American Express profits rise as customers won’t leave home without it July 29, 2014 Credit card giant American Express yesterday reported a bigger-than-expected nine per cent rise in quarterly profit as more customers used its credit cards in a recovering US economy. Card member spending rose nine per cent globally, after adjusting for foreign currency, compared to seven per cent growth in the preceding quarter and eight per cent [...]
Recovering markets in Europe drive rise in international floats July 27, 2014 CROSS-border flotations raised $25.7bn (£15.1bn) in the first half of 2014, up 151 per cent on the year, law firm Baker McKenzie said today. The fastest growth came in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) where 31 flotations brought in $10.5bn, up 300 per cent on the year. Of those flotations, 21 were on [...]
Leaner Nokia sees share price rise as it beats market expectations July 24, 2014 Nokia has surprised the market by posting better than expected second quarter results, just days after announcing half of its staff would lose their jobs. The Finnish company was recently bought by Microsoft, who announced plans to cut half of the staff from Nokia's mobile phone division. Investors were impressed by a leaner operation, shown by [...]
Coca-Cola share price slides as profits miss expectations July 22, 2014 Coca-Cola saw its shares slide as much as 4.2 per cent in early trading this afternoon after its second quarter results showed profits were down on last year. Profits fell to 58 cents a share from 59 cents a year earlier, a drop from $2.67bn to $2.59bn. Revenue was also down, falling one per cent [...]
Manchester United drop to third in Forbes’ world’s most valuable sports teams list July 18, 2014 They may be signing up sponsors like they're going out of fashion this week, but Manchester United have dropped one place to third in the annual Forbes list of the world's most valuable sports teams. The Premier League club have endured their worst season for over two decades, finishing seventh and missing out on a [...]
United share price boosted by £750m kit deal windfall July 14, 2014 MANCHESTER United’s share price surged yesterday following confirmation of the Premier League club’s record-breaking £750m shirt deal with German sportswear giant Adidas. The 10-year agreement, which takes effect from the 2015-16 season, is the most lucrative of its kind in any sport and worth more than double any other shirt deal in football. United’s share [...]
Sheer satisfaction: Zendesk founder Mikkel Svane on providing better customer service July 13, 2014 Harriet Green talks IPOs, big data and radical taxis with Zendesk’s founder Mikkel Svane. An O2 survey last year found that 70 per cent of people wouldn’t forgive a company for bad customer service. Two thirds also said they’d share their experience with an average of eight friends and family members. Mikkel [...]
PokerStars boss David Baazov mulls secondary London listing July 7, 2014 The boss of the world’s biggest-listed online gambling group yesterday flagged his interest in a secondary listing in London or New York. David Baazov, chief executive and chairman of Canadian-quoted Amaya Gaming, said the business was plotting a dual listing in future. He added he was weighing floating shares either on the London Stock Exchange [...]
New York Report: Dow breaks 17,000 barrier July 3, 2014 The Dow Jones Industrial Average yesterday smashed through 17,000 points for the first time ever in intraday trading, after an encouraging report on US job creation helped to reassure investors that economic growth could support stock benchmarks at all-time highs. The Dow rose 0.41 per cent, to 17,045.43, the S&P 500 index was up 0.6 [...]
Barclays’ Antony Jenkins must show dealmakers some love June 30, 2014 On the day that Barclays felt the full brunt of allegations about its so-called “dark pools” from a New York attorney general, its corporate finance arm in Europe was reporting a significant success. The London Stock Exchange (LSE) announced a merger deal and with it a near £1bn rights issue, solely underwritten by Barclays. This [...]