Refinery fears overshadow Shell’s results February 3, 2011 ROYAL Dutch Shell disappointed markets yesterday despite posting fourth-quarter earnings of $5.7bn (£3.5bn). The firm made $18.6bn during 2010, an increase of 90 per cent on last year when the effects of inventory changes are stripped out. But Shell’s UK-listed shares closed down three per cent to £22 in trading yesterday, with analysts expressing concern [...]
Chief reformer Witty stays down to earth February 3, 2011 WHEN chief executive Andrew Witty took the helm at the world’s third largest pharmaceutical company in May 2008, GlaxoSmithKline was looking for change. After eight years with Jean-Pierre Garnier at the top – during which the Frenchman improved the company’s fortunes while attracting controversy for refusing to provide discount HIV drugs to Africa – Witty [...]
JD in talks to buy troubled retailer JJB February 2, 2011 JD Sports is in talks to buy troubled retailer JJB Sports, sending shares in the Wigan-based firm soaring 17 per cent. The news comes as JJB confirmed it will raise £31.5m from shareholders through the placement of 630m new shares, with sources close to the firm warning it may need further help within weeks. The [...]
Shock drop for German retailing January 31, 2011 German retail sales posted a surprise fall in December. Economists had expected a strong rise in retail sales of two per cent, yet the federal statistics office posted a fall of 0.3 per cent compared to November. On an annual basis, sales declined by 1.3 per cent against expectations for a 1.1 per cent increase. [...]
Pain must always come before gain January 27, 2011 CREDIT rating agencies have come in for a lot of flak, not least in this newspaper, but yesterday they proved that they can still tell the Emperor it has no clothes. The downgrade of Japan’s credit came as a stark reminder that government debt will be the new sub-prime. It certainly ought to serve as [...]
Profits surge at Starbucks January 26, 2011 COFFEE giant Starbucks posted a 35 per cent rise in operating income yesterday, which nevertheless fell short of analyst forecasts for the full-year as the rising cost of coffee continued to dent margins. The world’s largest coffee chain has seen wholesale coffee prices increase by nearly three-quarters since last summer – due to poor weather, [...]
S&P hits highest level for 29 months January 26, 2011 THE S&P 500 closed at a 29-month high yesterday led by gains in tech and commodity shares, as investors largely ignored the US Federal Reserve’s lukewarm economic assessment. The stock market had little reaction to the Fed, which said high unemployment still justifies a $600bn bond-buying programme that has helped equities rally in the last [...]
What the other papers say this morning January 25, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES RUSSIANS PREPARE FOR LISTING SPREE IN LONDON Four industrial and mining companies from Russia are set to list in London within the next few weeks, the first in a string of companies from the country rushing to raise an estimated $15bn-$20bn (£9.5bn-£12.7bn) this year. The companies are taking advantage of a narrow window [...]
Vickers rules out break-up January 23, 2011 SIR John Vickers, chair of the Independent Commission on Banking (ICB), ruled out breaking up the financial industry into “narrow banks” on Saturday in his first official speech since the commission was convened. But Vickers’ speech, which gave a glimpse of the ICB’s thinking three months before its preliminary report is due out, did discuss [...]
Stanchart leans towards Shanghai as its adds Asia staff January 21, 2011 Emerging markets bank Standard Chartered has said it will continue hiring aggressively in Asia as it believes growth in the region will outpace that of the rest of the world. Chief executive Peter Sands said that Stanchart’s hiring spree would include recruiting another 2,000 people in Singapore by the end of next year to take [...]