Financial News

Geoff Foster, Daily Mail25 May 2006 PUNTERS turned to drink as sellers again called time on the rest of the market. They piled into pubs group Mitchells & Butlers, helping shares of the All Bar One and Harvester chain retrieve an early 11½p fall to end the day at 481¼p (up 11½p). OTHER STORIES Market report: Thursday preview Shares guru says boom is over Solid  ...

LONDON (Reuters) - Long-running takeover target the London Stock Exchange Group (LSE.L: Quote, Profile, Research) on Thursday reported a strong rise in full-year turnover and operating profit, topping analysts' expectations. The LSE has been embroiled in a long running takeover saga that has taken in the major players on both sides of the Atlantic. But it declined to comment on any specific developments, save that it will be meeting with shareholders -- including Nasdaq Stock Market (NDAQ.O:  ...

LONDON (Reuters) - Supermarket Wm Morrison (MRW.L: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Thursday that Chairman Ken Morrison has decided to retire from his post by January, 2008, and that a new chief executive should be appointed within the next three weeks. "I have been chairman of the company since it floated in 1967 but have today informed the board of my current intention to retire as chairman a ...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - MasterCard Inc., the world's No. 2 credit-card association, priced an initial public offering of stock worth about $2.4 billion (1.2 billion pounds) on Wednesday, amid expectations of strong demand for one of the financial services industry's top brands. MasterCard's offering of 61.52 million shares, or 46 percent of the company, was priced at $39 apiece, below a $40 to $43 f ...

WASHINGTON (Dow Jones) - China Mobile Communications Corp. is reportedly on the verge of acquiring Millicom International Cellular SA in a $5.3 billion deal that would expand the Chinese company's footprint into a slew of emerging markets around the world. Leaders of state-owned China Mobile, the largest wireless phone company in China and the biggest in the world in terms of subscribers, still ...

European shares were pressured lower Wednesday by industrial stocks and the resources sector, with travel stocks in focus as the World Health Organization placed bird flu firmly back on the agenda. The U.K. FTSE 100 indexlost 1.3% at 5,604, the German DAX Xetra 30 indexdropped 1.3% at 5,606, and the French CAC-40 indexdeclined 1% at 4,882. The pan-European Dow Jones Stoxx 600 indexfell 1.5%  ...

By Steve Slater LONDON (Reuters) - John Bond leaves HSBC on Friday after keeping colleagues and rivals on their toes during his 45 years helping to build the world's third biggest bank by warning that today's cockerel is tomorrow's feather duster. Bond, 64, a steely Englishman who has established HSBC as a global banking powerhouse with some bold deals during his eight years in charge, takes over as chairman of Vodafone in July, and faces a challenge at the under-fire mobile company. Staff an ...

By Eric Auchard SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Speculation is rife on Wall Street that a big Internet deal or alliance is in the works, with Google, Yahoo, eBay or Microsoft as possible partners -- and a Yahoo-eBay partnership seen as most likely. "A partnership or merger between eBay and Yahoo! is the most strategically feasible," a report authored by analyst Imran Khan and the JP Morgan Internet team said on Monday. "A combined company would have the leading position in auctions, com ...

By David Cullen LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's fifth-largest energy supplier, Scottish Power Plc (SPW.L: Quote, Profile, Research) , said on Wednesday it would raise household energy prices again after turning in a forecast-beating 47 percent jump in annual profit. The Glasgow-based firm, which has 5.25 million customers, said soaring wholesale energy costs had continued unabated and that price hikes were unavoidable in the short term. "We've seen significant increases in wholesale prices over  ...

BIG HIT: Robbie WilliamsMUSIC giant EMI lifted annual profits by almost 13 per cent after seeing revenues from its digital content more than double during the year. The group, which has Coldplay, Gorillaz and Robbie Williams on its roster of artists, said its music division outperformed the rest of the industry as group underlying profits rose to £159.3m in the year to March 31. Downloads of its music content showed the strongest growth as EMI, the world's third-largest music company, reported ...