Retail sales fall at fastest rate in a year July 28, 2011 Retail sales fell at their fastest pace in a year and stores expect a further deterioration in August, as hard-hit consumers clamp down on spending, a survey by the Confederation of British Industry showed. The CBI distributive trades survey’s reported sales balance fell to -5 in July from -2 in June, the lowest reading since [...]
BT profit shored up by cost savings July 28, 2011 BT lifted pre-tax profits by a fifth in its first quarter as efficiency savings offset falling sales. Pre-tax profit was £533m on reduced revenue of £4.76bn for the quarter to end-June, BT said. BT, which competes with Virgin Media and TalkTalk in retail telephony and broadband and also sells wholesale to rivals, added 251,000 broadband [...]
National Express restores dividend as profit surges July 28, 2011 British transport group National Express resumed dividend payments and said it was eyeing acquisitions after its underlying pre-tax profit rose by 26 per cent in the first half and margins improved. The company, which operates buses and coaches in the UK, Spain and North America, said underlying profit for the six months to end June [...]
Credit Suisse axes 2,000 jobs July 28, 2011 Swiss bank Credit Suisse is cutting about 2,000 jobs after a second hit by weak trading activity and the strong Swiss franc. Net profit fell to 768m Swiss francs (£570m), the bank said – below average analyst forecasts for 1 billion. Net new assets in private banking were 11.5 billion, below average analyst forecasts for [...]
Centrica sees £1.3bn profit July 28, 2011 British Gas owner Centrica has seen operating profits of £1.3bn in the six months to 30 June. The figure was down 19 per cent on the same period last year. The results include a 54 per cent fall in operating profits at its residential energy division, British Gas, to £270m. Yesterday British Gas was fined [...]
Shell reports £4.9bn profit July 28, 2011 Royal Dutch Shell reported a 77 per cent rise in net second-quarter income compared with the same period last year, as higher oil prices, asset sales and non-cash gains outweighed a drop in production. Shell said second-quarter current cost of supply net income was $8bn (£4.9bn). Excluding one-offs the result was $6.55bn, just below an [...]
Gold at record on US budget impasse July 27, 2011 GOLD reached a fresh all-time high across the pond yesterday, as the US was hit by gloomy economic news and yet another day of political feuding over the debt ceiling. The precious metal – often seen as a safe haven for investors in times of strife and unstable currencies – reached $1,628 an ounce after [...]
A year to go: Olympics launch makes a splash July 27, 2011 LONDON 2012 medal hopeful Tom Daley last night christened the Olympic Park’s brand new Aquatics Centre to mark one year to go until next summer’s Games. Teenager Daley performed the first dive in the Zaha Hadid-designed venue, which was officially handed over yesterday and immediately labelled “a masterpiece” by Jacques Rogge, president of the International [...]
Cyprus could need bailout July 27, 2011 EUROPE could be forced to fork out for a fourth bailout after Moody’s downgraded Cyprus to just above junk status yesterday, alerting markets to the nation’s precarious fiscal position. The agency cited a trio of disasters to hit the €17.4bn economy in the last quarter, including the accidental destruction of the Vasilikos power plant that [...]
Crisis shows risk can’t be abolished July 27, 2011 IT is going to be a hot summer – and I’m not even talking about the weather. After a brief and irrational lull after last week’s pseudo-deal in the Eurozone, the global sovereign debt crisis is accelerating again, with the row over extending America’s debt ceiling becoming ever more farcical. Gold hit close to $1,630, [...]
