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 [...]
Swedish budget retailer, Hennes & Mauritz (H&M), has today announced it is to open 240 new stores this year in Europe, Asia and the US after it posted a better than expected 21% rise in Q4 profits. The fashion chain also said it was about to enter the Israeli market, with outlets in Tel Aviv, [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
The long-awaited quarter four GDP figures are to be released at 09:30 today with the hopes that the UK has finally emerged from its worst recession in several decades. The UK economy, which has now contracted for six consecutive quarters, has been lagging behind other major economies but it is hoped that the economy exited [...]
US search engine giant, Google, said revenues rose 17% in the fourth quarter 2009 compared with the same period a year ago. Advertising earnings were higher at the company with revenues totalling $6.67 billion (£4 billion) in the October to December period – up from $5.7 billion a year ago. However, the figures were at [...]
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 [...]
Citigroup, which is the third largest US bank, has today posted a loss for the fourth quarter of 2009, as a result of the repayment of Government loans. The bank said it repaid $20 billion to the US Government during the 2009 year. The Wall Street banking giant said losses totalled $7.6 billion (£4.7 billion) [...]
Phone fraudsters stealing bank card pins
Fraudsters using a phone scam to trick bank card holders into revealing their pin numbers stole £750,000 in the first four months of this year. This is the same amount stolen through this scam in the whole of last year. The fraudster telephones a bank customer, often someone elderly or vulnerable, telling them that their [...]
FSA rules out ban on interest-only mortgages
Speculation that the Financial Services Authority would ban interest-only mortgages as part of its Mortgage Market Review has proved to be unfounded. However, lenders will be required to monitor the performance of the investment product taken out by the customer to repay the mortgage at the end of its term. Investments are performing poorly because [...]
Bank of England may end free in-credit banking
A director of the Bank of England has warned that official intervention could be considered to end the ‘dangerous myth of free in-credit banking’. Andrew Bailey has already spoken out against free banking in relation to the mis-selling of financial products. In a speech made available to media, he reiterated his concern, saying that it [...]
Bank of England votes against more economic stimulus
The Bank of England voted against a further round of quantitative easing, at its latest Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting. Just one member, David Miles, voted for further asset purchase to encourage growth in the UK economy, while the other eight members voted to keep the Bank’s quantitative easing programme steady at £325bn. The minutes [...]
Catalogue debt growing says helpline
Calls from people concerned about their debts with mail order catalogues accounted for more than 12 per cent of all calls received by National Debtline last year, compared with just 8 per cent in 2007. More people were concerned about catalogue debt than about payday loans, mortgage or rent, according to the Money Advice Trust [...]
Homeserve faces mis-selling investigation
HomeServe, which provides emergency insurance cover and domestic repairs to households in the UK, is to be investigated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA). Issues over the possible mis-selling of household emergency policies were uncovered last October during an internal review at the Walsall-based company. Homeserve’s call centre staff were found to be selling ‘Complete [...]
OFT warns Wonga over debt collection methods
Payday loan company Wonga used aggressive and misleading methods to collect debts from customers, the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has found. Wonga sent letter and emails to certain customers suggesting they had committed fraud and threatening to report them to the police if they did not act in the way Wonga suggested. The company [...]
NS&I re-launches investment account
National Savings & Investments (NS&I) has re-launched its Investment Account at a higher interest rate than it previously offered. The account now offers 0.75 per cent before tax, compared with between 0.2 and 0.3 per cent previously, depending on the account balance. Deposits and withdrawals on the account can no longer be made at Post [...]
Rightmove reports property downsizing trend
Two in five property owners planning to sell in the next year are planning to ‘trade down’, compared with one in four who plan to ‘trade up’. A survey by property website Rightmove found that moving to a smaller home is the main reason for moving in nine out of the ten regions in the [...]
More people failing to save for retirement
The proportion of people with no pension savings has grown from 20 per cent to 22 per cent over the past year, according to Scottish Widows’ latest survey. The pension provider surveyed 5,200 adults in the UK, aged 30 or over, and earning at least £10,000 a year, for its annual review of pensions. Ian [...]
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