Ryanair pays out €500m as earnings leap June 1, 2010 RYANAIR is to pay out a €500m (£417m) dividend to shareholders after the budget airline saw profits for the year soar by 204 per cent. Subject to approval, the Ireland- based airline said yesterday that it would be in a position to make the €500m return to shareholders through either share buy-backs or a one-off [...]
Air France sees biggest loss in over a decade May 19, 2010 AIR FRANCE-KLM posted its largest loss in 15 years after the airline yesterday reported a full-year net loss of €1.56bn (£1.33bn). Chief executive Pierre-Henri Gourgeon dubbed the year “annus horribilis” after the airline suffered a number of set backs, including the Brazil crash last June which resulted in the death of 228 passengers, the disruptions [...]
McDonald’s in Iceland exit October 26, 2009 FAST FOOD chain McDonald’s is closing all of its Icelandic operations in the wake of the country’s financial crisis, it said yesterday. The world’s largest fast-food business said it is pulling the lid on its three Icelandic restaurants because the economy and other challenges have made doing business there financially impossible. The closures of the [...]
McDonald’s in Iceland exit October 26, 2009 FAST FOOD chain McDonald’s is closing all of its Icelandic operations in the wake of the country’s financial crisis, it said yesterday. The world’s largest fast-food business said it is pulling the lid on its three Icelandic restaurants because the economy and other challenges have made doing business there financially impossible. The closures of the [...]
TUI is losing £6m a day in travel chaos April 19, 2010 TUI TRAVEL, one of the UK’s largest holiday groups, has estimated that the impact of the ash-spewing volcano in Iceland has cost it up to £6m a day. The Crawley based group said yesterday that it had incurred a cumulative cost of £20m from Thursday to Sunday last week and estimated that daily costs thereafter [...]
Ryanair backs down over passengers’ expenses April 22, 2010 RYANAIR has backed down over a decision to limit the expenses paid to stranded passengers. The Irish airline had said that expenses refunds would be limited to the sum travellers had paid for their tickets. That would have meant the company failing to pay for food and accommodation, as required under European regulations. The carrier [...]
Thomas Cook suffers £70m blow from ash cloud crisis May 13, 2010 THE chaos to air travel caused by the volcanic ash cloud knocked £70m off Thomas Cook’s profits, the company said yesterday. But the travel operator said its first- half loss narrowed despite the setback. Thomas Cook reported a pre-tax loss for the half year to 31 March of £252.2m compared with £309m the year before. [...]
Rolls-Royce expects little growth in 2010 April 28, 2010 ROLLS-ROYCE, the aircraft enginemaker, forecasted that its sales and profits for the year to come will be flat as the group said the business environment remained challenging. A statement from Rolls-Royce said yesterday it expects underlying revenue, average net cash and underlying profits to be broadly similar to those achieved in 2009, despite a modest [...]
UNRESOLVED ISSUES CAUSE HEADACHES May 31, 2010 DAVID MORRISON CFD MARKET STRATEGIST, GFT MOST investors will be relieved to see the back of May and hope that June will usher in greater market stability and lower volatility. The last month has been a shocker, with only the relief rally at the end of last week ensuring that major indices avoided a fall [...]
Clarke to become chief executive at Asda while Bond steps up to chairman May 11, 2010 CHIEF operating officer of Asda, Andy Clarke, has been appointed to the role of chief executive and president of the US-owned supermarket. His promotion follows last month’s announcement by Andy Bond that he would step up to become part-time chairman at the retailer. Clarke joined Asda in 1992 but left in 2001 for roles at [...]