Bowleven finds oil in Cameroon May 11, 2011 British oil explorer Bowleven said it found more oil at a key exploration well off the coast of Cameroon and increased its oil-in place estimates, sending its shares up two per cent. The Africa-focused company said most of the hydrocarbon-bearing targets were found in the lower and deep regions of the Omicron part of the [...]
Bank of America focuses on mortgage problems May 11, 2011 Bank of America is working to improve profits by reducing its number of problem mortgages and cutting other expenses, chief executive Brian Moynihan told shareholders yesterday. Moynihan, speaking at the company’s annual meeting in downtown Charlotte, said the mortgage business of the largest US bank by assets is “still struggling mightily” as it slowly crawls [...]
Tesco names City grandee as new chair May 11, 2011 TESCO yesterday announced that Sir Richard Broadbent will become its next chairman. Sir Richard (pictured), who is deputy chairman at Barclays, will join Tesco as a non-executive director in July. He will take over the reins from Tesco chairman David Reid, who retires in November. The City grandee was tipped to take over at insurer [...]
Restaurant Group in sales lift May 11, 2011 RESTAURANT Group yesterday said its total sales for the first 18 weeks of the new financial year grew 5.5 per cent, but warned of tough market conditions ahead due to fragile consumer confidence. The company, which owns the Garfunkel’s and Frankie & Benny’s chains, said yesterday sales of restaurants open for at least a year [...]
Carlsberg toasts a swing back to Russian growth as profit jumps May 11, 2011 DANISH brewer Carlsberg yesterday said a recovery in east European demand helped drive a 38 per cent rise in first-quarter profits, endorsing its emerging market focus and sending its shares to a near-record high. The brewer met forecasts yesterday as its biggest market returned to growth and said it expected Russian beer volume to grow [...]
Morrisons FD gets £1.25m bonus May 11, 2011 Supermarket chain Morrisons gave finance director Richard Pennycook a £1.25m bonus in shares last year according to its annual report. Pennycook was one of the contenders for the chief executive job when Marc Bolland left the company for Marks & Spencer, but he lost out to Dalton Philips. He was paid £981,000 for 2010 before [...]
Kesa cuts as Comet struggles May 11, 2011 Electricals retailer Kesa yesterday posted a further plunge in sales at its loss-making Comet unit in the UK and said it would accelerate change at the chain in an attempt to revive its fortunes. Kesa, the subject of private equity bid speculation amid stake-building by activist investor Knight, said it would meet market expectations for [...]
Greggs gets a boost over Easter May 11, 2011 High street baker Greggs said like-for-like sales growth of 0.8 per cent over the past 18 weeks “reflected good Easter trading and the favourable weather”. Chief executive Ken McMeikan said that having successfully targeted the UK breakfast market in 2010 with meal deals combining sausage or bacon rolls with tea and coffee, the firm has [...]
POSH GOODS BOOST SALES AT HERMES May 11, 2011 FRENCH luxury goods group Hermes has posted a 20.7 per cent rise in first-quarter sales at constant exchange rates, driven by surging demand for its watches and leather goods in Europe and Asia. Overall, Hermes sales in the three months to 31 March rose 25.5 per cent to €637.1m (£541m). The maker of silk scarves [...]
Toyota hit by supply doubts May 11, 2011 TOYOTA Motors posted a 52 per cent fall in quarterly operating profit yesterday and gave no annual forecasts, as expected, as it struggles to measure the scope of the disruption to production after the 11 March earthquake. The world’s biggest automaker is facing another tough year as a severe shortage of parts caused by Japan’s [...]
