Vodafone and Essar rift no closer to a resolution February 2, 2011 Vodafone and Essar are no closer to resolving their long-running dispute, with both sides hiring separate investment banks to examine the value of the Indian firm’s stake in the joint venture. Vodafone is furious that Essar is planning to merge one third of its 33 per cent stake in the joint venture into public listed [...]
Glaxo sells Quest stake for £1bn February 2, 2011 PHARMA giant GlaxoSmithKline sold its stake in contract research firm Quest Diagnostics for $1.7bn (£1.05bn) yesterday. The sale buoyed hopes the company would restart a share buyback programme to bolster its share price, following the lead of competitors such as AstraZeneca, which is repurchasing $4bn of stock. But the sale also freed up cash for [...]
Roche improves profits but misses expectations February 2, 2011 SWISS drugmaker Roche improved its net profit for 2010 but failed to impress analysts who described the results as weak yesterday. Roche’s full-year sales were 47.47bn Swiss francs (£31.35bn), below the SwFr48.4bn analysts had forecast, after overall sales fell three per cent and pharmaceutical sales fell five per cent as European sales slowed. Earnings per [...]
CITY VIEWS: WOULD YOU USE AN ONLINE STREAMING SERVICE FOR FILMS? February 2, 2011 ADAM REED | ALLIANZ “Would I use it? Well it depends, because when you’re using streaming, you might have an allocated download limit; it depends what time of day it is or how fast your connection is.” ANDY RODEN | LLOYDS “Probably I wouldn’t use it. The format sounds quite good but it wouldn’t interest [...]
Amazon to compete with Netflix February 2, 2011 Amazon is developing a film streaming service that would see it compete directly with firms such as Netflix, according to industry sources. It is understood Amazon is planning to bundle access to the streaming service with Amazon Prime, a scheme that guarantees Amazon customers unlimited free next-day shipping of books and other items sold by [...]
Price hike for white goods as profits lag February 2, 2011 TOP home appliances makers Whirlpool and Electrolux are raising prices to pass soaring raw materials costs onto customers and will rely on emerging markets to drive growth. The move comes as both companies missed quarterly profit estimates and continue to grapple with tepid demand in key developed markets like the US and Europe. The news [...]
Nordea leads Nordic bank results as income surges on economic rebound February 2, 2011 NORDEA, the Nordic region’s biggest bank by value, beat forecasts with an 81 per cent rise in fourth-quarter operating profit as solid economic growth lifted income, but gave no outlook for 2011. Analysts said Nordea’s strong income and higher margins bode well for the region’s other banks that are set to report earnings in the [...]
Panasonic will cut costs as earnings fall in third quarter February 2, 2011 PANASONIC is planning further cost cuts to compete with South Korean rivals including Samsung, after stiff price competition in televisions and a stronger yen hurt its quarterly profit. Panasonic reported an operating profit of 95.36bn yen (£700m) for October to December, lagging an average forecast of 109.1bn yen. The maker of Viera TVs and Lumix [...]
Sandvik suffers profits dip February 2, 2011 Tool and machinery maker Sandvik posted a smaller-than-expected rise in fourth-quarter profits as currency and metal price swings took the shine off stronger market demand. Sandvik, which supplies equipment to the mining and construction industries, posted operating earnings of 3.1bn crowns (£288m) crowns, lagging behind analyst forecasts of 3.3bn crowns.
Outokumpu expects break-even February 2, 2011 Stainless steel maker Outokumpu said it expected to break-even in the first quarter after posting a deeper-than-expected fourth quarter loss. The company expects delivery volumes in the first quarter to be around 10 to 20 per cent higher than in the fourth quarter of 2010. The Finnish firm reported an operating loss of €85m (£72.4m) [...]
