News Tag: profits
March 18, 2010
Britain’s largest mutually-owned retailer, the Co-operative Group, has today posted "record sales and profits" for the 2009 year after its acquisition of Somerfield and its merger with the Britannia building society.
The group said underlying operating profits before significant items soared 20% to £473 million over the year, while revenue was £13.7 billion.
Meanwhile, the Co-operative group's grocery division, which is ...
Co-op profits boosted by Somerfield takeover
by Kay Murchie
March 16, 2010
Oil giant Royal Dutch Shell has today announced it will axe a third of its global petrol station network and shed a further 1,000 jobs by the end of next year, as part of its ongoing cost cutting programme.
The Anglo-Dutch firm, which is Britain’s second largest oil company, has been hit by a slump in demand for ...
Shell steps up cost-cutting programme with further job losses
by Kay Murchie
March 2, 2010
Respected US billionaire investor Warren Buffett has said the problems in the US property market will be over within a year.
In his annual letter to shareholders in Berkshire Hathaway, the investment group controlled by Mr Buffett, he said prices will remain 'far below bubble levels' for the medium term.
He added: "People thought it was good news a few years ...
Buffett confident of US housing market recovery
by Kay Murchie
February 25, 2010
Operating profits at British Gas soared by 58% last year to £595 million, compared with £379 million in 2008.
Its parent company Centrica said the figures beat the previous high of £573 million in 2007.
While British Gas announced earlier this month it was reducing its gas prices by 7%, the results will no doubt anger consumers who have been hit by ...
British Gas profits surge record 58%
by Kay Murchie
February 8, 2010
Anglo-Swiss mining group, Xstrata, has today reported a fall in full-year pre-tax profits to $1.87 billion (£1.2 billion), against $6.05 billion a year earlier.
However, despite the fall, the company said it will resume dividend payments after scrapping them for the first half of 2009, as a result of growing debt and a slump in demand for metals.
It embarked on a ...
Xstrata reports fall in full-year profits
by Kay Murchie
February 4, 2010
Oil giant Royal Dutch Shell has today posted a 75% fall in profits for the fourth quarter to $1.2 billion (£755 million), compared with the $4.8 billion the company made a year ago.
The Anglo-Dutch company, which is Britain’s second largest oil company, has been hit by a slump in demand for oil from a weak global economy.
For the full 2009-year, the ...
Shell Q4 profits plunge 75%
by Kay Murchie
February 1, 2010
Exxon Mobil, which is the world’s largest oil company, has today announced a 23% fall in fourth quarter profits.
The company reported profits of $6.05 billion (£3.8 billion) for the three months to December 31, compared with $7.82 billion in the same period a year earlier.
Revenues grew 7% to $89.84 billion exceeding analysts expectations and up from the $84.7 billion ...
Exxon posts 23% fall in Q4 profits
by Kay Murchie
January 29, 2010
Microsoft, the world’s largest software company, has announced its profits for the October to December period and has exceeded analysts expectations.
The software giant, which released the Windows 7 operating system in October, said net profit came in at $6.66 billion (£4.13 billion) for the three months to 31 December 2009, compared with the $4.18 billion it posted ...
Microsoft profits soar due to high demand for Windows 7
by Kay Murchie
January 28, 2010
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 million - a significant improvement on the loss ...
Ford returns to profitability amid cost-cutting
by Kay Murchie
Cost-cutting programme sees further 8,000 jobs go at AstraZeneca
by Kay Murchie
January 27, 2010
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 compared with the previous quarter.
The economic ...
Pick up in advertising spend boosts Yahoo profits
by Kay Murchie
January 26, 2010
Apple has benefited from the continued popularity of iPhones and posted a net profit of $3.4 billion (£2.08 billion) in the three months to 26 December - a 50% rise compared with a year earlier.
The California-based technology giant, which has bucked the trend in the economic downturn, impressed analysts after sales grew 32% in the period to $15.7 billion.
The ...
Apple profits surge 50% due to high demand
by Kay Murchie
January 25, 2010
Swedish telecoms equipment maker Ericsson is to eliminate a further 1,500 jobs, as it posted a 92% slump in fourth quarter profits.
The company said net profit for the October to December period was 314 million kronors (£27 million), compared with 3.89 billion kronors in the same period a year earlier.
The results were far worse than analysts had expected.
Meanwhile, ...
Ericsson announces more job losses as profits slump
by Kay Murchie
January 21, 2010
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 over two years.
In the UK, like-for-like sales increased by ...
Starbucks results exceed expectations
by Kay Murchie
January 15, 2010
Wall Street banking giant JPMorgan has kicked off the reporting season with a bang by posting fourth quarter profits of $3.28 billion (£2 billion) compared with $702 million a year ago - at the height of the financial crisis.
Meanwhile, the bank reported full-year profits of $11.7 billion, or $2.26 per share, on record revenue of $108.6 billion. ...
JPMorgan Chase kicks off reporting season with a bang
by Kay Murchie
December 9, 2009
Stagecoach has today reported a fall in first-half profit as a result of higher fuel and pension costs.
The bus and rail operator posted a pre-tax profit of £75.5 million in the six months to the end of October - a fall of 28%.
However, the profits exceeded market expectations and the group said it was seeing an improvement ...
Stagecoach profits hit by higher fuel and pension costs
by Kay Murchie
November 20, 2009
Britain’s largest building society, Nationwide, posted a slump in first half profits and provided a gloomy assessment of the housing market as it unveiled its results.
Nationwide said pre-tax profits for the six months to September 30 were £143 million, a fall of 62% compared with the £374 million posted a year earlier.
The company attributed the fall to the low ...
Nationwide posts 62% fall in H1 profits
by Kay Murchie
November 18, 2009
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 three month period.
The plumbers’ merchant ...
Wolseley continues to struggle as profits slump
by Kay Murchie
Mothercare announces new jobs amid 11% increase in profits
by Kay Murchie
November 17, 2009
Budget airline easyJet has posted a severe fall in profits for the full-year to the end of September as a result of rising fuel costs.
The airline posted underlying pre-tax profits of £43.7 million, compared with £123.1 million in the same period a year earlier - a fall of 64.5%
However, the no-frills airline said it expected a "substantial" improvement to profits in ...
easyJet hit by rising fuel costs
by Kay Murchie
