ANALYST VIEWS: ARE THE RESULTS AS BAD AS THEY SEEM? August 4, 2011 MORTEN SINGLETON | INVESTEC First half numbers are fine, but MSS outlook has been revised down for 2011 and five-year guidance is under review due to continued acceleration in the upgrade dilution effect. This is offset by a slight hike in the dividend and a new $250m share buyback. We recommend buying into any weakness. [...]
Misys takeover talks break down August 4, 2011 Software firm Misys’ talks to be bought by Fidelity have collapsed after the companies couldn’t agree on price, sending its shares down nearly 19 per cent. Fidelity had been close to an agreement to buy Misys about two weeks ago before talks broke down. Misys had been valued at £1.4bn, though its market cap sank [...]
Deutsche Telekom sticks to targets August 4, 2011 Deutsche Telekom is on track to meet its 2011 targets, it said, despite a poor performance in the US, continued economic weakness in southeastern Europe and sluggish growth in Germany. Second-quarter group net profit dropped 26.7 per cent to €348m (£302.4m), mainly due to €600m in one-off expenses for an early retirement plan in Germany, [...]
Hitachi and Mitsubishi mull merger August 4, 2011 Hitachi and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries have begun talks on what would be Japan’s biggest domestic merger, it is understood, heralding a long awaited shake-up of the nation’s industrial behemoths. However, officials from both firms denied the talks, saying no announcement is planned. A merger would create a $150bn revenue infrastructure firm, second only to GE, [...]
Google slams Apple collusion August 4, 2011 Google, fresh from losing a bid to buy thousands of patents from bankrupt Nortel, lashed out at its biggest rivals, accusing them of banding together to block the internet giant in the red-hot smartphone arena. In a rare public outburst, Google blasted Microsoft, Apple, Oracle and “other companies” for colluding to hamper the increasingly popular [...]
Rio Tinto falls short despite record profit August 4, 2011 RIO TINTO, the global mining giant, reported record half year profits yesterday, but material costs and harsher exchange rates left the company trailing behind market expectations. Pre-tax profits rose by 26 per cent to $11.01bn (£6.77bn) compared with $8.81bn in 2010, while underlying earnings increased by 35 per cent to $7.8bn. The boost was due [...]
British Land sees asset values jump to almost £10bn August 4, 2011 BRITISH Land, one of the country’s biggest landlords, saw the value of its assets rise as it made more acquisitions and pressed ahead with its £1.1bn office development pipeline that includes the Cheesegrater skyscraper in east London. The property developer said its portfolio value increased by 1.5 per cent to £9.9bn during the quarter, with [...]
Randgold shares soar as investors rush to gold and its profits treble August 4, 2011 Randgold Resources saw a 6.6 per cent surge yesterday as spooked investors rushed to gold-focused stocks as a safe-haven asset. The bounce came as profits at the West African-focused miner more than trebled in the second quarter on strong gold prices, higher production and a resurgence in sales from the Ivory Coast. Profits jumped to [...]
Shaftesbury sees Olympic boost August 4, 2011 Real estate investment trust Shaftesbury, the owner of over 500 restaurants, shops and bars in London’s West End, said next year’s London Olympic Games would drive up rental income and dividends. The company said improvements to public areas and transport links in the Leicester Square and Piccadilly Circus areas of the city would increase visitor [...]
EasyJet passenger numbers up August 4, 2011 Passenger numbers continue to grow at low cost airline easyJet, with total numbers for July up eight per cent on the year before. The company said 5.4m people flew in July, up from 5.02m a year earlier. In the full 12 months to the end of July, easyJet said total passenger numbers were up 12 [...]
