BMW car sales gain on China and Russia demand August 7, 2012 German carmaker BMW posted a 4.2 per cent increase in luxury auto sales in July on strong demand from China and Russia, contrasting rival Mercedes-Benz, which suffered the first drop in volumes last month. Munich-based BMW, the world’s biggest luxury carmaker, said today brand sales rose to a record 113,253 vehicles, driven by demand for [...]
Retail sales growth slows in July – BRC August 7, 2012 British retail sales growth slowed in July as a sunny spell towards the end of the month failed to make up for weeks of rain which depressed sales of summer clothes and other seasonal products, the British Retail Consortium said today. The BRC’s findings tally with other surveys and retailers’ reports, showing that consumers were [...]
Greggs profit hit by summer washout August 7, 2012 Britain’s largest seller of food on the go, Greggs, posted a 4.5 per cent fall in first-half profit after sales were hit by the wettest April to June period since records began. Greggs, which sells sandwiches, savouries, bread, cakes and pastries to 6m customers a week, said today it made a pretax profit of £16.5m [...]
InterContinental to return $1bn as profits rise August 7, 2012 InterContinental, the world’s biggest hotelier, cheered investors by promising to return $1bn (£642m) to them partially funded from the planned sale of a New York hotel as it posted a rise in profits boosted by trade in the US and China. The British-based group, home to the Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn as well as InterContinental [...]
Xstrata H1 earnings drop, defers $1bn of spending August 7, 2012 Anglo-Swiss miner Xstrata, in the throes of a $26bn (£16.7bn) takeover bid, posted a smaller-than-expected drop in profit despite the impact of weaker prices and reduced copper production, and announced plans to cut spending for the year. Xstrata’s earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) for the first six months of 2012 totalled just [...]
Spyker sues GM for over $3bn on Saab bankruptcy August 7, 2012 Dutch sportscar maker Spyker NV is suing General Motors for more than $3bn (£1.92bn) on behalf of its subsidiary Saab, accusing the US automaker of deliberately bankrupting the Swedish group by blocking a deal with a Chinese investor. Saab Automobile, one of Sweden’s best-known brands, stopped production in May 2011 when it could no longer [...]
Stan Chart shares plummet following Iran probe August 6, 2012 Standard Chartered lost 16 per cent of its share price on the FTSE 100 early this morning, following allegations of covering up financial transactions with the Iranian government. US regulators have accused the bank of scheming with the government to hide $250bn (£160bn) worth of transactions and reaping hundreds of millions of dollars in fees [...]
Coalition in crisis as Clegg rejects reforms August 6, 2012 NICK Clegg yesterday dealt a serious blow to government unity by announcing that the Lib Dems will not vote in favour of reforms to parliamentary constituencies after Conservative backbenchers killed plans to reform the House of Lords. Visibly unhappy, Clegg said his coalition partners had broken “part of our contract” and were playing “pick and [...]
Marginal seat up for grabs after Mensch quits politics August 6, 2012 DAVID Cameron yesterday endured one of his worst days as Prime Minister after one of his party’s best known backbenchers announced she is to quit politics on the same day that Nick Clegg torpedoed plans to reform parliamentary constituencies. The surprise resignation of rising star Louise Mensch will result in a high-profile by-election that Labour [...]
Another banking scandal was the last thing the City needed August 6, 2012 JUST when it felt as if it couldn’t get any worse for the City, it is now Standard Chartered’s turn to be engulfed in a major scandal. The bank – which didn’t need a bailout and is hugely successful thanks to its emerging market focus – stands accused by US regulators of having deliberately ignored [...]
