Merchant back to profitability July 22, 2010 FINANCIAL services group Merchant Securities saw its business surge back to profitability over the last year, helped along by improved trading conditions and the acquisition of wealth manager Cavendish Young. Merchant turned last year’s pre-tax loss of £4.58m into a £0.64m profit for the year to end of March. Revenue increased by 40 per cent [...]
Commodities staff slashed at JPMorgan July 22, 2010 JPMORGAN has made around 50 commodities traders around the world redundant as a result of its takeover of Royal Bank of Scotland’s Sempra Commodities, a source said yesterday. The American bank closed the $1.6bn (£1bn) purchase of RBS Sempra earlier this month. It inherited the Scottish institution’s share of a joint venture (JV) with US-based [...]
Dubai World ready to use tribunal for deal on debts July 22, 2010 Struggling state firm Dubai World is to be ready to use a special tribunal to force rebel lenders into line on plans to delay repayment of $14.4bn (£9.4bn) in debts. The indebted conglomerate would use a special tribunal set up by decree to hear disputes over the delayed repayment plan, a source familiar with the [...]
Swedbank tops forecasts while provisions drop July 22, 2010 Swedbank yesterday posted a second-quarter profit more than twice as big as forecasts as loan losses related to the recession-hit Baltic region, where the bank is the top player, shrank sharply. The Swedish lender, which expects to post a full-year profit after spending 2009 in the red, was upbeat about the rest of the year, [...]
Eurostar sees ash cloud help lift revenues July 22, 2010 ICELAND’S volcano Eyjafjallajokull significantly bolstered Eurostar’s business after the high-speed European train operator carried 100,000 more passengers during the first half of the year pushing revenue up by 18 per cent. Additional passengers looking to avoid air travel during the last six months boosted Eurostar’s revenue to £404m. Eurostar saw passenger numbers climb six per [...]
Lonmin keeps 2010 targets as sales halve July 22, 2010 Lonmin’S third-quarter refined platinum sales almost halved the miner revealed yesterday following a closure of its main furnace, but it reiterated full-year sales guidance. The world’s third-biggest platinum producer, which operates in South Africa, had said on 24 May it would need to send material out to be refined by rivals to meet the company’s [...]
Sports Direct in profit rise July 22, 2010 FOOTBALL fans buying personalised shirts and other World Cup gear, helped to fuel a 50 per cent profit rise for Sports Direct. The retailer celebrated its strongest-ever trading on the day of the England versus USA game. The company said World Cup demand helped it maintain the sales trends that saw post and annual pre-tax-profit [...]
M&B sales hit by World Cup July 22, 2010 PUBS and restaurants group Mitchells & Butlers said yesterday sales growth slowed in June and July as diners were lured away by the attraction of the World Cup. M&B, which has over 2,000 pubs and restaurants and whose brands include Harvester, All Bar One and Toby Carvery, said the World Cup had a “negative impact” [...]
Imperial Tobacco suffers as cigarette volumes fall July 22, 2010 IMPERIAL Tobacco, the world’s fourth-biggest cigarette maker, said cigarette volumes fell 4.3 per cent in the nine months to June – a worsening from a 3.7 per cent decline in its first half. Imperial, with cigarette brands including Lambert & Butler, West and Gauloises, said declines in Russia, Spain, Ukraine and the United States were [...]
Kingfisher sees sales dip as UK stores struggle on July 22, 2010 B&Q owner Kingfisher said yesterday it was on track to meet first-half profit expectations, with cost cutting and business improvement measures offsetting a dip in underlying sales. The firm, which runs Castorama and Brico Depot chains in France said sales at stores open at least a year fell 0.8 per cent in the 10 weeks [...]
