No 2 position in the mobile market. Nokia Siemens Networks – a 50-50 joint venture of Nokia and Siemens – has struggled to make a profit in the $82bn market, which was [...]
Unilever sells Findus for €805m July 19, 2010 UNILEVER has agreed to sell its slow-growing Italian frozen foods unit Findus to Birds Eye, which belongs to private equity group Permira for 805m euros (£687.9m). The disposal of Unilever’s last remaining frozen foods business in Europe reunites it with Birds Eye Igloo which the consumer goods giant sold in 2006 for 1.73bn euros. Unilever [...]
Eurotunnel sees increase in traffic July 19, 2010 EUROTUNNEL has said traffic has gone up in the past six months. The channel tunnel operator said truck traffic had soared by 41 per cent while were 17 per cent more cars passed through the tunnel. And the Eurostar passenger train, which runs through the tunnel, saw a six per cent increase in traffic on [...]
Cable claims banks “ripping off” customers July 19, 2010 BRITAIN’S banks are “ripping off” their customers, business secretary Vince Cable has claimed. Cable told the BBC forcing banks to change their practices would be a key test of the coalition government. His comments came as research revealed that high street banks surveyed are charging as much as 167 per cent interest on unauthorised overdrafts. [...]
Debenhams in debt refinancing deal July 19, 2010 DEBENHAMS has sealed a new deal to refinance its debts, signing a new £650m ($997M) agreement that will cut its interest bill. The deal includes a £250m loan and a £400m revolving credit facility expiring in October 2013, with an option to extend to October 2014. It expects interest costs net of fees to fall [...]
Moody’s downgrades Ireland July 19, 2010 THE international credit rating agency Moody’s has downgraded Ireland’s debt – for the second time since the financial crisis hit. Moody’s is the last of the three main agencies who help investors assess investment risk to lower Ireland’s rating for a second time. However, the ratings agency has moderated its outlook for Ireland from negative [...]
