Sony slashes its outlook for TV July 28, 2011 SONY stuck with its full-year profit forecast despite slashing its outlook for TV sales, saying it is confident that other units will perform better than anticipated to offset the losses. The maker of Bravia TVs and PlayStation game consoles left its full-year operating profit outlook unchanged at 200bn yen (£1.6bn), flat on the previous year, [...]
Funds up at St James’s Place July 28, 2011 WEALTH manager St James’s Place was a haven for investors in the past six months as they ploughed more than £2.7bn of new money into its funds, it said yesterday. Record inflows of new business and loyalty from current clients pushed its total funds under management to £29.1bn by the end of June, 30 per [...]
Reed Elsevier impresses on high demand for its journals July 28, 2011 PUBLISHING group Reed Elsevier posted better than expected first-half results yesterday after seeing a revival in subscriptions to its scientific and health publications. The Anglo-Dutch business and academic publisher and events manager said pre-tax profit rose six per cent to £662m compared with a year ago, but revenues fell three per cent to £2.9bn. Its [...]
Misys aided by new software July 28, 2011 SOFTWARE firm Misys, which is currently in takeover talks, yesterday said its new Bankfusion platform helped its banking division return to growth in the year to May. Misys said it was confident its strategy, centred on new software and new markets in Asia, Latin America and the Middle East, would deliver growth as its headline [...]
Starbucks sales up as prices rise July 28, 2011 COFFEE chain Starbucks posted quarterly profit that topped Wall Street’s expectations on more visits from its well-heeled customers yesterday. Sales in US cafes open at least 13 months jumped eight per cent in the quarter, more than the 5.3 per cent rise expected, and the company raised its fiscal year forecast above analysts’ estimates. The [...]
KELLOGGS WARNS OVER INFLATION July 28, 2011 KELLOGG Co stood by its 2011 earnings target despite beating expectations in the second quarter, as price increases made to offset higher ingredient costs could hurt demand. Kellogg expects its full-year cost inflation to be around the high end of its seven per cent to eight per cent forecast. The company is 90 per cent [...]
Johnston Press taps iPlayer man as CEO July 28, 2011 JOHNSTON Press, the highly indebted newspaper publisher, yesterday shocked the market by appointing the man behind the BBC iPlayer as its new chief executive. Ashley Highfield, who left the BBC to join Microsoft in 2009, will replace John Fry, who is stepping down as chief executive and leaving Johnston Press on 31 October 2011, the [...]
The exec who introduced the iPod generation to the BBC July 28, 2011 AS the executive responsible for introducing the BBC’s iPlayer service, Ashley Highfield has a track record that most can only dream of. Launched on Christmas Day 2007, the BBC’s online catch-up TV service was an instant hit and has gone from strength to strength ever since. In the first fortnight, viewers downloaded more than 3.5m shows, smashing [...]
Xstrata set to buy First Coal July 28, 2011 MINER Xstrata has made an all-cash bid for First Coal Corporation, a privately held Canadian miner, that values the firm at $153m (£93.7m). Xstrata, the fourth largest global diversified miner, said in a statement yesterday that the board of First Coal had unanimously recommended the deal, which will give it access to coking coal exploration [...]
BAE Systems ups dividend to ease worries on defence cuts July 28, 2011 SHARES in BAE Systems rose five per cent yesterday after the firm unveiled plans to up its dividend and buy back £500m shares in a move to reassure investors it can navigate through military spending cuts in the UK. But the British arms manufacturer posted a drop in net profits of 22 per cent to [...]
