Record-breaking Big Bucks wins fourth World Hurdle March 15, 2012 RECORDS tumbled on day three of the Cheltenham Festival as Big Bucks claimed his fourth World Hurdle crown and equalled the mark for consecutive victories over jumps. The 8-11 favourite stayed on bravely to hold off mare Voler La Vedette and put Paul Nicholls back in the Trainers’ Championship lead. The horse’s triumph brought him [...]
Captain Chris has to be of interest at a massive 14/1 March 14, 2012 THERE have only been seven runnings of the Ryanair Chase and sponsor Michael O’Leary won’t be happy that no horse from his native Ireland has won this yet. They arguably have their strongest hand this time with last year’s Jewson winner NOBLE PRINCE and the third home in this race 12 months ago, Rubi Light. [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING March 8, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES DEUTSCHE BANK TAPPED ECB FOR UP TO €10BN Deutsche Bank took as much as €10bn of European Central Bank emergency funding last week, despite deep reservations over the programme voiced by outgoing chief Josef Ackermann. Investors briefed by Deutsche Bank’s finance director and investor relations executives say the bank was persuaded by the [...]
SAS braces for annual loss amid tough competition February 8, 2012 SCANDINAVIAN airline SAS has reported a fourth consecutive annual loss in 2011 and said it would accelerate a 5bn Swedish crown (£473.3m) plan to cut costs and boost revenue. The group, half-owned by Sweden, Norway and Denmark, has faced competitive pressure in its home Nordic markets from Norwegian Air Shuttle and Ryanair. A buoyant Norwegian [...]
BAA loses Stansted appeal February 1, 2012 AIRPORT operator BAA must sell London Stansted airport, after losing an appeal against an earlier order by the Competition Commission. But BAA has not ruled out appealing further, in the latest twist in a three-year fight between the firm and the Competition Commission over its dominance of the UK airport market. “We are disappointed by [...]
Fund manager launches fight against fees January 31, 2012 ONE of the City’s best-known fund managers has launched a campaign against fees in the investment industry, arguing that customers have been “ripped off” for too long. Alan Miller, who recently founded low-cost fund manager SCM, said investors faced a “minefield of charges” and were being left “seriously out of pocket” when it came to [...]
Ryanair lifts profit target for the year January 30, 2012 RYANAIR yesterday raised its annual profit forecast, after a decision to ground 80 planes over winter paid off. The budget airline said its traffic fell two per cent to 16.7m in the last three months of 2011, but higher revenues per passenger lifted turnover 13 per cent to €844m (£706m). Ryanair’s quarterly after-tax profit of [...]
ANALYST VIEWS: HOW WERE RYANAIR’S RESULTS? January 30, 2012 GERT ZONNEVELD | PANMURE GORDON Numbers came in ahead of expectations. Over the medium term the anticipated capacity growth deceleration should drive further profit growth and strong cash generation. We retain our Buy recommendation. JONATHAN JACKSON | KILLIK Passenger numbers were down two per cent to 16.7m, offset by a 17 per cent increase in [...]
Banks pull FTSE back as Greece crisis festers January 30, 2012 The FTSE 100 tracked losses across Europe in early trading as the negotiations in Athens over Greece’s disastrous finances showed few signs of success. Greece and its private creditors have so far failed to come up with an agreement on debt swap talks, needed to avoid a default. Meanwhile a European summit focused on growth [...]
Ryanair lifts profit forecast January 30, 2012 Ryanair has raised its profit forecast, saying higher ticket prices were more than making up for expensive fuel and reduced capacity, underlining the resilience of its low-cost sector as legacy carriers struggle. The Irish low cost carrier, Europe’s largest, increased its full year profit forecast by nine per cent to £480m euros (£403m) after posting [...]