Listings fall trims profits at UK broker August 13, 2008 Collins Stewart, the British broker that is currently the subject of takeover discussions, reported an 82 per cent slump in first-half profits yesterday, which it blamed on poor performance from its capital markets unit. Pre-tax profit nosedived from £52m to £9.6m and the interim dividend was slashed from 2.5p to 1.2p, as chairman Terry Smith [...]
Woolworths chooses DIY chief as boss August 13, 2008 Woolworths, the troubled British retailer, has appointed former head of Focus DIY Steve Johnson as its new chief executive, in an attempt to revive its fortunes. Johnson, 44, takes over from Trevor Bish-Jones, who was ousted in June, and will earn a basic salary of £550,000 a year, as well as a cash bonus of [...]
Grainger cuts costs to ride out the gloom August 13, 2008 Residential property company Grainger said yesterday it had sold £122m of assets and is slashing costs as it hunkers down to ride out the credit crunch. Shares in the listed company, which owns and manages more than 20,000 properties in Britain and Germany, edged up nine per cent as the firm outlined measures to cut [...]
Encouraging the young is key to creating entrepreneurs August 12, 2008 What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. This can actually be a good thing. A person becomes able to take on more difficult challenges if they are trained with smaller ones steadily. In fact, if you learn how to take risks early in life, you learn to stretch yourself appropriately and succeed in handling bigger [...]
Interactive Prospect dives after firm warns investors August 12, 2008 Online marketing group Interactive Prospect Targeting Holdings’ shares plunged by 27 per cent yesterday after it said its British operation was performing “significantly below management’s expectations”. The Aim-listed firm, which specialises in direct marketing via email, said that it was considering the sale of some of its divisions following its below par performance. It also [...]
Kazakhmys gets blocking stake in ENRC August 12, 2008 Kazakhmys, the Kazakh copper producer, has upped its stake in Kazakh rival Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation (ENRC) to 25.02 per cent, effectively preventing its biggest rival from making a hostile bid for it. The purchase of 35.7m shares, at an average of 1,126p each for a total £402m, will give Kazakhmys the power to veto [...]
It’s best to trade on what you see, not what you think August 11, 2008 In these uncertain markets, instinct and common sense can be a trader’s best friend, says Sandy Jadeja There is an old saying that we should trade what we see and not what we think. Now, I for one agree. The moment I start to think about what’s happening in the markets rather than trade based [...]
UBS set for £2.7bn more credit crunch write-offs August 11, 2008 UBS IS expected to write off €3.5bn (£2.7bn) in assets damaged by the credit crunch tomorrow, as the interim banking results season limps to a close. The Swiss banking giant, which had significant exposure to US subprime mortgages, has endured a year of gloom, posting writedowns of $37bn since the beginning of the credit crunch [...]
Virgin loses punters but profits up August 8, 2008 Cable firm Virgin Media yesterday reported higher than expected underlying second-quarter profit, despite losing nearly 20,000 customers. Underlying profit rose by 6 per cent to £333m due to cost cutting measures, the Nasdaq-listed firm said, beating market expectations of £321m. But Virgin, which boasts Britain’s fastest broadband speeds, said it had lost around 19,500 customers, [...]
Profit fall at Friends August 8, 2008 Shares in Friends Provident tumbled almost five per cent yesterday as the troubled life assurer disappointed investors by posting a 20 per cent fall in profit while failing to complete the sale of its non-core units. Friends Provident, which has been overhauling its business since the start of the year, said it had not yet [...]
