First Group trumps Virgin on rail delays August 16, 2012 YESTERDAY’S Office of Rail Regulation’s performance figures were good news for West Coast rail customers who will see First Group take over the route from Virgin. Many of First Group’s franchises have beaten Virgin in the punctuality stakes. First Capital Connect, which carries commuters into central London, completed 90 per cent of its journeys within [...]
Social media firms need to turn a profit if they want to cash in August 16, 2012 IS THIS the end of the social media IPO? M&A advisory firm Magister Advisors says that weak showings from Facebook, Groupon and Zynga mean tech entrepreneurs looking for their big payday might be wise to sidestep listing and focus on getting bought up instead, like Skype, bought by eBay in 2005 for $4.1bn, and YouTube, [...]
Walmart shares fall as the US retailer sees slowdown in sales August 16, 2012 WALMART, the American retail giant and owner of Asda, reported a six per cent rise in profits to $3.8bn in the second quarter of the year, despite grappling with tough economic conditions in its home market and overseas. The company said like-for-like sales at US stores rose 2.2 per cent in the three months to [...]
Analyst Views | Are further payouts in line for micro focus investors? August 16, 2012 JULIAN YATES INVESTEC We see Micro Focus as a core cash-backed value opportunity in the sector, with today’s cash return supporting this view. With more cash returns likely down the line, and forecast expectations sensibly set, we remain buyers and retain our 600p target price. MICHAEL BRIEST UBS Micro Focus returned a 50 pence per [...]
Micro Focus set for £83m payout despite challenging conditions August 16, 2012 MICRO Focus International plans to pay out £83m to shareholders – 50p per share – the software company announced yesterday. The FTSE 250 company, which provides computer mainframes for large organisations, also said it had traded “in line with management expectations” in the quarter to August. Analysts said the dividend, set to be paid in [...]
Oracle settles with SEC over India charges August 16, 2012 ORACLE yesterday agreed to pay a $2m fine to settle US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charges that an India subsidiary secretly set aside money used to make unauthorised payments to phony vendors in that country. Yesterday’s settlement, which involved no admission of wrongdoing, resolved charges that the firm violated the federal Foreign Corrupt Practices [...]
Etihad eyes up Aer Lingus bid August 16, 2012 ETIHAD is keen to buy Ryanair’s 30 per cent stake in Irish carrier Aer Lingus, the firm’s boss James Hogan said yesterday. The Gulf carrier, which already owns three per cent of Aer Lingus, would be “very happy to have that discussion”, he told Bloomberg, adding that Etihad has also been in talks about snapping [...]
European gold demand soars August 16, 2012 European investors swarmed into gold in the second quarter of this year, with demand up 15 per cent year on year to 77.6 tonnes. The demand for gold bars and coins was up 19 per cent from the five-year quarterly average of 65.2 tonnes, said the World Gold Council. Overall, global gold demand in the [...]
BHP Billiton cuts jobs down under August 16, 2012 BHP Billiton warned yesterday of job losses as rising costs and falling commodity prices continued to bite. It is understood that jobs will be cut from its Australian coal mines. It follows job cuts from fellow miners Xstrata and Rio Tinto. The prospect of job cuts raises doubts about the strength of Australia’s mining boom, [...]
Reed Elsevier picks Palmer as CFO August 16, 2012 Publishing and events group Reed Elsevier named Duncan Palmer as its new chief financial officer yesterday to replace Mark Armour who will stand down after 16 years. Palmer will join from American building materials maker Owens Corning, where he had been the chief financial officer for five years. Prior to that, Palmer held a senior [...]
