Hunt for bank deals boosts prices website April 18, 2012 CONSUMERS’ search for promotional deals on financial services helped Moneysupermarket.com to increase sales at the start of the year. The website said revenues from its money unit, where shoppers can compare banking products such as credit cards and mortgages, leapt 22 per cent after a 20 per cent jump in visitors. It helped push the [...]
Marketing confidence soars in year of Jubilee and Olympics April 18, 2012 MARKETING executives have regained confidence in their companies’ prospects, according to this morning’s IPA Bellwether report which suggests business buoyancy is at a two-year high. The report, which examines data from marketing professionals and provides an insight into the health of the economy, said executives’ confidence in their own companies leaped to 19.1 per cent [...]
Blackberry that costs just £130 targets India April 18, 2012 RESEARCH in Motion (RIM) yesterday launched in India what it called its “most affordable” BlackBerry smartphone as part of an aggressive push in one of its few growing markets. The new Curve 9220 is priced in India at 10,990 rupees (£130), higher than the price of Curve 8520, which is RIM’s best-selling phone in India, [...]
Fresnillo is on golden form as it beats targets April 18, 2012 MINER Fresnillo’s shares surged over three per cent yesterday as it hiked its gold production target after the opening of a new mine in Mexico. Gold production beat targets, soaring 26 per cent to 121,792 ounces in the quarter to the end of March. Fresnillo, which was reporting production figures for the three months to [...]
BHP Billiton sees coal and iron figures hit by rain and strikes April 18, 2012 BHP Billiton yesterday reported a fall in iron ore output after bad weather took its toll. Like rival Rio Tinto, the FTSE 100 miner saw production dip in the first quarter of 2012. Iron ore production was 37.9m tonnes – eight per cent lower compared to the previous quarter. Coal output fell 14 per cent [...]
Heritage losses widening April 18, 2012 Oil explorer Heritage yesterday reported widening losses at the company. The loss rose to $63m (£39.3m) in 2011 compared to $44.2m the previous year. The company said it had upped its capital expenditure to $134.9m from $119m. However the company still has a cash pile of $311m. Chief executive Tony Buckingham said: “2011 has been [...]
Chesapeake chief in perks row April 18, 2012 Aubrey McClendon, the chief executive of Chesapeake Energy has borrowed as much as $1.1bn (£686m) over the last three years against his stake in thousands of company wells, Reuters said yesterday. The loans, used to fund McClendon’s operating costs for a perk that offers him a chance to invest in a 2.5 per cent interest [...]
Bunzl goes on the deal trail as 2012 starts well April 18, 2012 DISPOSABLE products supplier Bunzl said yesterday that 2012 had got off to a good start, helped by continued strong demand in the United States and the contribution of acquisitions, and said it was targeting more deals. The British company, which supplies food packaging and healthcare consumables, said first-quarter group revenue at constant exchange rates rose [...]
Strong demand in Africa and Middle East boosts Heineken April 18, 2012 HEINEKEN shares touched a four-year high yesterday after quarterly results showed a surge in sales. The maker of Amstel, Foster’s and Strongbow reported a 4.7 per cent rise in volume sales on a like-for-like basis, more than double the growth that had been expected. Sales rose particularly sharply in Africa and the Middle East. Revenues [...]
GKN profit is driven up by auto unit sales April 18, 2012 BRITISH car and plane parts maker GKN said yesterday its first-quarter profit rose by a fifth, driven by strong growth at its automotive business on the back of robust luxury car sales. The group’s Driveline unit, which makes products such as driveshafts, chassis and axles, reported a 28 per cent rise in profit in the [...]
