IBM profits rise due to cost-cutting January 19, 2010 COMPUTER giant IBM yesterday raised its profit target for 2010 after posting solid results for its 2009 fourth quarter. Cost-cutting helped the company increase its earnings by nine per cent in the final three months and it made a net profit of $4.8bn (£2.9bn) between October and December, up from $4.4bn a year earlier. Revenues [...]
Tories hit out at Labour’s MoD record January 19, 2010 THE TORIES attacked the governmen’s record on military spending yesterday as the fall-out from an inquiry into the Iraq War threatened to damage the Labour Party. Former defence secretary Geoff Hoon told the inquiry that he did not get all the funding he requested in the run-up to the invasion in 2003. Brown was chancellor [...]
X-TRA AD MONEY January 19, 2010 ITV’s last hope for easing restrictions on its advertising rates was dashed yesterday when UK competition regulator Ofcom said the company would have to stick to its six-year old price cap. The move will limit the supply of advertising minutes in its top rating show, The X-Factor (above). Ofcom said that ITV’s new proposal on [...]
Carphone ups profit target January 19, 2010 CARPHONE Warehouse yesterday upped its full-year forecasts for the second time in a matter of months after strong trading at both its retail and broadband arms during the third quarter. The FTSE 250 group, which is splitting into two businesses in March, says earnings per share to the end of March are likely to be [...]
Chaucer considers quitting London to reduce its tax bill January 19, 2010 One of the City’s last remaining Lloyd’s insurers is considering quitting the capital in order to cut its tax bill. Chaucer Holdings is looking for an alternative location overseas that could offer the company a lower tax take than the UK. “It’s on our list of items to look at this year,” chief executive Robert [...]
Shareholders in Cadbury to chew on offer January 19, 2010 CADBURY shares closed 3.6 per cent up at 836.5p yesterday after US food group Kraft announced its £11.7bn takeover bid had been recommended by the board. Under the offer, Cadbury investors will receive 500p and 0.1874 new Kraft Foods shares for every share, plus a special dividend of 10p. Shareholders have until 2 February to [...]
Oil prices and tax cuts fuel inflation leap January 19, 2010 THE annual rate of inflation accelerated in December at record pace, raising concerns that the Bank of England may feel compelled to raise interest rates sooner than expected. The consumer prices index on an annual basis jumped one per cent in December to 2.9 per cent, fuelled by a jump in oil prices compared to [...]
Darling: deficit cut is priority January 19, 2010 PEOPLE should be in no doubt about the government’s commitment to reduce borrowing, chancellor Alistair Darling said in an interview published yesterday. He said: “The priority though must be to get our borrowing down, because to be borrowing £178bn is something you need to get down, you need to reduce it and you need to [...]
US housebuilders gloomy as job market woes weigh January 19, 2010 CONCERNS about the poor job market and a further wave of home foreclosures depressed the confidence of US housebuilders in early January, an industry trade group reported yesterday. The home builders’ sentiment index declined to 15 in January from 16 in December, the National Association of Home Builders reported. The index, now at the lowest [...]
Eurozone ministers call for greater G20 presence January 19, 2010 TOP European policymakers stepped up calls last night for the Eurozone to be given greater political clout at future G20 meetings. After a meeting of the Eurogroup, which comprises Eurozone finance ministers, the group’s leader Jean-Claude Juncker said the G7 is being overshadowed by the G20, where the eurogroup is not represented. “The Eurogroup has [...]
