Puma sprints to record sales July 27, 2011 German sportswear maker Puma chalked up record sales in the second quarter, as consumers across Asia and Latin America stocked up on running shoes with the jumping cat logo. Sportswear has rebounded strongly from the global recession, with the big name brands of Nike, Adidas and Puma all reporting robust demand this year. Puma, whose [...]
LAGARDE’S ODD CHANGE OF HEART ON HER BUDGET July 27, 2011 A SWIFT turnaround for silver vixen Christine Lagarde, who ascended the abruptly vacant throne of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) earlier this month. Back in March, as French finance minister, Lagarde unveiled a “historical” budget to bring France’s finances back into line. “Reducing the deficit is an economic imperative and a commitment to Europe,” she [...]
Autonomy beats forecasts as it plans to spin off its Aurasma unit July 27, 2011 AUTONOMY beat market forecasts yesterday to deliver a 16 per cent jump in quarterly sales, sending its shares up more than four per cent. Its pre-tax profits hit £125m, ahead of a consensus target of £117m. A strong performance in its high-margin cloud computing arm was the main driver, with revenues rising 37 per cent [...]
ANALYST VIEWS: HOW GOOD ARE AUTONOMY’S LATEST RESULTS? July 27, 2011 GEORGE O’CONNOR | PANMURE GORDON Autonomy has delivered second quarter results ahead of our expectations, and the outlook statement is better than we hoped. Again, cloud is the highlight of the results – with 17 per cent growth and ‘commit’ up 27 per cent to £267m. MICHAEL BRIEST | UBS Cost-cutting at the acquisition is [...]
Orange JV now top iPhone seller July 27, 2011 Everything Everywhere boss Tom Alexander used his last presentation to announce a mixed bag of results, with total customers falling in the second quarter but valuable contract customers jumping. The firm became the country’s biggest iPhone seller, and said 85 per cent of new customers now opt for smartphones. It reported core earnings of £682m, [...]
Air France-KLM losses widen July 27, 2011 Air France-KLM posted a €212m (£186.5m) net loss for the quarter yesterday as fuel bills rose and it took a knife to plans to offer more seats next winter amid mounting fears over the Eurozone debt crisis. Europe’s largest airline by revenue said its operating loss widened from a year ago to €145m but predicted [...]
Brewin sees revenue miss as assets rise July 27, 2011 INVESTMENT manager Brewin Dolphin reported lower-than-expected growth in its quarterly revenues yesterday but showed encouraging inflows in its own-managed funds. Brewin’s shares fell more than two per cent after it said its revenues increased less than forecast, rising 10.7 per cent to £68.1m compared with the same quarter in 2010. Analysts said 7.6 per cent [...]
Rathbones profit up 30pc as funds and fee income grow July 27, 2011 UPMARKET investment manager Rathbones yesterday said strong organic growth in its funds was behind a 30 per cent increase in pre-tax profit to £20.6m in the first half of the year. Strong inflows caused funds under management to jump 4.7 per cent to £16.4bn in the period compared with £15.6bn in the first half of [...]
Provident ups profit by 15pc July 27, 2011 SUB-PRIME lender Provident Financial reported a forecast-beating 15 per cent profit rise yesterday, triggering a surge in its shares that analysts said was partly driven by an abrupt unwinding of short positions. Provident made a £62.3m pre-tax profit in the past half-year as bad debts fell and credit card profit rose.
Hedge funds in asset growth July 27, 2011 NEW hedge fund launches are still far less frequent than before the financial crisis but those emerging have attracted more and better quality capital, a new survey from industry portal EuroHedge showed yesterday. At least 45 new offshore hedge funds launched in Europe in the first half, raising $5.2bn (£3.2bn), it said.
