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News Headlines: US Stocks ended mixed Wednesday, with the Nasdaq managing a small late-day rally to close modestly higher while the Dow finished just in negative territory: Trading was light ahead of the Labour Day holiday weekend. YELL telephone directory publisher, said it was well on track to meet full-year expectations as it reported double-digit first-quarter earnings growth. Profit was 80 million pounds in the three months to end-June, up 17.3 percent Hilton Group posted a smaller-than-feared fall in first-half profit and said it saw a steady recovery at its hotels while business at its Ladbrokes betting shops continued to boom. The 6 month profit fell 15 percent to 110.5 million pounds against the consensus forecast of 103 million pounds. They were cautiously optimistic on a recovery in the hotel business Tomkins engineering reported lower first-half profits that broadly met forecasts and said its outlook for the current year was likely to remain in line with current expectations. Profit fell to 136 million pounds from 159 million a year earlier with analysts forecast profits of 137 million pounds. Rexam maker of drinks cans posted a nine percent rise in first-half profits and said it had seen an encouraging start to the second half of the year. Profit rose to 127 million pounds compared to analysts' forecasts of around 125 million pounds. Rentokil said its first-half underlying profit rose 7.4 percent from a year ago, beating analysts expectations. Profit in the six months to the end of June was 200.5 million pounds, ahead of analysts' consensus forecast of 195 million pounds. Rentokil said it expected strong growth in earnings per share for 2003 in line with market expectations. AMEC posted lower first-half profits amid weaker industrial markets but said it expected the second half to show a marked improvement. Profits were 35.7 million pounds, analysts expected the firm to post profits of 35-38.5 million pounds. Marconi reported a decline in first-quarter margins but said that careful cost control helped maintain cash flow. Margin fell to 22.6 percent from 24.5 percent the previous quarter, though the figure compared with 18.2 percent one year before."We remain on track to meet our year-end operational targets, and we have been operating cash positive now for three straight quarters," Chief Executive Mike Parton said. Its adjusted operating loss rose to 43 million pounds from 28 million in the fourth quarter. Marconi said the performance was hindered by lower sales, which were confirmed at 367 million pounds, down from 429 million the quarter before. WH Smith said on Thursdayits second half underlying high street sales in the UK will be flat and profit margins will be down, harming full year expectations. The company blamed the competitive environment and recent hot weather for denting sales and cutting profits. It continues to review the future of its loss-making U.S travel retail businesses
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