Verizon tops forecasts July 22, 2011 Verizon Communications’s second-quarter profit topped Wall Street estimates as it added more subscribers than expected in its first full quarter selling the Apple iPhone. Verizon Wireless, owned by Verizon and Vodafone Group, added 1.3 million net subscribers in the quarter compared with the average expectation for about 930,000, according to seven analysts contacted by Reuters. [...]
FTSE gains fuelled by Eurozone deal July 22, 2011 The FTSE 100 tracked other global markets upwards as the sealing of a second bailout for Greece produced a collective sigh of relief from investors, governments and financial institutions. Leaders of the Eurozone threw a lifeline to debt-stricken Greece that includes an extra €109bn of government money as well as a significant contribution from private [...]
John Lewis sales lifted by rain July 22, 2011 John Lewis reported higher weekly sales as wet weather drove shoppers to its shops and its summer sale stimulated trade. Department store sales increased 3.7 per cent to £59.9m in the week to 16 July and were up 2.1 per cent excluding VAT sales tax. “Continued mixed weather helped drive a solid final week for [...]
Beazley reports loss after quake pay-outs takes toll July 22, 2011 Lloyd’s of London insurer Beazley said it sank to a loss in the first half of the year after taking a $183m (£112m) hit from natural disasters including the Japanese earthquake. Beazley, the first listed Lloyd’s insurer to report interim results, made a pretax loss of $24.2m over the six months of 2011, compared with [...]
Murdoch sees second deal hit buffers July 22, 2011 In a further blow to Rupert Murdoch, a $2bn (£1bn) takeover bid by an Australian pay-TV business part-owned by his News Corp is expected to be blocked by the country’s competition watchdog. The bid by Foxtel, in which News Corp has a 25 per cent stake, for rival Austar will create a pay-TV monopoly, the [...]
Vodafone boosted by emerging market growth July 22, 2011 Vodafone reiterated its outlook after faster-growing markets such as India and Turkey helped the world’s largest mobile company by revenue to withstand tough trading and increased regulation in Europe. Vodafone posted first-quarter organic service revenue growth of 1.5 per cent, down from the 2.5 per cent recorded in the previous quarter but broadly in line [...]
Markets cheer Eurozone deal July 21, 2011 MARKETS rallied after Eurozone leaders agreed to a new Greek rescue that will cut the country’s debt by 12 per cent of GDP from its current 140 per cent level and see the EU’s bailout fund given sweeping new powers. The deal, fronted by French president Nicolas Sarkozy, will also see most private holders of [...]
Directors at BSkyB turn on Murdoch July 21, 2011 A NUMBER of independent directors at the News Corp-controlled BSkyB are expected to push for the ousting of James Murdoch as chairman at the firm’s board meeting next Thursday. Their unease over his position will be intensified by new allegations that suggest he knew in 2008 that phone hacking at the News of the World [...]
Greece’s latest rescue: what you need to know July 21, 2011 In A scheme that euro leaders dubiously dubbed their very own “Marshall Plan”, after the US’s post-Second World War aid programme for Europe, the parameters of a new Greek bailout were announced in Brussels yesterday: • In a controversial move, the interest rate on Greece’s loans will be cut to 3.5 per cent when they are [...]
Don’t compare this to Marshall Plan July 21, 2011 PERHAPS the worst element of yesterday’s proposals to rescue the Eurozone was the attempt to rebrand the exercise as a new Marshall Plan for Greece. It is the kind of propagandistic nonsense that would have made George Orwell’s Ministry of Truth proud. The Marshall Plan was intended to help Western Europe survive the post-Second World [...]
