BAA lowers earnings forecast by £10m June 24, 2010 AIRPORT operator BAA has lowered its 2010 earnings forecast by £10m reflecting the impact of the volcanic ash cloud, strikes by British Airways cabin crew and bad weather. BAA, which is owned by Spain’s Ferrovial, forecast that its 2010 adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation would be £946M based on its expectation of [...]
DSG to rebrand as Dixons June 24, 2010 DSG International has posted an expected 61 per cent rise in full-year profit and forecast more growth in 2010-11. The firm, which owns the Currys and PC World chains said that although the economic backdrop in Europe would remain challenging in the current year it was well placed to continue to grow profits. DSG also [...]
Resolution agrees £2.75bn deal for Axa unit June 24, 2010 AXA has agreed to sell part of its UK life-insurance unit to Resolution for £2.75bn. Resolution, run by Clive Cowdery, aims to merge the AXA divisions with Friends Provident, the life insurance business bought last year for £1.86bn. The investment vehicle said its leading shareholders had agreed to sub-underwrite 52 percent of the cash call, [...]
Channel 4 breaks even despite ad slump June 23, 2010 CHANNEL 4 broke even last year despite the worst advertising slump in its 28-year history. A £53.4m record profit from digital media and budget cuts have helped to fuel the figures. Channel 4 has cut spending on programmes by more than £50m – from £598.6m in 2008 to £548.3m last year. It made a £61.6m [...]
MPC split on interest rates June 23, 2010 A member of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) called for a rise in interest rates at its last meeting, according to minutes. Andrew Sentance voted for a hike to 0.75 per cent from 0.5 per cent. The last time an MPC member voted for a rise was August 2008. The other members [...]
Polar Capital warns over “market weakness” June 23, 2010 HEDGE fund firm Polar Capital warned markets could remain weak as it reported profits above expectations and confirmed that an inflow of client money had helped its assets under management rebound. The firm, which has seen assets fall sharply during the credit crisis, said pre-tax profit for the year to March fell by three-quarters to [...]
Stagecoach beats forecasts June 23, 2010 TRANSPORT group Stagecoach reported full-year pre-tax profit at the upper end of expectations and said it was well-placed to increase earnings in its current fiscal year. The bus and rail operator reported a decline in full-year pretax profit to £161.3m in the year to end April compared with a profit of £196.4m the year before. [...]
Kesa sees 18 per cent profit surge June 23, 2010 COMET owner Kesa has posted an 18 per cent rise in full-year profit as improved gross margins offset a decline in underlying sales growth. The electricals retailer Kesa, which also runs market leader Darty in France, made an underlying pre-tax profit of £81.9m for the year to 30 April. That was ahead of company guidance [...]
Chancellor hikes VAT to 20 per cent June 22, 2010 George Osborne dubbed the budget the “unavoidable budget” as he pledged to bring public finances back into line – announcing a hike in VAT to 20 per cent. The chancellor unveiled a massive cost-cutting campaign including limiting housing benefit payments and freezing child benefit. A total of £11bn will be wiped off welfare spending by [...]
BP chief pulls out of speech on “global responsibility” June 22, 2010 BP chief executive Tony Hayward has cancelled plans for his first public appearance in Britain since the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. He was due to address oil company bosses and energy ministers at a conference in London today (Tuesday) giving a speech on the global responsibility of oil companies . BP said Hayward was [...]
