Could now be the moment to enter the dragon? August 8, 2008 As the Olympics begin, China has never been more intriguing, says Samantha Downes It was once a region where only the least risk-averse would fear to tread, but China has emerged as a magnet for investors’ cash. In the last decade the communist-run country has emerged as the world’s second largest economy. Its willingness to [...]
Outage sparks International Power investors to sell stock August 8, 2008 Shares in International Power slid yesterday after the power generator said a nine-week outage at one of its plants would hit profits by £45m. The firm, led by chief executive Philip Cox, said longer-than-expected maintenance work at its coal power station Rugeley in Staffordshire would hit its second-half results. Cox said: “One unit suffered a [...]
Volatile markets give London Capital Group a boost as interim profits soar August 8, 2008 Volatile market conditions helped profits more than double at spread betting firm London Capital Group over the past six months, its interim results revealed yesterday. Profits before tax rose 52 per cent to £5.43m in the six months to the end of June as sharp falls in share prices tempted more people to try spread [...]
Results beat expectations at MF Global August 8, 2008 Shares in MF Global, the global futures and options broker, gained as much as 12 per cent on Wall Street after its first-quarter results came in better than-expected, despite profits plummeting 80 per cent on last year. For the three months ending 30 June, the company posted profits of $14.4m (£7.2m), compared to $72.9m a [...]
Axa avoids worst of the fallout August 8, 2008 Axa, Europe’s second-biggest insurer, reported lower first-half net profit yesterday although its earnings still managed to beat analyst expectations. Net profit fell 32 per cent to €2.16bn (£1.7bn) partly due to write downs on fixed income assets. The French insurer revealed a €237m impact on asset backed securities and a €502m hit on fixed income [...]
Halifax piles on woe August 8, 2008 The drip feed of bad news for the property market continued yesterday when Britain’s biggest lender Halifax revealed that house prices have fallen back to mid-2006 levels. House prices are now 8.8 per cent lower than they were this time last year, Halifax said, with an average home in Britain costing £21,733 less than July [...]
Barclays looks to grow despite loss August 8, 2008 Barclays executives sounded a note of caution yesterday, as the bank posted a 33 per cent decline in pre-tax profits to £2.75bn and took £2.45bn in impairment charges and credit provisions. Pre-tax profits fell 33 per cent from £4.1bn to £2.75bn, while income remained at £11.8bn and the dividend was stable at 11.5p. Chief executive [...]
BNP Paribas tops market and outperforms rivals August 7, 2008 BNP Paribas the French banking giant, reported a 34 per cent fall in second-quarter net profits as it beat expectations to outperform some of its closest rivals, sending shares up by as much as 6.3 per cent. France’s largest listed bank reported a net profit of €1.51bn (£1.18bn) for the quarter, down from €2.28bn, as [...]
Standard Life boosted by pension sales August 7, 2008 Standard Life announced soaring first-half profits yesterday as it increased pension sales worldwide. Operating profit at the Edinburgh based insurer rose 51 per cent to £535m in the first half, fuelled by pension sales and the transfer of £6.7bn of annuity liabilities to Canada Life International Reinsurance. Worldwide life and pensions new sales rose 5 [...]
IMF cuts growth forecasts August 7, 2008 The International Monetary Fund yesterday cut its forecasts for the next two years and warned it wouldn’t “take much of a shock” for growth to become negative. It now predicts that the economy will grow by 1.4 per cent in 2008 and 1.1 per cent in 2009 – well below the 1.75 per cent it [...]