US corporate results round up October 30, 2014 MASTERCARD MasterCard reported a better-than-expected 15.5 per cent jump in quarterly profit as efforts to expand its international business paid off, with more people willing to use cards instead of cash. MasterCard’s worldwide purchase volume, excluding the US, grew 12.8 per cent to $554bn (£345bn) on a local currency basis in the third quarter. The [...]
City Moves for 31 October 2014 | Who’s switching jobs October 30, 2014 Berwin Leighton Paisner The law firm has announced the appointment of Elizabeth Bradley as head of corporate tax. She trained at Berwin Leighton Paisner and was made a partner in 2008. Bradley advises on all areas of corporate taxation, with a particular specialism in real estate tax. EY The professional services firm has announced the [...]
Intertek leads the way as FTSE buoyed by data – London Report October 29, 2014 BRITAIN’S top equity index yesterday rose to its highest level in nearly three weeks on the expectation that the US Federal Reserve would signal that it was in no rush to raise interest rates. However, late last night – after the London close – investors elsewhere in the world were betting that a US rate [...]
Facebook has shown the way with its move to mobile – now everyone else must follow October 29, 2014 Facebook has made mobile pay. That much was made clear after the site revealed mobile adverts now account for 66 per cent of its advertising revenue. And when that mobile ad revenue amounts to $1.95bn, it pays to seek to understand how it got there – and quite possibly how to copy it. “Our strong [...]
Deutsche Bank share price stays flat despite €92m loss on legal costs October 29, 2014 Deutsche Bank has posted a net losses of €92m (£72.6m) for the three months to the end of September, with pre-tax income of €266m. The third-quarter loss stems from the legal costs of settling a number of investigations, and compares to a €51m profit during the same period last year. Alleged misconduct by [...]
BG Group hails arrival of new boss Helge Lund as profits plummet October 28, 2014 Oil firm BG Group has reported a 26 per cent decline in operating profit for the third quarter of 2014, going from $1.8bn (£1.1bn) to $1.3bn. The company attributed this decrease to significant profit reductions in Kazakhstan as a result of revenue falls, and in the UK as a result of the higher cost of [...]
Disappointing results for cinema chain AMC after weak summer October 28, 2014 Cinema giant AMC posted disappointing third-quarter results last night, following a slow summer for the film and entertainment industry in America. The chain revealed that net income dropped 78 per cent in the latter part of this year, from $33.9m (£21m) in the three months ending 30 September 2013 to just $7.4m for the same [...]
Jogger Dean Farley: I only “brushed into” David Cameron October 27, 2014 At first it appeared to be a massive security breach; now it seems the man who “shoved” Prime Minister David Cameron accidentally knocked into him during a jog. Dean Farley, whose Facebook page includes pictures of him taking part in the Spartan Race challenge, posted earlier today that it was him who had knocked [...]
As some big banks place curfews on staff, is there anything left of the old City nightlife culture? October 23, 2014 Lawson Muncaster, co-founder and managing director of City A.M., says Yes. I popped out for dinner last night – suitably dressed. No thanks to the powers that be, City nightlife is alive and well. We’ve had it from all sides, with reports that banks are to place curfews on staff just the latest episode. But [...]
Tesco share price falls again: Chairman Sir Richard Broadbent steps down as profit overstatement is bigger than thought October 23, 2014 Shares in Tesco closed down 6.6 per cent in early afternoon trading, after the supermarket posted first-half results showing statutory profit before tax, which includes one-off items, collapsed by 91.9 per cent to £122m in the 26 weeks ended 23 August 2014. Sir Richard Broadbent, Tesco's chairman, announced he will step down, while the embattled [...]