UK’s Johnson Matthey sees higher profits July 19, 2011 JOHNSON Matthey, the world’s largest supplier of catalytic converters, said its first-half performance should be significantly ahead, after a 19 per cent rise in first-quarter profit. The British chemicals company said underlying profit before tax rose to £98m in the three months to the end of June, on the back of a 12 per cent [...]
Where to find the City’s brands of tomorrow July 19, 2011 BrandIndex measures perceptions of the brands that we know of and buy today, but this week I wanted to think about the potential brands of tomorrow. On Monday I had the great pleasure of meeting young entrepreneurs at the launch of StartUp Summer, a scheme to encourage innovation and entrepreneurship among students organised by YouGov [...]
PETRA DIAMONDS SALES SPARKLE July 19, 2011 Africa-focused miner Petra Diamonds yesterday said its full-year revenue rose 24 per cent, as higher rough diamond prices and demand in Asia offset falling production. Revenues were $221m (£137m) in the year to the end of June and would have jumped 55 per cent including the $35m sale of the Cullinan Heritage diamond (pictured). The [...]
Electrolux hit as consumers feel the pinch July 19, 2011 HOME appliances giant Electrolux yesterday warned that weak demand in the US and Europe combined with rising raw materials costs would hurt second-half earnings, underscoring harsh conditions for consumer companies. Electrolux, the world’s second largest maker of appliances like fridges and cookers, posted worse than expected second-quarter results alongside its gloomy forecast and saw its [...]
Cisco cuts 15pc of its workforce July 19, 2011 CISCO Systems plans to cut 15 per cent of its staff and sell a set-top box factory as part of a plan to cut annual expenses by $1bn (£620m) as the network equipment maker tries to revive its fortunes. The company said that it will cut 11,500 jobs, compared with the several thousand that analysts [...]
Novartis beats sales forecasts July 19, 2011 SWISS drugmaker Novartis expects to withstand competition from cheaper copies of its drugs after it posted forecast-beating second-quarter sales helped by its newest products. Sales rose 27 per cent, or 19 per cent in constant currencies, to $14.9bn (£9.24bn), ahead of a poll average of $14.7bn, while sales volume at the key pharma unit rose [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS July 19, 2011 Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer Freshfields has appointed corporate partner Julian Long as head of its London corporate practice for a three-year term. Long, who succeeds Mark Rawlinson, newly elected as London managing partner, is an M&A specialist who also runs the law firm’s consumer and healthcare sector group. He recently advised on Petrochina’s venture with Ineos [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS July 19, 2011 TESCO JP Morgan Cazenove rates Tesco “overweight” with a 577p target price as it believes its growth story is defensive, multi-pronged, highly visible and sustainable. The broker sees its share price as depressed, and believes Tesco’s diversification and low reliance on UK consumers as increasingly important as the UK economic climate worsens, giving it a [...]
Banks’ bounce aids uptick in the FTSE July 19, 2011 A rally by recently beaten-down banks and commodity issues hauled Britain’s top share index higher yesterday, although many traders doubted whether the gains could hold. “Dead cats are proving pretty elastic … It is most likely that any hedge funds shorting stocks over the [banks] stress tests are back in and buying to cover their [...]
Strong results bolster Wall Street stocks July 19, 2011 WALL Street rebounded yesterday, bolstered by strong corporate results and renewed hope for an agreement in Washington that would avert a default on US debt. The Dow Jones industrial average was up 210.10 points, or 1.70 per cent, at 12,595.26. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index was up 21.38 points, or 1.64 per cent, at [...]
