Carlsberg dampened by weather August 15, 2012 Carlsberg said a boost provided by sponsoring the Euro 2012 football tournament did not make up for unseasonably wet weather as the brewer reported a five per cent fall in sales in northern and western Europe. However, the firm’s pre-tax profit rose 47 per cent to 2.6bn Danish kroner (£273m) as it sold off breweries. [...]
Brits punched above weight August 14, 2012 UK SPORT may believe that Britain’s 65 medals at London 2012 were no great surprise, but a new study based on demographic and historical data indicates Team GB truly did punch above their weight. Britain won 14 more medals than they were entitled to, based on population size, gross domestic product, performance at past Olympics [...]
E.ON first-half profits triple August 13, 2012 E.ON, Germany’s biggest energy company, has seen its profits triple in the first half of 2012. Net income for the six months to the end of June was €3.3bn (£2.1bn), up from €900m a year ago. E.ON cited Germany’s accelerated phase-out of nuclear energy, which benefited first-half earnings to the tune of €1.5bn, and a [...]
A taste of Mother Russia in a Knightsbridge salon August 13, 2012 RESTAURANT MARI VANNA 116 Knightsbridge, SW1X 7PJ el: 020 7225 3122 FOOD ** SERVICE **** ATMOSPHERE **** Cost per person without wine: £55 There are two facts you need to know about Mari Vanna. One: it’s done up like a Russian babushka’s dining room – albeit one with a more than a dollop of Tsarist [...]
US drought, food prices fan fears of new crisis August 10, 2012 Global alarm over a potential repeat of the 2008 food crisis escalated after data showed food prices had jumped 6 per cent last month and importers were snapping up a shrivelled US grain crop, helping drive corn prices to a new record. Ahead of a critical government report on Friday on the state of the [...]
ECB slashes growth forecasts yet Noyer pledge eases woes August 9, 2012 THE EUROPEAN Central Bank (ECB) slashed its growth forecasts for the Eurozone yesterday, with governing council member Christian Noyer pledging to reduce borrowing costs for struggling member states. The single currency area will see output shrink by 0.3 per cent this year, the ECB expects, down from the previous estimate of a 0.2 per cent [...]
E.ON profit up on settlement August 7, 2012 OPERATING earnings at E.ON could rise by more than 50 per cent to around €6.7bn (£5.3bn) in the first half, Germany’s largest utility announced in an unscheduled statement ahead of its interim report on 13 August. Last year’s earnings were hit by Germany’s decision to phase out nuclear power by 2022. A settlement with Russia’s [...]
BMW car sales gain on China and Russia demand August 7, 2012 German carmaker BMW posted a 4.2 per cent increase in luxury auto sales in July on strong demand from China and Russia, contrasting rival Mercedes-Benz, which suffered the first drop in volumes last month. Munich-based BMW, the world’s biggest luxury carmaker, said today brand sales rose to a record 113,253 vehicles, driven by demand for [...]
Telecity bets on Russian growth as shares jump to record value August 6, 2012 DATA services firm Telecity beat expectations yesterday and announced an investment in Finland, a stepping stone to the growing Russian internet market. The company, which provides carrier-neutral internet connections, said revenues in the first half of the year jumped 22.4 per cent due to a rise in data-intensive cloud computing systems. Shares leapt by seven [...]
CITY MOVES WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS August 5, 2012 AXA Wealth Andrew Smith has been appointed chief operating officer of the wealth management firm’s Elevate investment platform. He joins from Nucleus, where he was responsible for its platform design and build. Smith has also held senior roles at Logica and Thomson Reuters. Mazars The advisory firm has appointed Phil Verity to the position of [...]