Blackberry users see “significant improvement” to service October 13, 2011 The maker of BlackBerry announced “significant improvement” to its services today after an ‘outage’ which has crippled emails. Research in Motion (RIM) has suffered problems since Monday, with millions of people unable to access email or web. The company previously insisted it was working “around the clock” to return the service to normal. In a [...]
Trade deficit narrows in August as exports hit record high October 13, 2011 The UK’s goods trade deficit narrowed more than expected in August as export values hit a record high and import values fell slightly, official data showed. The government is hoping that exports will help support the economy at a time of fiscal austerity at home and Thursday’s figures may provide some comfort that the rebalancing [...]
BP gets go ahead for £4.5bn North sea project October 13, 2011 The UK government has given the go-ahead for BP and three partners to proceed with a £4.5bn North Sea oil and gas project. BP, Shell , ConocoPhillips and Chevron will now enter the second phase of the Clair Ridge project, the development of a field west of the remote Scottish Shetland Islands. BP said the [...]
Glencore close to sealing Bakrie rescue deal October 13, 2011 Glencore, the world’s biggest commodities trader, is expected to sign a deal within days for a $800m (£508m) loan to Indonesia’s Bakrie Group to help it refinance a $1.35bn facility that became unexpectedly due, sources said on Thursday. In return, Glencore will be given the right to sell more coal produced by Bakrie-controlled Bumi and [...]
Rio Tinto reports record iron ore sales October 13, 2011 Global miner Rio Tinto brushed off fears of a global economic crisis reporting record iron ore sales and a five per cent jump in output for the third quarter, and forecasting continued strong commodities demand. The bullish production numbers and comments boosted shares in Rio Tinto, the world’s second-largest miner of the steel-making commodity, and [...]
WH Smith profits up despite tough climate October 13, 2011 WH Smith posted an expected 4.5 per cent rise in year profit as its strategy of cutting costs and improving margins, rather than driving top-line sales, paid off in a tough market. “The economic conditions remain challenging, however we have planned accordingly,” chief executive Kate Swann said. The 219-year-old group made a pretax profit of [...]
Carrefour issues profit warning October 13, 2011 Carrefou issued its fourth profit warning in as many months on Thursday, providing further evidence that cash-strapped shoppers are becoming even more cautious against an uncertain economic backdrop. The French group, battling to drive through a turnaround plan to address years of underperformance in its main western European markets, said it expected 2011 operating profit [...]
EMI to be sold in two pieces October 13, 2011 EMI Group Ltd, the home of Coldplay and Katy Perry, looks increasingly likely to be sold off as two separate businesses – recorded music and song publishing – after final bids came in last week, according to several people familiar with the matter. The music company is reviewing competing offers for EMI Publishing from BMG [...]
Retreating to the safety of the krone October 13, 2011 SINCE the Swiss National Bank’s (SNB) decision to de-facto peg the Swiss franc to the euro on 6 September, investors have been scrambling for alternative safe havens in order to allocate part of their liquid cash position. Gold’s violent drop in value during the second half of September has made this quest for safety even [...]
CRISIS MOUNTS FOR BLACKBERRY October 12, 2011 BlackBerry maker Research In Motion’s (RIM) crisis deepened yesterday when services in the US and Canada also collapsed. Customers in the UK were forced to cope without data services on their beloved handsets for a third day, with no sign the misery is about to end. Analysts told City A.M. the latest breakdown means between [...]
