Unions are right: United we stand, divided we fall May 18, 2011 TRADE unions might have adopted it as their rallying cry, but that doesn’t mean it is untrue. Indeed, it is applicable to much of life: united we stand, and divided we fall. It is the principle that underpins unions and countries and coalition governments, and failure to appreciate it drove swathes of the globe into [...]
Staples disappoints Wall Street May 18, 2011 US stationery group Staples slashed its full-year forecast and said it would open fewer stores than it had planned after its quarterly results missed Wall Street estimates yesterday. The company said it sees full-year net earnings of $1.35 to $1.45 a share, down from its prior view of $1.50 to $1.60. Staples’ net profit rose [...]
Hedge funds fail to match market May 18, 2011 Hedge funds operating a convertible arbitrage strategy have failed to take advantage of strong performance in the convertible bond market, according to research by EDHEC-Risk out yesterday. Convertible arbitrage strategies saw returns of just 0.12 per cent in April, despite a 2.68 per cent return score for convertible bonds. Hedge funds have also struggled against [...]
London listing for Qatari Amaal May 18, 2011 Qatari conglomerate Amaal is planning to sell up to $600m (£371m) in shares on the London Stock Exchange. The company, which owns a range of industrial businesses and holds a property portfolio, is valued at about $2.4bn. The allotment will be offered in the form of global depository receipts (GDR) to institutional investors.
Deere & Co takes hit on Japan May 18, 2011 Deere & Co, the world’s largest maker of farm equipment, yesterday gave a 2011 forecast that was slightly below expectations, citing income lost from Japan’s earthquake. Net earnings rose 65 per cent to $904.3m (£560m), or $2.12 per share,from $547.5m, or $1.28 per share a year earlier.
Icap boosted by electronic broking arm May 18, 2011 ICAP, the world’s largest inter-dealer broker, yesterday revealed record profits in its electronic broking business, representing a hike in demand for super-fast derivatives trading. Profits at the firm’s electronic brokerage unit jumped 23 per cent to £123m, contributing more than a third of the group’s £350m profit for the 12 months to the end of [...]
AMEC buys US peer to expand in North America May 18, 2011 OIL services and engineering firm AMEC has bought US industrial peer MACTEC for $280m (£173m) as it looks to expand its presence in North America. The British company bought the environmental services firm from its private equity backers in a cash deal. Georgia-based MACTEC has some 2,600 employees and 70 offices across the east coast [...]
Compass trading on track May 18, 2011 COMPASS Group, the world’s biggest caterer, shrugged off a £5m hit from the earthquake and tsunami in Japan to report a better-than-expected first-half operating profit yesterday. Compass said it had made a good start to the year, delivering strong organic revenue growth and an improvement in its margin. “After absorbing the expected profit impact of [...]
Ageas hit by sovereign bonds May 18, 2011 BELGIAN insurance giant Ageas posted a bigger-than-expected quarterly loss yesterday as a positive performance in the UK failed to offset large declines in its holdings of government bonds. Ageas, reborn from the insurance arm of the European banking group Fortis after the firm was part-nationalised, made a group loss of €154m (£135m), worse than the [...]
Irish Life growth hit by rise in mortgage arrears May 18, 2011 IRISH banking and insurance group Irish Life said a rising number of its mortgage holders were in arrears, pulling its performance down despite steady growth in its saving and investment products yesterday. Its Permanent TSB mortgage bank, which is loss-making and was found to need an extra €4bn (£3.5bn) of capital in recent stress tests, [...]
