LinkedIn says its revenues have doubled February 9, 2012 LINKEDIN, the social network for professionals, last night beat Wall Street expectations to announce fourth quarter revenues of $167.7m (£105m) – up 105 per cent from a year earlier. The majority of the growth came from LinkedIn’s recruitment arm, which now provides half the firm’s revenue after benefiting from improved jobs numbers in the crucial [...]
CITY VIEWS: DO YOU USE LINKEDIN?* February 9, 2012 JULIAN DIXON | WINTERFLOOD SECURITIES “Yes I do use it. It started off as a laugh around the office but I’ve found that you can actually meet the odd client and make some business connections from the social site.” GEORGE HAYWOOD | SMITH & WILLIAMSON “Yes, I use it at least once a week. It [...]
Reuters reports a loss on $3bn goodwill payout February 9, 2012 THOMSON Reuters made a loss in its fourth quarter after forking out $3bn (£1.9bn) due to a goodwill charge on its waning financial services division. The business news and data provider ended the period $2.6bn out of pocket, down from a $307m profit last year, despite rolling in a three per cent increase revenue of [...]
Rio Tinto pair forego bonus after losses February 9, 2012 THE TOP two executives at global miner Rio Tinto yesterday said they would not take bonuses after the company lurched into a loss triggered by its aluminium business. A surplus of aluminium and rising input costs have hammered margins in the industry, sending the value of Rio’s aluminium unit Alcan plummeting. Rio paid $38bn (£23.9bn) [...]
GKP hires advisers for Iraqi sale February 9, 2012 IRAQ-FOCUSED oil company Gulf Keystone Petroleum yesterday said it had appointed corporate advisers to help it sell its 20 per cent stake in the Akri-Bijeel block in Kurdistan, northern Iraq, almost five months after putting it on the market. The group is taking on Strand Hanson and Perella Weinberg to assist its advisory team, which [...]
Third Xstrata shareholder opposes Glencore merger February 9, 2012 A THIRD prominent shareholder in Xstrata has come out against the miner’s £56bn mega-merger with commodities trader Glencore. Chad Deakins, a fund manager with RidgeWorth, a US-based investment company, told Bloomberg that the effective eight per cent premium implied in the share swap ratio for the deal significantly undervalues Xstrata. “Xstrata is a prized asset,” [...]
Canaccord to launch $1bn fund for Canada resources after China deal February 9, 2012 CANACCORD Financial yesterday announced it was launching a $1bn (£630.8m) fund to invest in the resources sector in Canada. The firm, one of the biggest investment banks in Canada, will work in partnership with China’s Eximbank. The fund will be branded the Canada-China Natural Resource Fund. The deal was signed yesterday by Canaccord chief executive [...]
Retail gloom takes toll on British Land February 9, 2012 BRITISH LAND has seen growth of its net asset value stall in the third quarter as the ongoing consumer downturn led to a slight dip in value across its retail portfolio. The landlord – whose tenants include Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Debenhams – said its retail estate, which accounts for 61 per cent of its property [...]
ANALYST VIEWS: WERE BRITISH LAND’S QUARTERLY RESULTS ON TRACK? February 9, 2012 JAMES CARSWELL | PEEL HUNT We think retail, operationally, performed well, but the small valuation declines might be further signs of things to come. Their development pipeline is very well de-risked. They have de-risked over 50 per cent through pre-lets like Aon which is clearly a huge advantage over their competitors. ALISON WATSON | LIBERUM [...]
Diageo profits despite weak Europe sales February 9, 2012 DIAGEO, the world’s biggest spirits group, said it has beaten its medium-term targets, as strongly growing emerging markets and a slow recovery in North America helped to offset weakness in Europe in the first half of the year. Chief executive Paul Walsh said while he “remained cautious” about Diageo’s future, the firm was well placed [...]
