American technology giants post mixed earnings figures July 18, 2008 In a busy day in the American technology sector yesterday computer business IBM surged ahead of market expectations, while software maker Microsoft and internet firm Google failed to beat forecasts. IBM said its second-quarter profit leaped 22 per cent to $2.8bn (£1.4bn). It soared past Wall Street’s estimates as its core services division continued to [...]
HBOS backers face £300m losses on rights issue flop July 18, 2008 HBOS’s £4bn cash-call is today expected to be shunned by shareholders – making it one of the biggest ever failed rights issues. Shares in the bank staged a rally yesterday, rising 5 per cent to 268.25p – but despite clawing back some of the ground lost in recent days the stock still closed below the [...]
Oligarchs in fresh bid to force out BP July 18, 2008 Joint venture boss Bob Dudley could be forced to leave Russia due to visa problems Bob Dudley, chief executive of BP’s Russian joint venture TNK-BP, could be forced out of the country in the next two weeks, it emerged yesterday. In a dramatic escalation of the oil giant’s dispute with its oligarch partners, Russia’s Federal [...]
Council wage strike tests Brown’s steel July 17, 2008 Hundreds of thousands of local government workers went on strike yesterday in a dispute over pay that paralysed services from education to rubbish collection. The pay dispute is a test of the government’s nerve at a time when it is languishing far behind the Conservatives in the polls and trying to fight soaring inflation by [...]
LandSecs sales hit by crunch July 17, 2008 Land Securities, the UK’s largest developer, said yesterday lettings and asset sales are running at a slower rate than last year, reflecting the on going gloom in the property market. Chief executive Francis Salway hinted that the slump could last for at least another 12 months, as occupiers struggle to cope with the downturn in [...]
ICAP cashes in on turmoil July 17, 2008 Inter-dealer broker ICAP proved to be an isolated bright spot on the horizon yesterday as it posted buoyant revenues for the first quarter and said it had benefited from the recent financial market volatility. In an interim trading statement for the three months to June, the group said that revenues, excluding the recent acquisition of [...]
Rio Tinto hit by slump in copper yields July 17, 2008 Bid target Rio Tinto said yesterday its second-quarter refined copper production plunged 18 per cent from a year ago, as the miner saw lower yields at some of its mines. But chief executive Tom Albanese said iron ore output rose 13 per cent on sustained demand from China. Production of iron ore increased to 41.9 [...]
Nervous fund managers flee equities July 17, 2008 Fund managers are stockpiling cash as the volatile market conditions force them to flee equities, according to a new report. The survey of 191 fund managers, commissioned by investment bank Merrill Lynch, found that 53 per cent were now overweight in cash with 40 per cent underweight equities as investors’ risk appetite neared record lows [...]
Wall Street giants hit by SEC probe into short-selling July 17, 2008 American regulators have subpoenaed top investment banks, including Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank and Merrill Lynch as part of an investigation into the suspected manipulation of Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers shares. The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has also approached more than 50 hedge funds to obtain trading and communications data. The inquiry aims [...]
Mutuality stages a comeback as Co-op buys Somerfield for £1.56bn July 17, 2008 Three months ago Co-operative Group chief executive Peter Marks unveiled a bold three-year plan to double the group’s profits. The fortunes of the mutual store group were flagging, with 2007 profits down almost 50 per cent and the group offering little competition to the main supermarket chains. Yesterday, the first phase of Marks’ plan to [...]