Fears GM will press brakes on Vauxhall February 16, 2012 GENERAL Motors has laid the ground for cuts to its Vauxhall operation in Britain as it posted another heavy loss in Europe despite record global profits. Dan Ammann, chief financial officer of the Detroit carmaker, described last year’s $747m (£472.7m) European loss, including $562m in the final quarter, as “unacceptable”. He said the company is [...]
CAIRN ENERGY CHAIRMAN BREAKS BREAD IN SPANISH SUPERMARKETS February 15, 2012 A RED-LETTER day for Sir Bill Gammell yesterday, as the fast-growing food brand backed by the Cairn Energy chairman announced expansion into its second international market. Under a deal with French supermarket giant Carrefour, Genius Foods, the gluten-free grocery range in which Gammell is the largest single investor, will be available in the chain’s 350 [...]
France in GDP boost as German growth stalls February 15, 2012 France’s economy grew by a stronger-than-expected 0.2 per cent in the fourth quarter from the previous three months as corporate investment picked up and domestic consumption remain solid, bringing growth for the year to 1.7 percent in line with the government’s forecast. The INSEE national statistics office said that investment by non-financial corporations grew by [...]
IHG banks on China to spur its expansion February 14, 2012 INTERCONTINENTAL Hotels Group, the world’s largest hotel operator, said it was is looking to emerging markets and especially China to drive future growth as a recovery in the US helped the group post a surge in full-year profits. The owner of brands including Holiday Inn and Crowne Plaza said US and Chinese demand helped boost [...]
FTSE up as Greek endgame arrives February 9, 2012 The FTSE 100 crawled up this morning as investors braced themselves for an expected decision on a Greek debt deal and the prospect of the Bank of England pumping in another £50bn into its quantitative easing programme. Greek officials said pension cuts were the sticking point in talks which have lurched from one crisis point [...]
CITY VIEWS: DO YOU FEEL MORE OR LESS POSITIVE ABOUT THE ECONOMY THAN YOU DID AT THE START OF THE YEAR?* February 7, 2012 STEPHEN CAVANAGH | CSIS “I feel more negative – from my experience I can see the market double-dipping again. I worry that things might relapse back to the immediate post-Lehman era.” STEVE PENNY | SKYLINE OFFICE LTD “It is only a couple of months into the year and so far it has not changed. I [...]
Corporate results worries sink stocks February 6, 2012 US stocks closed slightly lower yesterday as lingering questions about Europe’s debt crisis and corporate earnings overshadowed growing optimism about economic growth after a five-week rally. The S&P has risen about seven per cent so far this year, helped by a slew of better-than-expected US economic data, which was capped by Friday’s solid jobs report. [...]
Caterer Compass gets a boost from US business February 2, 2012 COMPASS Group, the world’s biggest caterer, said yesterday first-quarter sales rose more than eight per cent, as continued strength in North America and emerging markets offset weakness in Europe, putting it on track to achieve its full-year outlook. “We have seen good levels of new business wins and the improved level of retention we achieved [...]
Facebook unveils float of the year February 1, 2012 FACEBOOK has taken the first official step to becoming a publicly traded company, filing papers yesterday that outline plans to raise $5bn in what could be the biggest float this year. Silicon Valley’s most anticipated flotation will see Facebook represented by ticker symbol FB, although the company did not specify whether it would list on [...]
Ocado sales growth picks up January 31, 2012 Online grocer Ocado posted a 27 per cent rise in underlying earnings, forecast first-quarter sales growth of about 10 per cent and said the rate of growth should improve as the year progresses and capacity improves. The group said Tuesday it made earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of £27.9m in the year [...]