Imperial Tobacco sees first half profits roll in April 27, 2010 IMPERIAL Tobacco has seen first-half profits rise by 16 per cent despite recession-hit smokers ditching high-end brands in favour of roll-ups. Profit rose to £1.18bn in the six months to the end of March at the fourth biggest cigarette maker in the world, whose brands include Lambert & Butler. The rise came despite a 3.7 [...]
Hedge funds come back in first quarter April 27, 2010 HEDGE funds are starting to shine again. They have so far successfully navigated the turbulence in the financial markets this year. According to Credit Suisse/Tremont Hedge Index’s analysis of more than 5,000 funds, they posted returns of 3.1 per cent in the first quarter, outperforming traditional equity and bond indices. This helped them move towards [...]
PANTHER BOSS ON A TRIP INTO NOSTALGIA April 26, 2010 ANDREW Perloff, the eccentric chairman of property firm Panther Securities, has something of a cult following among City investors due to his penchant for using company results statements as an excuse to reminisce at length about life’s little quirks. But yesterday’s final results announcement was a corker even by Perloff’s own standards, ranging from fervent [...]
Barclays in line for strong profit haul April 25, 2010 BARCLAYS will this week continue the bumper first quarter earnings trend set by the major US banks, with profits set to be buoyed by declining impairment charges and a strong start to the year in investment banking. Barclays is expected to post first-quarter pre-tax profits of between £1.8bn and £2bn when it unveils numbers on [...]
Microsoft profit up 35pc April 22, 2010 MICROSOFT posted a better-than-expected 35 per cent jump in quarterly profit yesterday, lifted by sales of Windows 7. The company reported a net profit of $4.01bn (£2.6bn), for its fiscal third quarter ended 31 March, compared with $2.98bn, a year ago. The results were above analysts’ expectations. Quarterly net revenue rose six per cent to [...]
Solid results boost Wall Street stocks April 22, 2010 US stocks staged a late-day comeback yesterday as strong quarterly profits from consumer bellwethers like Starbucks outweighed worries about Greece’s shaky finances. First quarter earnings are on track to set a record for the percentage of companies beating estimates. Eighty-five per cent of the 98 S&P 500 companies that have reported so far have beaten [...]
GOLDMAN AND GORDON HAVE SEEN BETTER DAYS April 21, 2010 GORDON Brown’s savage attack on Goldman Sachs for being “morally bankrupt” must have come as a surprise to those who can recall a time when the Prime Minister’s attitude to the bank was rather different. BGC’s veteran market commentator David Buik yesterday reminisced about a fundraising gala dinner he attended years ago in aid of [...]
The UK’s software king sees a soft recovery for the economy in 2010 April 19, 2010 After 16 years as chief executive of Britain’s IT giant Sage, Paul Walker says it is time to move on to one last hurrah. Earlier this week, the 52-year-old boss of the Newcastle-based firm said he would leave the business he first joined in 1984 when a successor can be found at some point over [...]
Bank of America back in the black April 16, 2010 BANK of America has posted better than expected net earnings of $2.8bn (£1.8bn) in the first quarter of 2010. The largest US bank returned to profit after losing $194m in the fourth quarter. However, the profit is 24 per cent lower than for the same period a year ago. The bank said record sales and [...]
Vintage year beckons for recruitment market April 14, 2010 WHISPER it quietly or you may be beaten to the chase, but the City is suffering a shortage of candidates for good jobs – a situation not seen since the economic downturn began. Now that those bonuses that have been paid out are safely stashed in the bank, the traditional spring job hunting can begin [...]