BT moves pension payment forward March 30, 2011 BT HAS paid the latest installment to its pension deficit programme nine months early in order to qualify for the tax deductible corporation tax rate of 28 per cent, rather than the 26 per cent rate that will apply from April. BT says the decision to pay £505m into the BT Pension Scheme, the actuarial [...]
3 surges into the black for the first time March 30, 2011 HUTCHISON Whampoa yesterday announced the first-half results for its network operator 3, which provides services to Europe and Australia. The firm was pushed into positive territory for the first time since it started offering services in 2003 thanks to a one-off payment. It reported Ebit of £230m, compared to a loss of £700m the year [...]
ANALYST VIEWS: WHAT DO YOU THINK OF BELLWAY’S RESULTS? March 30, 2011 MARK HUGHES | PANMURE GORDON The company saw revenues grow in the first-half, as both volumes and average selling prices increased year-on-year. With a positive trend in current trade, we are happy with our full-year forecasts. MICHAEL VASSALLO | BREWIN DOLPHIN Bellway is trading at a larger discount to all in the sector bar Barratt. [...]
SocialGO swings into profit March 30, 2011 UK social network SocialGO saw its revenues rise 183 per cent year-on-year after adding a number of high profile clients including Hilton Hotels, Texas Instruments, Asda and Levi’s. The firm said its profits were £238,000, compared to a loss of £24,000 the previous year. SocialGO focuses on providing personalised social networks for schools, sports clubs, [...]
Google settles Buzz rollout case March 30, 2011 Search giant Google has settled with US regulators investigating privacy problems that cropped up in its botched roll-out of social network Buzz, the Federal Trade Commission said yesterday. Under the deal, Google agreed to have independent privacy audits every two years for the next 20 years. Launched in February 2010 to compete with Twitter, Buzz [...]
Vale’s Martins set to be chief exec March 30, 2011 Vale director Tito Botelho Martins will be named chief executive, a local newspaper reported yesterday, the latest chapter in a tussle over the leadership of the world’s largest producer of iron ore. Brazilian bank Bradesco, a key Vale SA shareholder, backed Martins to replace current chief executive Roger Agnelli.
City Moves | who’s switching jobs March 30, 2011 Astbury Marsden Mark O’Reilly has been appointed as managing director of the financial services recruitment firm’s Asia Pacific operations. O’Reilly will be based in Hong Kong and will continue to lead the expansion of the company’s Singapore and Hong Kong offices. O’Reilly has more than 13 years’ experience in financial services recruitment, including three years [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS March 30, 2011 RANDGOLD RESOURCES Societe Generale has started covering the miner with a “sell” rating and a 12-month target price of £34. The broker thinks Randgold is facing a host of operational, political, fiscal and macroeconomic headwinds. It believes that the firm’s expansion at some of its mines is likely to be delayed further by political instability, [...]
FTSE rally continues despite earnings woes for retailers March 30, 2011 THE FTSE 100 closed higher for a sixth consecutive session yesterday, its best run since August 2010, as investors ditched retailers over earnings worries in favour of growth sectors such as industrials and mining. Dixons issued a profit warning and gloomy outlook as a survey from the CBI showed the underlying trend for retail sales [...]
Quarter-end dash pushes up Wall St March 30, 2011 US stocks rose yesterday as investors positioned themselves for the quarter’s end and the S&P 500 attempted to hold above a key technical level. Stocks advanced as money managers re-allocated positions for the end of the quarter, with the S&P 500 up 5.9 per cent. The S&P broke through 1,330, which was noted as a [...]
