GM profit surges on higher prices August 4, 2011 General Motors’ quarterly profit nearly doubled, beating expectations, as the top U.S. automaker took a larger share of sales globally and raised prices on its vehicles. Coming out of bankruptcy, GM chief executive Dan Akerson and other executives said the company had stripped out enough costs to recession-proof the business so it could thrive even [...]
Bank of England freezes interest rates August 4, 2011 UK interest rates have been kept at a record low of 0.5 per cent by the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) The Bank also kept its programme of quantitative easing at £200bn.
FTSE fightback foiled by bank weakness August 4, 2011 The banking sector put the brakes on potential gains on the FTSE 100 in early trading after poor results from Lloyds. The index was expected to be given new impetus today as hopes of a new package to breathe life into the US economy encouraged investors elsewhere. Former Federal Reserve vice chairman Donald Kohn said [...]
Blacks Leisure chairman resigns August 4, 2011 David Bernstein, the chairman of Blacks Leisure, has resigned a week after Sports Direct, the outdoor goods retailer’s largest investor, voted against his re-appointment at its annual shareholders’ meeting.
Investec confirms bid for Evolution August 4, 2011 South African investment bank and asset manager Investec said it was the bidder for Evolution Group a day after the British investment bank and broker said it had received a bid approach from an unnamed suitor. Investec, which is also listed in London, said it had made a preliminary approach regarding “a potential share offer” [...]
Ladbrokes profits slump by a third August 4, 2011 Betting firm Ladbrokes reported a worse-than-expected 33 per cent decline in first half pre-tax profit, and said it remained cautious on the outlook for the UK economy. The company, which has more than 2,700 betting shops, said pre-tax profit fell to £76.6M from £114.7m the year before, reflecting a one off interest rebate which boosted [...]
Price hikes fuel Unilever growth August 4, 2011 Consumer goods giant Unilever raised its prices sharply in the second-quarter to offset a hike in commodity costs helping it on Thursday to beat forecasts with 7.1 per cent rise in quarterly sales growth. The Ben & Jerry’s ice cream and Dove soaps group suffered a fall in margins due to the time lag between [...]
Lloyds pushed into red by insurance mis-selling August 4, 2011 Compensating customers who were mis-sold insurance pushed Lloyds £3.25bn into the red in the first half but the loss was broadly as expected and the bank reiterated its full-year guidance. The banks shares fell by more than five per cent after the announcement. Excluding the £3.2bn Lloyds had already earmarked to cover mis-selling liabilities, the [...]
Weary India suffer double injury blow August 3, 2011 INDIA’S already fragile hopes of fending off England’s bid to steal their world No1 Test ranking took a further blow yesterday with the news that neither Yuvraj Singh or Harbhajan Singh will play any further part in the series. Yuvraj, a mainstay in India’s World Cup winning one-day side, initially made an encouraging return to [...]
Sotherton reveals naked truth about Olympic hopes August 3, 2011 WITH the countdown to next summer’s London Olympics well under way and the nation rapidly warming to the prospect of staging an event of such global importance, one of Britain’s greatest multi-eventers is resisting the temptation to let her mind wander. Kelly Sotherton, 34, a former Olympic bronze medallist, has never been one for toeing [...]
