BofA falls to worst loss in its history July 19, 2011 BANK of America yesterday reported its biggest-ever quarterly loss – $8.8bn (£5.46bn) – as low interest rates squeezed lending margins at the largest US bank. The loss was widely expected after the bank said in June that it settled with mortgage bond investors for $8.5bn and was taking more than $14bn of other home loan-related [...]
Bonuses in the City level out at £14bn July 19, 2011 BONUSES in financial services were unchanged in the year to March 2011, totalling £14bn – the same as the previous 12 month period. The level of bonus awards paid out across the whole of the British economy was also unchanged from the previous year at £35bn, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said. The average [...]
Basel warns that top 28 banks must pay its capital surcharge July 19, 2011 BANK regulators started consulting yesterday on two proposals to make the world’s biggest banks bear a new compulsory capital surcharge and draw up living wills to make them safer. The Basel Committee has proposed that globally systemically important banks (G-SIBs) set aside equity worth one to 2.5 per cent of their risk-weighted assets, depending on [...]
Vacancy rate falls at Land Securities July 19, 2011 LAND Securities, the UK’s largest real estate investment trust by value, said vacancy rates fell in the past quarter as it confirmed it was stepping up its development activity as stronger retailers look to take new floor space. The firm said yesterday it had cut its vacancy rate to 3.9 per cent at the end [...]
Apple crushes profit forecast July 19, 2011 APPLE’S quarterly revenue again crushed Wall Street expectations yesterday, driven by blockbuster sales of its hot iPhones and iPads. Its flagship products all exceeded forecasts. It sold 20.34m iPhones during the quarter along with 9.25m iPads and 3.95m Mac computers. Gross margin for the quarter came to 41.7 per cent. The Cupertino, California company said [...]
Yahoo revenues slide as display advertising wanes July 19, 2011 ONLINE group Yahoo’s net revenue declined slightly in the second quarter, it said last night, on weakness in its display advertising business. Shares of the internet search company dropped around two per cent in after-hours trading. Yahoo reported net income of $237m (£147m), or 18 cents a share, compared with $213m, or 15 cents a [...]
Riverbed snaps up British cloud computing firm July 19, 2011 NETWORK equipment maker Riverbed Technology last night announced the purchase of privately-owned UK software group Zeus for $110m (£68m) in cash plus up to $30m in performance-linked payments. Zeus, based in Cambridge, makes programmes to manage traffic on cloud computing systems. The deal is expected to be break-even for Riverbed earnings in 2011 and earnings-accretive [...]
Johnson & Johnson cheers turnaround in its prescription medication business July 19, 2011 DRUGS firm Johnson & Johnson reported better than expected earnings yesterday due to an upswing for its prescription medicines. Stabilising sales of over-the-counter medicines also aided the results, after several years of recalls due to quality control lapses. Results were also greatly helped by the weaker dollar, which boosts the value of sales in overseas [...]
Coca-Cola surprises on emerging market sales July 19, 2011 US DRINKS giant Coca-Cola yesterday reported a slowdown in sales in North America, but still posted better-than-expected earnings on strength in emerging markets such as China and Russia. Coke reported net income of $2.8bn (£1.12bn), or $1.20 per share for the quarter to 1 July up from $2.37bn a year earlier. Excluding one-time items, earnings [...]
ANALYST VIEWS: IS PERFORMANCE AT LAND SECURITIES ON TRACK? July 19, 2011 BART GYSENS | MORGAN STANLEY The group made good progress on developments with a variety of initiatives…The group’s loan-to-value ratio has fallen further from 39 per cent as at March to 37.5 per cent as at June 2011. Admittedly, Land Secs is taking increasingly more development risk rather than financial risk. DANIEL HORWOOD | LIBERUM [...]
