McDonald’s sees profits rise but misses December targets January 24, 2011 McDONALD’S has reported a nine per cent rise in global profits for 2010 with net profits of $4.95bn (£3.1bn) across its business, despite a slowdown in both fourth-quarter profits and sales. The fast-food retailer also said it expected to raise its prices this year, to offset a hike in its ingredients used to make its [...]
Halliburton tops profit forecasts January 24, 2011 OILFIELD service company Halliburton yesterday posted higher-than-expected profits, boosted by oil projects in North America, and forecast steady growth elsewhere even if pricing competition is tough. For the 2010 full-year, Halliburton reported $18bn in revenue, up 22 per cent from $14.7bn (£11.2bn) in 2009. Its net income for the year was $1.8bn, up from $1.2bn [...]
Demand drives TI profit higher January 24, 2011 MICROCHIP producer Texas Instruments earnings increased by 44 per cent in the fourth quarter due to strong demand for its products. The Dallas-based company, which provides chips for smartphones and tablets, posted fourth-quarter profit of $942m (£589m) up from $655m a year earlier. Revenue increased 17 per cent to $3.5bn at the firm. Chairman and [...]
Morgan Stan’s Ahmed linked with Galleon January 24, 2011 MORGAN Stanley banker Kamal Ahmed has been named in the US government’s investigation of Galleon Group hedge fund manager Raj Rajaratnam for insider trading. Court charges filed by US prosecutors on Friday accuse a banker identified as Ahmed of leaking sensitive information about Advanced Micro Devices’ takeover of ATI Technologies in 2006. It is the [...]
Investors fuel booming hedge fund demand January 24, 2011 INVESTOR demand for hedge funds has soared in the past decade, causing rapid growth in the number of marketing firms helping to raise capital for them. Almost all of the 2,500 institutional hedge fund investors active today made their first investment in the asset class in the past ten years, according to research firm Preqin. [...]
Wood launches new funds January 24, 2011 Jon Wood’s SRM Advisers, a European hedge fund founded by the ex-UBS proprietary trader, is launching a portfolio of new funds during the year, which will be be rebranded Aedos Advisers. The first, dubbed Aedos, has already begun trading, and a further three funds are set to follow. Aedos is named after the Greek goddess [...]
Climbdown for Oberthur as it drops De La Rue bid January 24, 2011 OBERTHUR last night walked away from its sweetened £926m indicative offer for De La Rue hours after the board of the UK banknote printer again rejected its bid yesterday. Having increased its offer from 905p to 935p, the firm said: “Oberthur is disappointed that the board of De La Rue has so swiftly rejected this [...]
Graduate vacancies reach highest level since slump January 24, 2011 THE NUMBER of graduate vacancies last year soared to the highest level since before the recession began, with employers set to open up yet more vacancies to university leavers this year, according to a new report out today. The Association of Graduate Recruiters (AGR) recorded a surge in vacancies for graduates in the closing months [...]
PAULSON MAKES $1BN ON CITI January 24, 2011 JOHN Paulson, the hedge fund manager who became a billionaire after predicting the US housing crash, has seen his fund generate $1bn betting on the recovery of US bank Citigroup. “Citigroup gained 43 per cent in 2010 and was our most profitable bank position,” Paulson said in a letter to clients.
Banks challenge new FSA rules January 24, 2011 Major banks will today begin a High Court challenge over new rules on the way complaints about controversial payment protection insurance must be handled. The British Bankers’ Association is launching a judicial review against the Financial Services Authority and the Financial Ombudsman Service over regulations that came into force in December.
