Aer Lingus mulls Asian tie-up February 2, 2011 Irish airline Aer Lingus is looking to clinch a marketing alliance involving the sharing of route codes in the Asia-Pacific region to tap into faster growth outside Europe, chief executive Christoph Mueller said. “In the United States the shake-out is more or less complete in my view… Latin America and Asia are clearly more exciting.” [...]
Advertising body rebukes Asda February 2, 2011 The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has ruled Asda must make changes to the way it presents its price guarantee, a key plank of the grocery chain’s marketing, following complaints from rivals. The watchdog said adverts run by Asda following the introduction of its price guarantee in April must not appear again in their current form. [...]
Lazard profit beats Wall St expectations February 2, 2011 INVESTMENT bank Lazard’s fourth-quarter profit beat Wall Street expectations, helped by higher revenues from its asset management division. Lazard, which struggled when dealmaking dried up during the financial crisis, has been building out its asset management unit in an effort to offset its more volatile advisory revenues. The firm reported a profit of $104.5m (£64.6m), [...]
Treasury must lead growth with confidence February 2, 2011 HEADS were noticeably weary at the World Economic Forum in Davos last week. Not from alcohol – the receptions were restrained – but at the banker bashing. “I am so bored of it. It’s time to talk about the future not the past” was a typical comment. Of course, you would expect the masters of [...]
Ferroalloys grow for ENRC February 2, 2011 Mining group ENRC said ferroalloy production rose 5.6 per cent in the fourth quarter as the company’s operations in Kazakhstan ran at full available capacity. The London-listed company said yesterday that production of ferroalloys grew to 473,000 tonnes from 448,000 tonnes in the same period last year. Ferroalloys accounted for 47 per cent of first-half [...]
Max Petroleum plans rights issue February 2, 2011 British oil explorer Max Petroleum said it planned to raise about $75m (£46m) through a share placing to fund its ongoing exploration projects at two of its blocks in Western Kazakhstan. Macquarie Capital and JP Morgan Securities are the joint bookrunners for the placing. The Kazakhstan-focused company said it was also looking to extend the [...]
Johnson Matthey profits rise February 2, 2011 British industrial conglomerate Johnson Matthey said full-year profit should beat its previous expectations, helped by higher precious metals prices and the continued recovery of the global auto industry. The world’s largest supplier of catalytic converters, which is also a platinum refiner and makes speciality chemicals, said yesterday that underlying third-quarter pre-tax profit rose 34 per [...]
DISNEY’S TANGLED TOPS UK BOX OFFICE February 2, 2011 NEW Disney film Tangled has ended the three-week reign of The King’s Speech at the top of the UK box office. The animated adaptation of Rapunzel, voiced by Mandy Moore and Zachary Levi, took £5.1m in its opening weekend, pushing The King’s Speech into second place.
Nomura hit as US expansion limits profits February 2, 2011 NOMURA plans to expand into China in the next 18 months, according to the chief operating officer of its wholesale business Jesse Bhattal, who spoke as the firm’s fourth quarter results missed forecasts. “It is one of the most important geographies. We would like to over the next 12 to 18 months have a local [...]
Single company man sets forth February 2, 2011 PRIOR to his appointment as the new Vodafone chairman, Gerard Kleisterlee was the epitome of the single company man. He has spent his entire career at Dutch electronics giant Philips, as his father did before him. He rose through the ranks to take the helm and is widely credited with transforming the company from a [...]