Alibaba share price down in pre-market trading as Chinese etailer disappoints January 29, 2015 Alibaba's share price was down more than eight per cent in pre-market trading today as the Chinese etailing giant released below-expectations quarterly figures. The figures: Revenues in the three months to December 31 rose 40 per cent to $4.2bn (£2.8bn), while income was up just six per cent to $1.5bn. Analysts were expecting revenues [...]
SIHH 2015: Vacheron Constantin had everyone swooning at Geneva watch fair January 28, 2015 Every dreary January, the luxury watch world and its dog enjoys brief respite from the month’s enforced abstinence inside a vast exhibition complex next to Geneva airport. Here, for the past 25 years, the Richemont Group has provided its own alternative to the chaotic jamboree that is spring’s watch and jewellery fair in Basel, staging [...]
FCA boss Martin Wheatley is right to say sorry at last – Editor’s Letter January 27, 2015 Martin Wheatley evokes a lot of hostility, rather than respect, from many of the senior figures in the London’s financial community. A few months ago one chief executive pulled me aside and blamed the City’s top regulator for costing London the flotation of Alibaba, the giant Chinese internet group. Wheatley’s crime, I was told, was [...]
What to expect ahead of Apple’s first quarter earnings since the iPhone 6 launched January 27, 2015 The figures Apple’s first quarter results are always big as they almost always follow an iPhone launch. This year’s no different: we'll find out just how well the iPhone 6 has done. Earnings per share are expected to come in at $2.60, up from expectations of $2.55 a month ago and $2.52 three months ago. [...]
Rolls-Royce in £75m deal to help power up South African trains with 232 MTU Series 4000 engines January 26, 2015 Rolls-Royce has signed a €100m (£75m) contract to deliver 232 MTU Series 4000 engines to a subsidiary of Chinese locomotive manufacturer CNR Dalian in South Africa. The engines, which are the most powerful MTU locomotives currently operating with an output of 3,300 kilowatts each, are to be installed in new freight locomotives for South African operator [...]
Mobile market activity booms as Sky eyes deal with O2 or Vodafone January 26, 2015 Mobile consolidation is set to be a hot topic again this week as European pay-TV operator Sky has been linked in talks with O2 and Vodafone to launch its own mobile offering on one of their networks. The talks come as BT races to finalise more details around its £12.5bn takeover of EE, which it [...]
Chinese SME incubator fund to float on Aim January 26, 2015 GRAND Group Investment, a late-stage incubator fund that invests in Chinese small and medium-sized companies (SMEs), today announced its intention to float on London’s Alternative Investment Market (Aim). The Cayman-Islands-headquartered company is looking to raise £7.1m from the share placing, which is expected to kick off tomorrow. The placing is forecast to give the firm [...]
Telefónica to sell O2 to Hutchison Whampoa for £10bn January 23, 2015 Telefónica has confirmed it is in exclusive talks with Chinese company Hutchison Whampoa to sell O2 for £10bn, a deal which would revolutionise the landscape of the UK's mobile market. In a statement this morning, Telefónica said the deal would take the form of an initial payment of £9.25bn, followed by deferred payment of £1bn, to [...]
Unilever sales disappoint after China slowdown January 20, 2015 CONSUMER goods giant Unilever reported lower-than-expected fourth quarter sales yesterday as it continued to grapple with a slowdown in demand for its products in emerging markets, particularly in China. The owner of Lipton tea and Dove soap said like-for-like sales rose by 2.1 per cent in the fourth quarter, in line with the third quarter, [...]
Chinese growth data pushes FTSE 100 higher – London Report January 20, 2015 MINING stocks boosted the FTSE 100 yesterday, after Chinese data beat expectations which pleased mining companies that export to the country, although a tepid outlook from Unilever kept confidence in check. The FTSE 100 index closed 0.5 per cent higher at 6,620.10 points, after earlier reaching its highest point since the start of 2015 at [...]