Philips shuts off its once famous electronics arm January 29, 2013 PHILIPS, the Dutch firm that was once famous for its televisions, audio systems and DVD players, yesterday said it was selling its consumer electronics arm. Chief executive Frans van Houten said the company had sold its audio and video division – once the world’s biggest – for a paltry €150m (£128m) to Japan’s Funai Electric. [...]
Toyota should target the media to aid its recovery January 29, 2013 IN October 2012 Toyota recalled 7.4 million cars due to an electric window fault. The recall had an immediate impact on perception of the brand, according to our surveys. The YouGov Impression measure on BrandIndex dropped from the mid +20s to the mid-teens – a small yet significant fall in perception. Knowing exactly which consumers [...]
US corporate results round up January 29, 2013 Eli Lilly says generic competition to Zyprexa hurt fourth-quarter profit as sales slide 49pc Eli Lilly and Co said yesterday that fourth-quarter profit fell as competition from generic drugs, particularly for its once top-selling schizophrenia drug Zyprexa, drove revenue lower. The US drugmaker earned $827m (£525m), or 74 cents per share, down from $858m, or [...]
Pfizer tops forecasts after sale of nutrition business pays off January 29, 2013 PFIZER reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter results yesterday, helped by rebounding sales in emerging markets, but the drugmaker forecast that 2013 profits would be weaker than Wall Street has estimated. Pfizer, the largest US drugmaker, said quarterly earnings quadrupled to $6.32bn (£4bn), or 86 cents per share, as it recorded a gain from selling its nutritional products [...]
Sportech sees boost from US January 29, 2013 THE US’S expanding gambling market has invigorated Sportech, the football pools and horseracing bets operator, the company said yesterday. Sportech said a strong performance in the US, where it is expanding its operations, had offset a “slightly disappointing performance” in its online casino division. The company, which has also seen a historic £80m VAT charge [...]
MWB plans to up office space January 29, 2013 OFFICE space provider MWB yesterday announced it would buy up more properties, following an increase in rental rates during the second half of last year. The company said average revenue per workstation it rents out now stands at £7,447, up from £6,969 a year earlier. This means the group expects profits to multiply to nearly [...]
US house prices climb at fastest rate since 2006 January 29, 2013 HOME prices in the US shot up at the quickest pace seen in almost seven years in November, data revealed yesterday. The Case-Shiller 20-city composite home price index grew 5.5 per cent in the year to November 2012, according to data from S&P Dow Jones Indices – the biggest yearly price gain since August 2006. [...]
Swiss government gives £340m to the UK Treasury in tax deal January 29, 2013 THE SWISS authorities have paid HM Revenue & Customs an initial £340m as part of a deal to crackdown on tax evasion, chancellor George Osborne revealed yesterday. The payment was made on Monday and forms the first part of an arrangement that the Treasury hopes could raise up to £6bn in extra revenue over the [...]
Watchdog says local councils will struggle to balance budget January 29, 2013 LOCAL government faces a funding crisis and many authorities could be forced to make substantial cuts to core services, according to a report released today by the National Audit Office (NAO). The NAO estimates that local authorities are planning to reduce spending by £4.6bn by April 2013 but councils still need to identify about half [...]
Eurozone sees investment dip as income falls January 29, 2013 BUSINESS investment slid across the Eurozone in the third quarter of 2012, as household income sunk as well, data revealed yesterday. The euro area business investment rate fell from 20.2 per cent in the second quarter of last year to 19.9 per cent in the third, Eurostat figures showed, after adjusting for seasonal variations. This [...]
