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 [...]
Euro zone industrial output jumps April 14, 2010 INDUSTRIAL output rose more sharply than expected in February – posting its fastest rise in almost two years. Production across the 16-country currency organisation increased by 0.9 per cent from January, according to European official data office Eurostat. The figure jumped 4.1 percent year-on-year – the biggest increase since April 2008. The euro zone economy [...]
BAILOUT CHIEFS FACE HOLLYWOOD PARADE April 8, 2010 HERE’S betting that the key players in the downfall and rescue of the US banking system never believed they’d have it so good. After countless sleepless nights and stress-soaked days, it’s probably fair to say that policymakers and bank bosses weren’t looking their best when they emerged, battered and bruised, on the other side of [...]
GM hints at moving to profit in 2010 April 7, 2010 CARMAKER General Motors posted a net loss for 2009, but said it was possible to make a profit this year and that it was laying the foundation to return to public ownership. GM reported a $4.3bn (£2.82bn) 2009 net loss covering the period from its emergence from bankruptcy in July through to the end of [...]