Ladbrokes hit by a betting downturn despite World Cup August 5, 2010 LADBROKES yesterday said the amount staked by punters at its UK shops fell seven per cent even taking into account a boost from the World Cup. However, the bookmaker said it would resume dividend payments. Revenues from over-the-counter betting fell six per cent in the six months to the end of June but a better [...]
Millennium & Copthorne warns over fragile state of the global economy August 5, 2010 MILLENNIUM & Copthorne (M&C) yesterday posted a 65 per cent rise in first-half pre-tax profit but said it was cautious about the economy over the next 18 months. The London-based hotel chain, which runs more than 120 hotels in 19 countries, declared an interim dividend of 2.08p, unchanged from last year. “We will continue to [...]
F&C closes in on its Thames River acquisition August 5, 2010 EVEN by the standards of F&C Asset Management’s long and winding history, the past year has been eventful. The funds house, founded 140 years ago to manage the world’s first mass-market investment trust, made a long-awaited break for independence just over 12 months ago when it de-merged from life insurer Friends Provident. Analysts and employees [...]
BBA Aviation eyes future buyouts as profits climb August 5, 2010 AIRCRAFT services group BBA Aviation posted a 17 per cent hike in half-year profits yesterday, with the group’s management team now eyeing future acquisition opportunities. The British-based group, which divides its operations between services to private jet owners and flight support to the large commercial airlines, reported underlying pre-tax profits of £45.1m, a rise on [...]
EasyJet boosts its traffic in July as it flies more than five million passengers August 5, 2010 LOW-COST airline easyJet, which is in dispute with founder Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou, said yesterday it flew 7.7 per cent more passengers last month than the previous year. During July, one of the busiest months for air travel, easyJet carried 5.02m passengers, an increase from the same period last year when it flew 4.66m customers. EasyJet [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS August 5, 2010 FTSE Group The global index provider has appointed Sudir Raju as managing director for its custom index business. Raju has worked for Dow Jones and Stoxx Indexes since 2004, latterly as leader of the Stoxx custom index business. He has a strong technical background with experience extending across index design, production, reviews and operations, as [...]
FTSE ends lower as Barclays leads banking sector retreat August 5, 2010 BRITAIN’S top shares closed down yesterday, with Barclays leading banking shares lower after it posted first-half numbers and downbeat US weekly jobless claims data later in the day only adding to the downward pressure. The FTSE 100 closed down 20.38 points, or 0.4 per cent, at 5,365.78, having fallen back from a session high of [...]
Wall Street dips on new jobless claims August 5, 2010 US stocks edged lower yesterday as an unexpected rise in initial jobless claims and unimpressive July retail sales dimmed optimism ahead of the monthly payrolls report. Investors were cautious before today’s jobs report, and after a 10 per cent rise in the S&P 500 since July 2. Yesterday’s data showed initial claims for jobless benefits [...]
A new generation of banks August 5, 2010 BRITAIN saw the launch of its first new high street bank in many years recently, with the opening of Metro Bank’s first and only branch so far on High Holborn. The launch featured no end of gimmicks – including balloons, goodie bags and free dog biscuits – to persuade consumers that the bank offers something [...]
PERSONAL FINANCE NEWS August 5, 2010 MS LAUNCHES NEW GROWTH PLAN Morgan Stanley this week announced the launch of its FTSE Gilt-Backed Growth Plan 4, which offers investors a fixed return equivalent to 8.5 per cent a year, paid on the first anniversary that the FTSE records flat or positive performance. If this does not happen, then investors still have some [...]
