Thales hit by plane delays July 27, 2009 DEFENCE group Thales swung into the red for the first half of 2009, the company said yesterday, blaming writedowns and aerospace industry weakness for its losses. First-half operating profit slumped to €68m. The deeper-than-expected 82 per cent slide in profits reported by new boss Luc Vigneron came after Thales reported a fresh €102m (£87m) loss, [...]
TNT profits slip as cost-savings targets are hiked July 27, 2009 TNT yesterday reported a 45 per cent fall in quarterly core profit, its fourth consecutive year-on-year decline, and the Dutch mail company boosted its cost savings target to cope with weaker demand for delivery services. Europe’s second-largest mail and express delivery company after Deutsche Post also decided to issue an interim dividend of €0.18 per [...]
GRID POWERS ON July 27, 2009 NATIONAL GRID, which runs the UK’s network of electricty pylons, yesterday said it expected a strong performance this year, and its £3.4bn investment programme for the current year remained on target. The company forecast improved profit in its electricity distribution and generation business.
Commerzbank offloads Swiss private bank to LGT, avoiding row with Berlin July 27, 2009 GERMANY’S Commerzbank has reached a deal to sell the Swiss private banking arm of Dresdner Bank to Liechtenstein’s LGT Group, the bank that was embroiled in a tax evasion probe last year. The transaction, at an undisclosed price, will double LGT’s assets under management in Switzerland to just under Sfr20bn (£11.4bn), bringing total assets to [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS July 27, 2009 SANTANDERKBW maintains an “outperform” rating on Santander, predicting “resilient” second-quarter net profit of ?2,373bn (£2bn), down six per cent year-on-year. The broker recently increased its EPS prediction based on lower provisions in Spain, as well as improving operating profits and favourable currency moves at Abbey and in Brazil. BPEvo Securities takes a “Buy” rating on [...]
Apple to launch tablet computer July 27, 2009 Apple is set to unveil a portable tablet-sized computer that can surf the web and may also serve as an electronic book reader in time for the Christmas shopping season. The device will be able to connect to the internet and, like the iPod Touch, will have the ability to play movies. But it will [...]
Lonrho plans for an expansion July 27, 2009 Lonrho, the pan-African conglomerate, said yesterday it had made good progress in the third quarter of the year, despite the global recession. Turnover for the first nine months of the year was £60m, up 44 per cent on a like-for-like basis, but net assets fell to £82.6m from £86.1m. Pre-tax losses were cut from £15.9m [...]
EU banks face new debt woe July 27, 2009 EUROPE’S banks are set for renewed pain due to rising levels of consumer debt defaults linked to credit card loans, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned yesterday. The IMF estimates that seven per cent of Europe’s £1.5bn in consumer debt will turn sour, with the UK set to be particularly badly affected by its reliance [...]
Julius Baer in profits slump as split nears July 27, 2009 SWISS private bank Julius Baer saw profit before tax slump by 37 per cent in the first half, as cost cuts failed to outpace dwindling revenues. Net profit at the bank fell to Sfr324m (£184m) from Sfr510m in the same period last year, as it suffered a 24 per cent decline in operating income to [...]
MPs call for transparency in public sector cost cuts July 27, 2009 THE Treasury sub-committee has called on the government to trim public spending and be more transparent about the cuts it makes. The sub-committee’s report on the government’s Efficiency Programme welcomed efforts to cut costs in government departments, but said the necessary structures to achieve savings might not be in place. Data collection systems to measure [...]
