Financial News

Elizabeth Hopkirk, Evening Standard18 August 2006 A NEW front has opened up in the cut-throat supermarket rivalry. Competing chains have slashed prices of clothes, electrical equipment and homeware to record lows in a bid to attract customers, figures show today. PRICE WAR: Has moved away from food WANT TO KNOW MORE? SPECIAL: Supermarket watch BLOG: Bogus supermarket wine offers REPORT: The half-price wine 'rip-off' QUIZ: Supermarkets POLL: Have supermarkets become too powe ...

FRANKFURT (AFX) - Deutsche Bank AG's recent acquisition of over 5 pct of Endesa SA shares is financially, and not strategically, motivated and is part of the bank's normal asset management operations, Handelsblatt reported, citing unnamed financial sources. Deutsche Bank's plans are not directly related to E.ON AG's attempt to takeover the Spanish utility, the report said. A Deutsche Bank spokes ...

(Repeating to clarify second and third pars) FRANKFURT (AFX) - Deutsche Bank AG's recent acquisition of over 5 pct of Endesa SA shares is financially, and not strategically, motivated and is part of the bank's normal asset management operations, Handelsblatt reported, citing unnamed financial sources. Deutsche Bank's action was not directly related to E.ON AG's attempt to takeover the Spanish ut ...

SYDNEY (XFN-ASIA) - Share prices closed slightly lower as investors took profits after recent solid gains in the market, while lower commodity prices weighed on resource and energy stocks, dealers said. They said a semi-annual testimony by Reserve Bank of Australia governor Ian Macfarlane, suggesting the risk for interest rates is on the upside. led banking stocks lower. National Australia Bank  ...

LONDON (AFX) - The buy-out team that has made a 10 bln stg-plus approach to NTL's management has not yet won the backing of Sir Richard Branson and Bill Huff, the cable group's two most important shareholders, according to the Financial Times. "We have been shareholders in this business for a month and we have not had any approaches," a spokesman for Branson's Virgin Group reported told ...

SAN FRANCISCO (Dow Jones) -- Keyspan Corp. shareholders gave their consent Thursday to an $11.8 billion takeover by Britain's National Grid Plc., the Brooklyn-based company said. The vote, cast at Keyspan's annual shareholder meeting, brings the two companies a step closer to forging the third largest energy utility in the U.S., with about eight million electric and gas customers in New York an ...

HONG KONG (Dow Jones) -- Asian stocks generally were higher Friday morning as technology exporters including Sony Corp. and Tokyo Electron Ltd. drew strength from gains in U.S. markets and airlines advanced after an overnight dip in crude-oil prices raised hopes that fuel costs would fall. Stocks in Japan, Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore and Malaysia posted morning gains. Australia's  ...

Time Warner is to restate its accounts for the past six years after it was found to have improperly accounted for deals involving its internet arm AOL. The move comes after the media giant paid regulators $300m (£159m) last year to settle civil fraud charges arising from how various AOL deals were booked. Improper accounting was found to have led to its profits being inflated. Since then, an independent examiner has been studying online advertising deals concluded by AOL with 17 firms.  ...

NEW YORK (AFX) - Time Warner Inc. said Thursday it will restate its financial results after an independent auditor found problems with the way it accounted for a number of transactions in 2000 and 2001, mainly involving online advertising. The restatement came as part of a settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission which was announced in March of last year and required the company to  ...

NEW YORK (AFX) - Time Warner Inc. said Thursday it will restate its financial results after an independent auditor found problems with the way it accounted for a number of transactions in 2000 and 2001, mainly involving online advertising. The restatement came as part of a settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission over accounting problems at its America Online unit, which was announc ...