Cargill has worst quarter in years January 10, 2012 US agribusiness giant Cargill yesterday reported its worst quarter since 2001, posting a worse than expected 88 per cent slump in quarterly earnings from continuing operations to $100m. The company, which has announced plans to lay off 1.5 per cent of its staff and has parted ways with its top sugar trader, is suffering alongside [...]
Investment banking boss quits Nomura January 10, 2012 NOMURA signalled a full-scale retreat from its ambitions to become a top-tier international investment bank yesterday as its head of wholesale, Jasjit (Jesse) Bhattal, announced he is quitting the industry. While the bank’s plans to downsize its global operations were well-known, the departure of Bhattal, who moved to the bank when it bought Lehman Brothers’ [...]
Lost Bhattal in a bruising industry war January 10, 2012 JESSE Bhattal’s departure from Nomura is a moment that shows just how badly wrong things have gone for investment banks even since the financial crisis. Few banks have escaped the decline, but Nomura’s slide has been exacerbated by the huge cost base it bought by taking on thousands of Lehman staff, as well as giving [...]
EU set to axe Deutsche and NYSE merger January 10, 2012 THE HEADS of NYSE Euronext and Deutsche Boerse are set to hold urgent talks today to try to stop regulators ripping up their $9bn (£5.81bn) merger. Duncan Niederauer and Reto Francioni, the respective chief executives, are expected to meet in New York after it appeared the European competition commissioner would veto the deal to create [...]
Miliband: Fairness is crucial to Labour January 10, 2012 NEW ideas based on fairness will win the 2015 election for Labour, party leader Ed Miliband claimed in a speech yesterday. “Tough times will continue,” he said, acknowledging that spending cuts are necessary. However, he also stressed that high government spending can be beneficial, pointing to schools built under the last Labour governments, and that [...]
Email trail that led to the SNB chief quitting January 10, 2012 SWITZERLAND’S central bank was seeking a new leader to contain the strength of the country’s franc yesterday after apparently forcing out chairman Philipp Hildebrand when emails failed to clear him of involvement in a currency trade by his wife. The supervisory council of the Swiss National Bank made no statement after a six-hour meeting yesterday, [...]
Debenhams and M&S sales enjoy Christmas boost January 10, 2012 SHARES in Marks & Spencer and Debenhams rallied yesterday after the two British retailers revealed strong December trading, despite economic and consumer headwinds. Debenhams rose more than 10 per cent after the department store group posted flat like-for-like sales in the 18 weeks to 7 January, or 6.5 per cent growth including VAT, slightly above [...]
Co-op buys David Sands shops after strong trading January 10, 2012 SUPERMARKET chain the Co-operative Group reported strong trading figures for the four weeks to 31 December yesterday, as it announced it had bought 28 convenience stores in Scotland from the David Sands group. Co-op, run by chief executive Peter Marks, has previously said it wants to increase the number of stores it runs across Britain [...]
Loans breach is looming at Game January 10, 2012 DIRE sales of video games over the Christmas period have forced Game Group to warn that it may breach an upcoming financial covenant test, knocking more than 43 per cent off its share price yesterday. Chief executive Ian Shepherd blamed the lack of new games consoles dovetailed with the weak consumer environment for like-for-like sales [...]
Majestic toasts sparkling profits January 10, 2012 Majestic Wine raised its glass to a 20 per cent rise in half-year profits yesterday, helped by its shift to a six-bottle minimum in-store purchase and the return to fashion of sparkling wine. The company, which runs 160 UK stores, said it enjoyed a strong performance over the Christmas period, with like-for-like sales in the [...]
