Germany boosts Eurozone service sector December 3, 2010 THE EUROZONE’S service sector economy pulled ahead in November thanks to strengthening German and French business, but debt-burdened Ireland and Spain continued to lag behind, business surveys released today show. The Markit Eurozone Services Purchasing Managers Index (PMI), which surveys more than 2,000 businesses ranging from banks to hotels, rose in November to 55.4 from [...]
Germany boosts Eurozone service sector December 3, 2010 THE EUROZONE’S service sector economy pulled ahead in November thanks to strengthening German and French business, but debt-burdened Ireland and Spain continued to lag behind, business surveys released today show. The Markit Eurozone Services Purchasing Managers Index (PMI), which surveys more than 2,000 businesses ranging from banks to hotels, rose in November to 55.4 from [...]
Heineken sales slump as downturn hits drinkers October 27, 2010 HEINEKEN yesterday reported third-quarter sales at the bottom of expectations, as poor summer weather, austerity measures, and low consumer confidence hit European and US drinking. The Dutch brewer – whose main brands are Heineken and Amstel – said volumes rose sharply in Africa, Asia and Latin America but were lower overall on a like-for-like basis [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS November 1, 2010 CARNIVAL Shore Capital rates the cruise operator a “sell” with a target price of 2,724p. The broker argues that the firm’s share price corresponds to consumer confidence, which continues to soften in the long-term. Profit at the company is also linked to oil prices, with every $10-per-barrel rise knocking 25 cents from earnings per share, [...]
Real estate pessimism takes hold October 24, 2010 More home-movers believe house prices will drop in the next year than those who believe they will go up, according to a survey due out today. Rightmove’s quarterly consumer confidence survey, which polls more than 25,000 home-movers, shows the pessimists outnumber the optimists for the first time since the survey began. A year ago, those [...]
Carpetright says 2011 will still be tough October 27, 2010 CARPETRIGHT said yesterday like-for-like sales over the last three months have fallen because of continuing tough market conditions – and warned of a difficult 2011 ahead. Group sales dropped by 5.2 per cent in the twelve weeks to 23 October compared to the previous period, with 0.5 per cent of the downturn attributable to the [...]
International Personal Finance profit soars October 19, 2010 Emerging markets lender International Personal Finance posted a 36 per cent rise in third-quarter adjusted pre-tax profit, helped by a strong recovery in Hungary. The company, which lends small cash sums to consumers in central Europe and Mexico, also expects to be in a good position to deliver further improvement in 2011 on stronger growth [...]
US stocks firm ahead of elections October 26, 2010 US stocks were little changed yesterday as investors held steady under a raft of earnings in anticipation of next week’s US elections and likely announcement of a new economic stimulus programme from the Federal Reserve. The broader equities market edged lower after weak revenue forecasts from drugmaker Bristol-Myers Squibb and chip manufacturer Texas Instruments. Bristol-Myers [...]
Diageo sales rise fuelled by emerging markets May 5, 2011 Diageo, the world’s biggest spirits group, beat forecasts with a seven per cent rise in underlying sales for the first three months of 2011 as strong emerging market growth offset a weak Europe. The British maker of Smirnoff vodka, Captain Morgan rum and Guinness beer also stuck to its forecast to see higher profit growth [...]
Japan PLC can learn from hacker scandal May 4, 2011 ON holiday in Japan last year, I was struggling to find a restaurant in the tangled nexus of Tokyo’s backstreets. Eventually, I asked a local for directions. He assured me that he knew where the restaurant was, setting off with a confident stride. After twenty minutes or so, he said he couldn’t quite remember where [...]