Figures today show consumers continue to cutback in the face of higher inflation and rising unemployment after Kesa, the parent company of electrical retailer Comet, revealed a sharp fall in sales. Total revenue in the previous three months fell by 9.8% on a like-for-like basis while sales slumped almost 22% after the company blamed weak [...]
Housebuilder Redrow, which is the fifth largest housebuilder in the UK by volume, has today reported a profit for the six-month period to 31 December. The company said net income for the period was £3.5 million against a loss of £6.3 million a year earlier. Meanwhile, the company based in St. David’s Park, Wales, said [...]
Budget airline easyJet has today said it was hit by the severe wintry weather in Europe last month and was hit by costs of £31 million, which also included strike action by French air traffic controllers. However, taking this into account, the airline said revenue in its first quarter (the final three months of 2010) [...]
Microsoft, the world’s largest software company, has announced its profits for the April to June period and has exceeded analysts expectations. The company said profits hit $4.52 billion (£2.96 billion) for the second quarter – a rise of 48% compared with the same period a year earlier. The software giant, which released the Windows 7 [...]
Credit Suisse, which is Switzerland’s second-largest bank, has today exceeded expectations by reporting second quarter profits of SwFr1.6 billion (£1 billion). Compared to the same three-month period a year ago, earnings were 1% higher but were down 22% when compared with the first quarter of the year. The rise in profits came despite a 32% [...]
Online search giant Yahoo has published its second quarter results which disappointed the market, sending its shares diving more than 7%. Profits at the company grew by more than 50% in the quarter, but net revenues missed expectations. Revenue in the three months ending June 30 totalled $1.6 billion (£1.05 billion), compared with $1.57 billion [...]
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 [...]
The world’s largest advertising group WPP has reported that pre-tax profits almost halved for the first half of 2009 but said the latter half of the year was “forecast to show a marked improvement in profitability”. Pre-tax profit for the six months to the end of June plunged 47% to £179 million, while like-for-like revenue [...]
The world’s largest advertising group WPP has announced that revenue is down by 5.8 percent like-for-like in the first 3 months of 2009 and recovery is unlikely until 2010 after a trading update was released today. Cuts in clients’ spending, as a result of tightening advertising and marketing budgets means that 2009 will be a [...]
The world’s biggest package delivery company, United Parcel Service (UPS), has announced a severe fall in profits for the first quarter as fewer parcels are being sent during the global economic downturn. The group reported a 55% drop in profits for the period, compared with the same period in 2008, while revenue declined by 14% [...]
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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