British Airways (BA) has today reported a £50 million loss in the three months to December 31 2009, compared with the £122 million it lost in the same period a year earlier. However, the loss was much less than analysts’ predictions for a £151 million loss. Meanwhile, the airline posted a surprise £25 million operating [...]
The Unite union is in the High Court this week to resolve whether there should be a permanent injunction preventing British Airways (BA) from imposing cost-cutting measures. Unite previously applied for a High Court injunction to block BA’s plans, but it was unsuccessful . The airline wants 75% of its crew to accept a pay [...]
Oil giant BP has today posted a 45% fall to £8.75 billion in 2009-annual profit compared with the 2008 year. Meanwhile profit for the fourth quarter of 2009 rose 33% to £2.16 billion ($3.45 billion) compared with the $2.59 billion posted a year earlier, as a result of the recovery in oil prices. However, the [...]
As part of a major restructure, Britain’s largest drugs company GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) is to slash 4,000 positions, according to The Sunday Times. According to press reports, the job losses are part of plans to shift its focus to emerging markets, such as China which has greater potential to increase sales growth. The company has a [...]
US carmaker Ford has today reported its first annual profit since 2005 after a turbulent 12 months for the American car industry. The company reported an annual net profit for 2009 of $2.27 billion (£1.4 billion) compared with a loss of $15 billion in 2008. Meanwhile, for the fourth quarter of 2009, profit was $868 [...]
The UK’s second-largest drug maker, AstraZeneca, has announced plans to axe a further 8,000 jobs across its global operations over the next four years. The reduction in headcount is in addition to the 12,600 worldwide positions that have already been shed as part of the group’s massive cost-cutting programme. The latest job cuts are to [...]
Online search giant Yahoo has posted strong quarter four profits but said sales continue to decline. The company said net profit in the October to December period was $153 million (£95 million) compared with a $303 million loss in the same period in 2008. However, revenue was down 4% to $1.7 billion in the quarter [...]
US coffee chain Starbucks has exceeded market expectations by reporting a threefold rise in quarterly profits. The chain posted a net profit of $241.5 million (£148 million) in the final quarter of 2009, compared with $64.3 million in the same period a year ago. Meanwhile, same store US sales grew 4%, their first rise in [...]
Internet provider AOL is to axe around one third of its workforce as it spins off from media giant Time Warner next month. The job losses represent around 2,300 jobs from its 6,900-strong workforce and AOL said it would impose the cuts on a voluntary and involuntary basis. The cuts are part of a programme [...]
Wolseley, which is the world’s largest supplier of plumbing and heating equipment, today reported a 45% fall in underlying profits in the three months to the end of October. The company has been badly hit by the housing market downturn and warned that its struggles continue after revenue slumped 13% to £3.4 billion in the [...]
British Airways (BA) cabin crew are set to cast their vote on whether strike action will take place. The Unite trade union is predicting that 14,000 air stewards and stewardesses will vote in favour of strike action over the Christmas period in a dispute over cost-cutting measures. The measures include a two-year pay freeze for [...]
Profits at telecommunications giant British Telecom (BT) plummeted in the six months to 30 September by 45%, as a result of its major restructure, which resulted in the loss of 15,000 jobs. The company, which increased its cost-cutting target for the year from £1 billion to £1.5 billion, made a pre-tax profit of £547 million [...]
In an attempt to cut costs, US software company Adobe Systems is to axe 680 jobs worldwide – the equivalent of 9% of its workforce. The software company, which is known for Photoshop, Flash and Acrobat, said the restructure is necessary in order to reduce costs. As a direct result of the cuts, Adobe said [...]
As part of its ongoing global cost-cutting programme, Swedish telecoms equipment maker Ericsson is to eliminate 700 jobs from its research and development operation in Coventry. The cuts will be made by the middle of next year and the company said after that time, the facility would no longer be viable. Ericsson has been in [...]
Telecoms company Vodafone is seeking to increase its £1 billion cost-cutting programme by a further £1 billion by 2012 as a result of a sharp decline in revenues from its core UK market. The company, which is the world’s largest mobile phone operator, is struggling amid the global economic downturn and has already announced hundreds [...]
The global economic downturn has forced many airlines out of business as fewer people are travelling by air and Irish airline, Aer Lingus, is no exception. According to the carrier, long-haul numbers plummeted 13% in the three months to September with sales falling by 9.7% in the same period. However, the number of short-haul passengers [...]
Struggling airline British Airways (BA) has today posted a first-half pre-tax loss of £292 million for the six months to 30 September. The airline admitted during the summer it was fighting to survive and has since been looking at ways to cut costs. It is struggling to stay afloat during the global economic downturn which [...]
Royal Dutch Shell has today posted a 73% fall in profits for the July to September period. The Anglo-Dutch oil giant warned that the outlook remains “very uncertain” and according to The Times, is to eliminate 5,000 positions, around 10% of its workforce. The group said its cost-cutting exercise means that 5,000 staff would leave [...]
Electronics retailer Philips has today exceeded market forecasts by posting bumper third quarter results but said it remains cautious about the short-term. The group’s cost-cutting programme meant it made a profit of €174 million (£161.4 million) in the July and September period – more than treble the €57 million in the same quarter a year [...]
Irish airline Aer Lingus, which like many others is struggling amid the global recession, has today announced plans to reduce headcount by 676 in a bid to save €97 million (£90 million) over the next two years. Furthermore, the airline is also calling on staff earning more than €35,000 (£32,400) a year to take a [...]
M&S Money launches 3% cash ISA
M&S Money has launched an Advantage Cash ISA paying 3 per cent, and which allows transfers in from other ISAs. It can be opened with a minimum deposit of £100 lump sum followed by minimum monthly deposits of £25. The 3% rate is variable, but there is no short-term bonus so the return won’t plummet [...]
Google suspends UK Compare Mortgages site
Google has closed its UK mortgage comparison site which it launched in July last year, after it proved to be less popular than expected. Mortgage comparison sites are designed to allow visitors to compare mortgages quickly and easily without having to visit each lender’s individual site. Google was competing with several well-established comparison sites, including [...]
AA launches ‘black-box’ policy for young drivers
The AA is launching an innovative car insurance policy called Drivesafe which could help younger drivers save up to £850 a year. Younger drivers already pay substantially higher premiums than other motorists and these costs are increasing. A new study by Confused.com suggests insurance costs for younger driver have gone up by 5.7 per cent [...]
ATOL scheme updated to protect online bookers
ATOL, a financial protection scheme managed by the Civil Aviation Authority, is being extended to protect up to six million more holidays a year. The scheme ensures that holiday makers do not lose out financially if a travel company collapses, and that they are not stranded abroad. An increase in the number of holidays booked [...]
Home repossessions lowest for four years
The number of UK homes repossessed fell to 36,200 in 2011, significantly below the Council of Mortgage Lenders’ forecast of 40,000, and lower than 2010 when 37,100 homes were repossessed. With interest rates remaining low and lenders adopting a sympathetic attitude to customers in financial difficulty, repossessions fell to their lowest level since 2007. However, [...]
Monthly pay lasting just 17 days
Workers are running out of money just 17 days after receiving their monthly pay, according to new research by the Halifax bank. This means that the average UK worker spends half the month worrying about money. The study, based on the responses of more than 2,000 adults, found that 10 per cent of workers start [...]
Women disadvantaged by auto-enrolment changes
Government proposals to increase the auto-enrolment threshold to £10,000 could put 1.8 million women at risk of missing out on a pension, the TUC has warned. Under the auto-enrolment scheme, which will be phased in from October, private sector employers will automatically enrol workers between the age of 22 years and the state pension age, [...]
Emergency household repairs company Homeserve is taking longer than expected to get back on track after its operations were suspended last October. The company expected customer numbers to fall by 5% this year but it has increased this estimate to 8% and announced the loss of 200 jobs. It estimates that renewal revenue in 2013 [...]
Sale rumoured for Yorkshire and Clydesdale banks
There is growing speculation that National Australia Bank (NAB) may sell Yorkshire Bank and Clydesdale Bank after the Australian parent company announced a strategic review of the two banks’ operations. The Australian economy is performing well and NAB reported strong profits for the final quarter of 2011 but with the UK economy at a virtual [...]
More women experiencing debt difficulties
Women in Debt, which offers female-focused debt advice, has warned that the number of UK women facing serious debt has grown significantly over recent years. The organisation believes that more women will need advice on solving debt problems in the future because they are building up an unsustainable level of indebtedness. Women in Debt’s director, [...]
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