Businesses back BA tie-ups May 19, 2009 SUPPORT came for flag carrier British Airways (BA) yesterday, after Sir Richard Branson hit out against the group’s intended tie-up with American Airlines (AA) and Iberia. Branson, who owns Virgin Atlantic airlines, had said a merger between BA and AA would create a “monster monopoly” of airline groups, which would lock out competition, and muscle [...]
Sport on TV May 19, 2009 Cricket: Friends Provident Trophy, Warwickshire v Kent, Sky Sports 1, 10.30am. Tennis: Guinot Mary Cohr Masters, Andy Murray v Paul-Henri Mathieu, British Eurosport 2, from 12.30pm. Racing: Lingfield, Kelso At The Races, 2pm; Sedgfield & Worcester, 5.30pm. Football: Uefa Cup final, Werder Bremen v Shakhtar Donesk, ITV4, 7pm (ko 7.45pm). Speedway: British Final 2009, Sky [...]
Fortune signals China recovery May 17, 2009 Jet fuel demand in China rose over the first quarter, oil and gas firm Fortune Oil revealed in an update this morning, boosting hopes of a recovery in Far East air travel demand. Fortune’s BlueSky unit saw a nine per cent year-on-year increase in jet fuel sales over the period, while throughput of crude oil [...]
Sport on TV May 17, 2009 Football: Premier League, Portsmouth v Sunderland, Setanta Sports 1, 7pm (ko 8pm). Cricket: 2nd Test, Day 5, England v West Indies, Sky Sports 1, 10.30am Racing: Bath, Southwell, Newton Abbot, At The Races, 1.45pm Speedway: Elite League, Lakeside Hammers v Coventry Bees, Sky Sports 1, 7.30pm SPORTS EDITOR JON COUCHemail sport@cityam.com
Virgin loses punters but profits up August 8, 2008 Cable firm Virgin Media yesterday reported higher than expected underlying second-quarter profit, despite losing nearly 20,000 customers. Underlying profit rose by 6 per cent to £333m due to cost cutting measures, the Nasdaq-listed firm said, beating market expectations of £321m. But Virgin, which boasts Britain’s fastest broadband speeds, said it had lost around 19,500 customers, [...]
Banking tragedy fails to lift market players August 4, 2008 You could say the UK banks reporting season is turning into a comedy of errors but perhaps a Shakespearean tragedy would be more apt. It was an awful first act for the sector last week but the drama will reach its crescendo this week as we await downbeat numbers from HSBC, Barclays and RBS. The [...]
In volatile times there are still investments that offer a safe haven August 1, 2008 There are ways to guarantee returns, but always read the small print, warns Esther Shaw In today’s volatile stock market, some anxious investors are cashing in their equity investments and rushing to reduce their exposure to risk by taking shelter in lower-risk asset classes. Finding a safe haven is no mean feat right now and [...]
Cheer Up: Not all media companies are preforming badly August 1, 2008 Look: it’s time for all this generalised gloom about the state of the media to stop There is nothing anyone can do about the state of the economy or the severe downward pressure on advertising revenues. Not even Gordon Brown can do anything about that. But this week there has been more good news than [...]
Ryanair cuts ticket prices while earnings plummet July 29, 2008 Shares in low cost airline Ryanair sank 22 per cent yesterday after the company warned it may make a €60m (£47.4m) loss this year, as high oil prices eat into margins. It said it had made profit after tax in the first quarter of €21m- a drop of 85 per cent- but the carrier yesterday [...]
Hedge funds suffer pain of wider market July 24, 2008 Hedge funds had their worst first half year performance since 1998, as managers struggled to deal with the triple-whammy of a slowing housing market, sky-high energy prices and a financial sector in turmoil, according to HedgeFund Intelligence. The HedgeFund Intelligence global composite index was flat in June and up just 0.55 per cent for the [...]