Texas Instruments expects economy to stunt growth July 25, 2011 TEXAS Instruments has forecast only modest third quarter growth in the face of economic uncertainty. The company, whose chips are found in products ranging from mobile phones to cars, said it expects third-quarter revenue of $3.4bn (£2.1bn) to $3.7bn, compared with the average analyst forecast of $3.6bn. For the second quarter Texas Instruments earned $672m, [...]
CITY GRANDEES DEBATE FUTURE OF UK BANKING July 25, 2011 MAGIC circle law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer’s Fleet Street offices played host last night to a City crowd debating one of the most pertinent questions currently facing the UK’s politicians, regulators and bankers – whether the country’s biggest banks should be forcibly broken up, or whether other kinds of reforms are the best way forward. [...]
Reckitt lifted by emerging market boost July 25, 2011 EMERGING market growth offset weaker European sales to allow consumer goods giant Reckitt Benckiser to hike its interim dividend by ten per cent yesterday. Total like-for-like sales at the group, which makes Cillit Bang cleaners, Airwick air fresheners and Dettol disinfectant, rose by five per cent in the first half. However, European sales dropped one [...]
Ryanair sees profit dented by the soaring price of fuel July 25, 2011 RYANAIR, Europe’s largest low-cost airline, posted quarterly profits below market expectations due to higher fuel and operating costs yesterday. The Irish airline, which operates more than 1,500 flights a day, said it expects average income yields to rise by 12 to 15 per cent in its second quarter ending in September, but warned that traffic [...]
Pharma arm too reliant on heroin addict drug July 25, 2011 RECKITT Benckiser’s pharmaceuticals (RBP) arm has always been an odd fit for the rest of the company, which specialises in big bright cleaning brands like Harpic and Finish dishwasher tablets. The drugs division is interested in something altogether darker: heroin addiction. Things aren’t looking good for Suboxone, RBP’s drug for opiate addicts. It lost US [...]
Aberdeen in fees boost as funds grow July 25, 2011 ABERDEEN Asset Management pleased the market yesterday with a better-than-expected jump in funds under management and higher fee earnings over the past quarter. The fund manager’s assets hit £185.8bn at the end of June, up 2.5 per cent in the past three months as it added £10.9bn gross new funds. Analysts also welcomed the news [...]
London Stock Exchange warns on NYSE-Deutsche Boerse tie up July 25, 2011 THE London Stock Exchange claimed yesterday that the planned tie up between its rivals, Deutsche Boerse and NYSE Euronext, would create a derivatives giant that would stifle competition in Europe. The LSE, which had to abandon its own merger with Canada’s TMX Group last month, stepped up its opposition to its competitors’ plan. The merger [...]
WHAT DOES THIS SAY ABOUT ABERDEEN’S BUSINESS MODEL? July 25, 2011 STUART DUNCAN | PEEL HUNT Aberdeen continues to tick many of the boxes we look for in an asset manager. The group has a diverse business mix, improving revenue and operating margins, and a focus on cash that is delivering a strengthening balance sheet and giving rise to the possibility of our dividend forecasts looking [...]
AssetCo to issue £10m new equity July 25, 2011 CASH-STRAPPED fire engine operator AssetCo said it had turned to its investors for money yesterday as it could not reach agreement with its potential buyer. AssetCo’s board has been in exclusive talks with Bahraini bank Arcapita for months to try and secure a last-ditch sale that would see it saved from bankruptcy. But it admitted [...]
Wolseley sells two more low earning firms July 25, 2011 BUILDERS merchant Wolseley said it had agreed to sell two of its underperforming businesses to French rival Saint-Gobain for a total £310m yesterday. The world’s biggest plumbers and building merchant said Saint-Gobain would buy its UK building materials distribution business Build Center for £145m and was in exclusive talks to buy its French plumbing and [...]
