Barratt profit on target as house sales rise May 12, 2010 HOUSEBUILDER Barratt Developments said it will deliver a profit in the second half as it reported improved sales rates since February. The UK’s third largest housebuilder by market value, said its average selling price is expected to rise by 15 per cent by June 30, thanks to a shift in the type of houses being [...]
ING beats forecasts as bad debts subside May 12, 2010 DUTCH banking group ING beat all forecasts with first-quarter profit that benefited from rising financial markets and falling bad debt costs. The company said its exposure to Greece rose in the first quarter while its Portuguese portfolio fell. It added that it was comfortable with its position in sovereign debt. Executives said the fluctuations were [...]
Industrial output in shock jump May 11, 2010 INDUSTRIAL output in Britain jumped six times faster than expected in March – its strongest monthly growth in almost eight years. Output increased by 2 per cent compared with February, its fastest monthly rise since July 2002. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said that the data would add 0.1 percentage points to its estimate [...]
Aviva sales drop as US market falls away May 11, 2010 AVIVA suffered a five per cent drop in life and pensions sales in the first quarter – but the results were above analysts’ forecasts The figures showed that a recovery in the domestic insurance market was offset by a sales of 18 per cent in the struggling US market. Llfe and pensions sales in the [...]
EasyJet cuts profit forecast after ash cloud chaos May 11, 2010 EasyJet has cut its expectations for full-year profit after the mayhem caused by the volcanic ash crisis, though it posted a smaller-than-expected first-half as fuel prices fell. The airline, the biggest carrier at Gatwick airport, said its pre-tax loss narrowed by a third to £78.7m on revenues 13 per cent higher at £1.17m for the [...]
Babcock profits jump after VT group deal May 11, 2010 DEFENCE company Babcock has reported a 21 per cent rise in pre-tax profit after agreeing to buy rival VT Group for £1.5bn. Babcock’s profit was £129.2m in the year to the end of March while the company said it had a £8.3bn order book. The firm said the strong performance of its marine division had [...]
BA price-fixing trial collapses May 10, 2010 THE trial of four senior British Airways executives accused of price-fixing with Virgin Atlantic collapsed when prosecuting lawyers said they would not be offering any evidence. Competition watchdog the Office of Fair Trading (OFT), bringing the first such prosecution of allegations of dishonest collusion between the two airlines, had failed to disclose key documents to [...]
Interest rates frozen again May 10, 2010 THE Bank of England today voted to keep interest rates at a record low of 0.5 per cent for the 14th consecutive month. Its quantitative easing programme, which finished in February, was also left unchanged at £200 bn as the Bank remained in wait and see mode. However, economists warn that the UK remains a [...]
Red Knights will not ‘overpay’ for Man Utd May 10, 2010 THE Red Knights consortium has said that it will not pay over the odds for Manchester United. Businessmen led by Keith Harris have expressed an interest in the Premier league runners-up but have now suggested that they will not pay more than £1bn for the club current. They said in a statement: “We have had [...]
BAA passenger numbers fall in ash cloud chaos May 10, 2010 BAA has said that the volcanic ash disruption cut its passenger numbers by more than a fifth last month. The airport operator said passenger traffic in April was down 22.7 per cent on the same month last year. UK airspace was closed for six days in April because of the threat posed by the ash [...]
