Japanese banks face uncertainty July 28, 2010 JAPAN’S third-biggest bank stuck to its full-year forecast yesterday despite reporting robust first-quarter earnings, due to uncertainty about the economic outlook. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (SFMG) said net profit soared nearly three-fold to 211.8bn yen (£1.55bn) in the three months to the end of June. Citigroup analyst Hironari Nozaki had forecast the bank would earn [...]
William Hill names new chair July 28, 2010 WILLIAM Hill has appointed Gareth Davis as its new chairman. Davis, who recently retired as chief executive of Imperial Tobacco Group after 14 years in the role, will take up his new job from 1 September. He joined Imperial Tobacco in 1972 as a management trainee and undertook various roles in the business, including managing [...]
Liberum profits buoyed after new client wins July 27, 2010 LIBERUM Capital saw revenues surge in the first half of the year as the boutique investment bank landed its first major mandates advising companies joining the full list of the London Stock Exchange. Earlier this month, Liberum acted as co-manager to Vallar, the cash shell set up by financier Nat Rothschild, on its admission to [...]
AstraZeneca rises on Brilinta July 26, 2010 US reviewers gave mixed views on AstraZeneca’s experimental blood thinner Brilinta but the company’s shares rose on investor optimism that an advisory panel will back the potential blockbuster drug. AstraZeneca is counting on Brilinta to help offset the looming loss of patent protection on key drugs such as heartburn treatment Nexium and antipsychotic Seroquel. AstraZeneca [...]
Wall St cheers bumper results July 22, 2010 WALL Street bellwethers cheered investors with a raft of good results last night, pushing up US indices and raising hopes of a sustained economic recovery. Corporate stalwarts UPS, Caterpillar and 3M all posted double-digit profit growth for the last quarter, while Microsoft surpassed Apple’s recent sales to report a record rise in revenue. The upbeat [...]
Morgan Stanley continues down the road to recovery July 21, 2010 WALL Street lapped up a solid set of second-quarter results from Morgan Stanley yesterday, buoying market sentiment after a disappointing performance over the same period from some of the bank’s peers, notably Goldman Sachs. Morgan Stanley beat analyst expectations with post-tax profit of $1.4bn (£921m) for the three months to June, swinging back into the [...]
Wall St rises as IBM and Texas results hit after bell July 19, 2010 US stocks rose yesterday, spurred by optimism ahead of earnings from key technology companies and after Dow component Boeing announced strong orders. Investors bet on solid reports from International Business Machines (IBM), the world’s largest technology services provider, and chip maker Texas Instruments, hoping both would show strength similar to Intel’s results last week. But [...]
Traders hold their breath for results July 12, 2010 CAUTION prevailed in the US stock market yesterday, with indexes edging higher as investors kept bets to a minimum in front of earnings. Volume was among the lightest of the year with investors wanting to see if corporate outlooks validate last week’s surge, the strongest week in a year. Dow component Alcoa reported its second-quarter [...]
David Verey makes the trip back home to Lazard July 11, 2010 THE man once touted as a potential chief executive of the international investment bank Lazard is to return to the company he worked at for almost three decades. David Verey, who enjoyed a 29-year career at the bank before quitting nine years ago, will slot back in as a senior advisor to its UK business. [...]
KKR switches to NYSE July 11, 2010 Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co’s long-awaited listing on the Big Board brings a wide investor audience to the iconic private equity firm and could be a bellwether for rivals looking to follow suit. The buyout firm will switch from Amsterdam-based Euronext on July 15 to the New York Stock Exchange, joining rival Blackstone Group, which [...]