Legal and General hikes dividend by 25pc as profit beats forecast August 3, 2011 British life insurer Legal & General raised its shareholder payout by a quarter as it reported better-than-expected first half profits, helped by strong growth at its investment management and international divisions. L&G, Britain’s fourth-biggest insurer, made a pre-tax operating profit of £523m in the six months to June 30, down from £542m a year earlier, [...]
Next sales hold up with home shipping boost August 3, 2011 Retailer Next posted first-half sales towards the top end of company guidance, boosted by its online and home shopping business and showing resilience against a tough consumer backdrop. The firm maintained its full-year profit forecast on and predicted pressure from rising costs, like higher cotton prices, would ease next year. Britain’s retailers are mostly struggling [...]
Northern Rock narrows loss August 3, 2011 Nationalised lender Northern Rock posted a first-half loss of £78.8m and said it continues to work on plans for an eventual sale of the company back to the private sector. Last year it made a first-half loss of £140m, and the company said it now expects to start trading profitably some time in the second [...]
StanChart profit up 17pc August 3, 2011 Asia-focussed Standard Chartered Bank reported a market-beating 17 per cent rise in first-half pretax profit on Wednesday, helped by strong growth in emerging markets and keeping it on track for another year of record profits. The London-headquartered bank reported a pretax profit of $3.636bn (£2.233bn), up from $3.12bn a year earlier. “We are maintaining our [...]
MARKET MOVERS August 2, 2011 Transfer activity expected to be triggered as the deals to take Fabregas to Barcelona and Inter’s Sneijder to Old Trafford edge closer to completion SUMMER spending is set for a shot in the arm as two of the close season’s lengthiest sagas edge closer to completion. Barcelona are expected to increase their offer for Arsenal [...]
Trent Bridge hero Bresnan fears he could be dropped August 2, 2011 INDIA’S second innings slayer at Trent Bridge Tim Bresnan admits he could find himself relegated to 12th man duties by the time England attempt to wrap up the series at Edgbaston next week. The Yorkshireman crowned a successful return to the side with Test best figures of 5 for 48 as England moved closer to [...]
England boosted by return of Moody to captain’s role August 2, 2011 ENGLAND captain Lewis Moody will reassume the leadership of his side for Saturday’s World Cup warm-up match against Wales at a sold-out Twickenham. Mike Tindall and Nick Easter shared the captaincy through England’s victorious RBS 6 Nations campaign in the absence of Bath flanker Moody, who missed a large chunk of last season with knee [...]
Pele warns Blues target August 2, 2011 PELE last night warned Chelsea target Neymar against moving to the Premier League because of his concerns over the teenager’s ability to adapt to English football. The blossoming Brazilian, the latest gifted forward to be compared to the legendary No10, yesterday saw a proposed £40m move to Real Madrid collapse. That has opened the door [...]
Analysis: Cost of being a London fan August 2, 2011 FANS in London pay more to watch football than those in the rest of Britain, but the cheapest tickets are not always to be found in the most downmarket clubs, according to research published yesterday. The cheapest ticket at the average Premier League club costs £24.88, and the most expensive £49.63 – but at London’s [...]
Daley drills City A.M. team a final time before triathlon August 2, 2011 TIME is fast running out for the Laureus / City A.M. team preparing for the London leg of the Dextro Energy ITU Triathlon in Hyde Park at the weekend. So, with valuable funds for charity at stake, the athletes were certain to make the most of the recent final group training session – taken by [...]
