Voser could still win long game February 4, 2010 IF investors were surprised by BP’s sub-par results earlier in the week, they should have been prepared for Royal Dutch Shell’s dismal numbers. Still, the near $1bn net loss at its refining business was eye watering. It is struggling against the worst downstream conditions in twenty years, as a slump in demand comes hot on [...]
Unilever falls on fears over competition February 4, 2010 FOOD and household goods giant Unilever reported forecast-beating sales growth for 2009 yesterday, but saw its shares slide on doubts over increased competition in Europe. The company, whose brands include Persil detergent and Lipton tea, increased full-year sales to 3.5 per cent – 10 basis points ahead of analyst expectations. Fourth quarter sales expanded 1.8 [...]
Tesco staff to cash in with share plan February 4, 2010 Thousands of Tesco employees who invested in the company’s saving scheme have each netted a share of £144m. After 12 months’ employment, the supermarket allows staff to invest between £5 and £50 a month in its Save As You Earn share scheme. Those who saved the maximum for the five-year scheme gained a 100 per [...]
Fuller’s tops expectations with record beer volumes February 4, 2010 London brewer and pub operator Fuller, Smith & Turner announced yesterday that it would exceed financial expectations for the year, having ridden out the recession well. The company reported a like-for-like sales boost over the festive period for its managed division, which covers directly owned pubs and hotels. The division’s sales rose 2.6 per cent [...]
Deutsche hit by €225m UK bonus tax bill February 4, 2010 DEUTSCHE Bank yesterday became the first major investment bank to reveal the impact of the UK government’s bank payroll tax on its finances, after it poured a total of €225m (£196.2m) into Treasury coffers. The disclosure came as Deutsche reported its fourth straight quarterly profit, taking full year pre-tax income to €5.2bn and more than [...]
UK gives Santander a boost February 4, 2010 The UK operations of Spanish banking giant Santander saw full-year profits leap 30 per cent in 2009 as the group grew its share of the mortgage market and signed up more than expected new customers to its bank accounts. Pre-tax profits hit £1.54bn for the year to 31 December with new acquisitions Bradford & Bingley [...]
Osmond vehicle blames poor markets as it raises £80m less than expected February 4, 2010 HUGH Osmond, the entreprenuer behind Pizza Express, the Punch pub group and Pearl insurance, has raised less than he hoped for his new acquisition vehicle Horizon. Osmond, who originally hoped to raise £500m from equity investors, revealed yesterday that the group had raised £417.7m from new shares at £10 a share. Advisers to the share [...]
CADBURY’S CARR REFUSES TO COSY UP TO KRAFT PREDATOR ROSENFELD February 4, 2010 IRENE Rosenfeld hasn’t exactly offered herself readily to the cameras during her ultimately successful five-month pursuit of chocolatier Cadbury, though The Capitalist hears there was at least one photograph of herself that the Kraft boss would have liked as a memento to her victory. As the two companies’ representatives filed out of the offices of [...]
Two Citigroup traders in departure to hedge fund February 4, 2010 TWO Citigroup proprietary traders are leaving the bank for a hedge fund amid concerns that Washington will crack down on proprietary trading at big banks. The traders, Matt Carpenter and Matt Newton, ran a proprietary trading unit for Citi, which has been under the thumb of regulators since it received a series of government bailouts. [...]
Top bankers hold bonus summit February 4, 2010 DEUTSCHE Bank chief executive Josef Ackermann, has confirmed that investment banks met recently in a private meeting to thrash out ways of self-regulating bonuses, in an attempt to prevent regulators getting the upper hand. Ackermann, who emerged from the World Economic Forum in Davos last week as an unofficial spokesman for the banks, said the [...]
