TeliaSonera gets boost from emerging markets February 3, 2011 NORDIC telecoms firm TeliaSonera said yesterday it saw higher sales and margins this year boosted by recovery at home and rapid growth in emerging markets after reporting in line quarterly profits. TeliaSonera, Europe’s fifth-biggest operator by market capitalisation said it expected sales in local currencies excluding acquisitions to grow four per cent this year, though [...]
Profit from gaming fails to help Sony February 3, 2011 SONY’s lack of hit products and a price war for televisions is keeping a lid on earnings at the Japanese electronics giant, despite a boost in profits from its games division. While Sony’s operating profits fell 5.9 per cent in the third quarter, rival Sharp saw a 9.5 per cent rise in profit as its [...]
Earnings up at Optimum Coal February 3, 2011 South African miner Optimum Coal Holdings reported a surge in first-half earnings, boosted by higher production and output from the Koornfontein mine it bought last year. Optimum Coal, one of South Africa’s largest producers, said outlook for thermal coal remained robust, as global supply was constrained due to severe weather in other regions. Optimum said [...]
Amer Sports results disappoint February 3, 2011 Finnish sporting goods group Amer Sports reported fourth-quarter profit slightly below forecasts yesterday and said pressure on margins would continue. “Gross margin remains a challenge in light of labour and raw material cost increases but we have mitigation plans in place,” the company said. The owner of the Wilson and Atomic brands posted underlying operating [...]
Ford recalls trucks in US February 3, 2011 Ford is recalling nearly 281,000 F-150 pickup trucks in the US because of a potential problem with the door handles not working properly, the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said yesterday. Model years 2009 and 2010 F-150 trucks produced from January 2008 to November 2009 are being recalled.
Oil majors curb the FTSE 100 despite solid corporate news February 3, 2011 BRITAIN’S top share index fell yesterday, hurt by Royal Dutch Shell as the oil major’s results were met with disappointment, while drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline rose after it decided to push ahead with a buyback programme. The FTSE 100 shed 16.73 points, or 0.3 per cent, to 5,983.34, after closing 0.7 per cent higher on Wednesday. The [...]
Wall Street rises on strong retail figures February 3, 2011 US stocks ended near the session’s highs yesterday, with investors favouring shares of retailers after encouraging chain-store sales raised confidence ahead of today’s jobs report. The Morgan Stanley retail index rose 2.8 per cent, driven by companies such as Sears Holdings, up almost eight per cent, and Ross Stores, up six per cent and at [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS February 3, 2011 IG GROUP Investec rates the trading and betting firm “buy” with a target price of 625p. The broker believes that a return to volatility and continued growth in the UK and abroad could lead to material upgrades to its forecasts, despite a small downgrade due to a drop in Japanese business. Investec predicts revenues of [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS February 3, 2011 Savoy Investment Management The wealth management subsidiary of Syndicate Asset Management has hired James Bowles (pictured). Bowles will be responsible for providing tailored services for the north west of England. He was formerly with Anglo Irish Bank, where he had a similar regional brief, and Levi Solicitors in Yorkshire. The firm specialises in portfolios invested [...]
FREW STEPS UP FOR THE 30 PER CENT CLUB CAUSE February 3, 2011 GOOD news – of a kind. The 30% Club has finally found a female chairman to join its ranks. For those not au fait with the club’s goings-on, it was founded to pursue the “aspiration” of getting boards at the UK’s top companies to be at least 30 per cent female by 2015. While the [...]
