Tough choices at Deutsche Telekom December 20, 2011 Telecoms company Deutsche Telekom may be forced into a tie-up of its US wireless unit with Sprint Nextel after a $39bn deal with AT&T collapsed. AT&T said on Monday it had dropped its bid for T-Mobile USA, bowing to regulatory opposition and leaving both companies scrambling for alternatives. T-Mobile USA “is just crying out for [...]
Nat Express says profits on schedule December 20, 2011 NATIONAL Express said it was “firmly on target” to deliver profit growth this year across all of its bus, rail and coach divisions as cash-strapped consumers opt for public transport in straitened times. The transport group, which is due to report full 2011 results on 1 March, said it was in line to meet revenue [...]
ANALYST VIEWS: WHAT DO YOU MAKE OF THE NATIONAL EXPRESS UPDATE? December 20, 2011 PAUL HICKMAN | PEEL HUNT National Express continues to push forward in a range of markets, and pre-tax growth excluding rail is already in consistent double digits. North America … is now the major theatre for expansion. PETER HYDE | LIBERUM SECURITIES Ongoing cost control and continuing volume growth has enabled National Express to deliver [...]
Nike improves as Oracle slides December 20, 2011 WALL Street saw a mixed bag of results on one of its final reporting days of the year yesterday, with Nike improving its profits but tech firm Oracle slumping after missing its own earnings targets. Nike said its quarterly net income rose 2.7 per cent to $469m (£299.5m), slightly ahead of forecasts, thanks to strong [...]
Jefferies beats expectations December 20, 2011 SHARES in Jefferies rallied by more than 20 per cent yesterday after the US investment bank posted better-than-expected fourth quarter earnings. Chief executive Richard Handler said he had declined his annual bonus after volatile trading conditions and recent fears over the bank’s exposure to European sovereign debt wiped around half of its market value. The [...]
India asks for Kingfisher’s income tax December 20, 2011 STRUGGLING carrier Kingfisher Airlines owes the Indian government two years of income tax, the country’s finance minister said yesterday. SS Palanimanickam, minister of state for finance, told the Indian parliament that Kingfisher has around 1.3bn rupees (£15.7m) of employees’ tax deducted at source that has not been deposited with the government. He added that the [...]
Qataris and Luxembourg set to buy Dexia’s private bank December 20, 2011 QATAR and Luxembourg are to buy bailed-out Dexia’s private banking arm for €730m (£610.4m), less than analysts had estimated, as the Franco-Belgian group is broken up. Qatar’s al-Thani royal family will acquire 90 per cent of Banque Internationale Luxembourg (BIL) via their Precision Capital investment group, Dexia said yesterday. The deal follows Precision’s agreement in [...]
Crossrail dents Foyles earnings December 20, 2011 BOOKSELLER Foyles reported encouraging annual profits yesterday, but it hit out at the Crossrail construction work for damaging trade in London. Foyles, which has five London branches, said disruption caused by Crossrail work will cost the firm £1.5m a year due to a “significant decrease in footfall”. Overall, the firm’s turnover declined 0.8 per cent [...]
Axa sells off its Denplan branch December 20, 2011 AXA UK has agreed to sell dental insurance business Denplan to Simplyhealth for £115m. The deal is cash free and debt free and comes with certain add-ons. Denplan, which has 1.8m patients, is set to report pre-tax profits of £14.1m on revenue of £55.5m this year. Health cash plan provider Simplyhealth was seen as the [...]
CATHEDRAL CAROLS SET OFF A YEAR FOR HEALTH December 20, 2011 CITY GRANDEES joined some of the stars of Downton Abbey in the crypt of St Paul’s Cathedral last night at the launch of the Lord Mayor’s Appeal 2012. As Lord Mayor David Wootton explained to guests including Phil Raper, head of corporate broking UK at Goldman Sachs, Aon Benfield chairman Grahame Chilton, and Jonathan Moulds, [...]
