Croda ups divi as profits rise July 24, 2012 CHEMICALS firm Croda reported a six per cent increase in first-half profit yesterday as the company sold more higher-margin products and strong demand in North America offset softness in Europe. The company, which counts Procter & Gamble, Unilever, L’Oreal and Estee Lauder among its customers, said adjusted pre-tax profit rose to £132.6m from £124.8m a [...]
ANALYST VIEWS | DID IMPERIAL’S RESULTS PROVIDE SHAREHOLDERS WITH A QUICK HIT? July 24, 2012 MARTIN DEBOO INVESTEC The third quarter has come in below our expectations with an implied volume decline in the quarter of around one per cent. We are disappointed: there should have been decent share momentum out of the second quarter, and the third quarter presented the weakest volume comparative of the year. JONATHAN JACKSON KILLIK [...]
Broadband and TiVo lift Virgin Media revenue July 24, 2012 VIRGIN Media reported better than expected sales yesterday, driven by strong demand for the cable operator’s internet-connected television and high-speed broadband services. The popularity of Virgin’s TiVo equipment, which offers on-demand internet services as well as traditional channels, offset a seasonal fall in the number of cable TV subscribers. Virgin signed up its one millionth [...]
Vodafone’s shareholder spring fizzles out as CEO’s pay backed July 24, 2012 SHAREHOLDERS in Vodafone overwhelmingly voted to back chief executive Vittorio Colao’s pay package at yesterday’s annual meeting, despite warnings of an investor rebellion. Colao’s remuneration package, which has more than doubled in the last year to £14m, was supported by 96 per cent of investors, despite advisory body Pirc urging them to oppose it. Vodafone’s shareholders, [...]
4G high-speed mobile data to hit UK in 2013 July 24, 2012 TELECOMS regulator Ofcom yesterday said that the auction of licences to run fast 4G mobile networks will be held before the end of this year, enabling services to be rolled out by the middle of 2013. Countries such as the United States already have 4G networks offering high-speed mobile broadband connections capable of data-hungry tasks such [...]
Audio and cars boost for CSR July 24, 2012 CSR, the British chipmaker that sold its mobile phone technology to Samsung last week, posted better-than-expected second-quarter results helped by demand for its platforms in audio and automotive. The Cambridge-based company posted a 37 per cent rise in second-quarter revenue to $266.5m (£172m), just exceeding its own guidance, while underlying earnings per share of $0.09, [...]
Bookings slump for Volvo July 24, 2012 World number two truck maker Volvo’s order bookings suffered a deeper-than-expected fall in the second quarter, hit by slumping demand in North America and Europe, but it stood by its outlook for its two top markets in the face growing uncertainty. Volvo said yesterday order bookings of its trucks fell 19 per cent year-on-year across [...]
London health accelerator opens July 24, 2012 US venture capital firm Sandbox has put £750,000 into a healthcare technology seed fund to be launched in London. Europe’s first healthcare accelerator will comprise 10 teams of entrepreneurs who will receive funding as well industry links and office space. Mayor Boris Johnson said the investment “recognises London is Europe’s science and tech capital”. Sandbox [...]
Profits fall at Morgan Crucible July 24, 2012 British advanced materials group Morgan Crucible said yesterday its first-half profit had fallen about three per cent, hurt by lower revenue at its engineered materials division. Morgan Crucible’s underlying pre-tax profit fell to £57.8m for January-June from £59.7m a year earlier. Revenue fell about five per cent to £533m.
SAP maintains full-year outlook July 24, 2012 SAP kept its full-year outlook yesterday amid an uncertain economic environment as it continued to draw clients, especially from the financial industry and the retail sector, to its new cloud-based services. The world’s biggest maker of business software, which reported key figures on 12 July, said it still expected 2012 operating profit to rise to [...]
