Latest News In Stock Market Investment Research – May 1, 2009

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London shares move off early lows

1 May 2009 at 1:40am

LONDON (MarketWatch) — Shares moved off early lows in London on Friday, with mineral extractors performing well as copper miners Vedanta Resources , up 4.4% and Antofagasta , up 3.5%, gained ground. However, most banks were lower, with Barclays shares down 2.7%. The U.K. FTSE 100 index traded flat at 4,242.99. Other major European exchanges were closed for the May Day holiday.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.


Friends Provident names new finance chief

1 May 2009 at 1:28am

LONDON (MarketWatch) — British insurance firm Friends Provident said Friday that Evelyn Bourke has been appointed chief financial officer, effective immediately. Bourke joins from Standard Life U.K. Financial Services where she was CFO. She takes over from Charles Bellringer, who was appointed chief financial officer on an interim basis in August 2008 and who will leave the company on Friday.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.


Citigroup selling Nikko Cordial unit for $7.9 bln

1 May 2009 at 12:43am

LONDON (MarketWatch) — Citigroup said Friday that it is selling its Japanese domestic securities business, conducted principally through Nikko Cordial Securities Inc. to Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. in a deal worth around 774.5 billion yen ($7.9 billion). Citi said the deal is expected to generate around $2.5 billion of tangible common equity and that it will recognize an after-tax loss of around $200 million. On a pro forma basis, the deal would have lifted the bank’s March 31 Tier 1 capital ratio by around 0.27 percentage points. The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2009.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.


Deutsche Bank lifts view on U.K. retail sector

1 May 2009 at 12:28am

LONDON (MarketWatch) — Deutsche Bank lifted its view on the U.K. general retail sector on Friday, saying it expects short-term newsflow to continue to be positive as the confirmation of stronger-than-expected first-quarter trading drives forecast upgrades. Deutsche Bank said its view of the sector has moved from neutral to a “modest” overweight, but said it’s still cautious over the outlook for consumers in 2010 and is forecasting that household cash will drop 2% in 2010. The broker upgraded DSG International to hold from sell on the basis that financing issues aren’t as severe as originally feared, and maintained its buy ratings on Debenhams , Kingfisher and Signet Group .

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.


FTSE 100 index declines in early trading

1 May 2009 at 12:09am

LONDON (MarketWatch) — London shares moved lower on Friday ahead of a long holiday weekend, with shares coming off sharp gains made in April. Most other major European exchanges were closed. Of movers, shares in low cost airline easyJet fell 4.8% after it announced that its finance chief will join transport group FirstGroup , up 0.6%. The U.K. FTSE 100 index declined 0.3%, or 12.87 points, to 4,230.84.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.


Informa plans $359 million rights issue

30 Apr 2009 at 11:38pm

LONDON (MarketWatch) — U.K. publishing and events group Informa on Friday announced a 242 million pound ($359 million) rights issue that will be used to reduce its debt. The group said shareholders will have the right to buy two new shares for every five they own at a price of 150 pence each. The price represents a discount of 49% to Thursday’s closing price of 297 pence a share. Informa said the issue will reduce its leverage to roughly three times net debt to EBITDA and will give it more headroom over its loan covenants. In a trading update, Informa also said that total revenue for the first three months of 2009 was ahead of the same period a year earlier, helped by exchange rate moves, and that overall trading has been in line with expectations.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.


FirstGroup hires finance chief from easyJet

30 Apr 2009 at 11:27pm

LONDON (MarketWatch) — U.K. transport firm FirstGroup said Friday that it has named Jeff Carr as its new chief financial officer. The firm said Carr, who is currently chief financial officer of easyJet is expected to join in the next few months. FirstGroup also said that Dean Finch, its chief operating officer, is leaving the company to take up the role of CEO of Tube Lines. EasyJet said a search for Carr’s replacement will begin immediately.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.


Rentokil Initial quarterly revenue, profit up

30 Apr 2009 at 11:23pm

LONDON (MarketWatch) — British industrial services group Rentokil Initial said Friday that its first-quarter adjusted pretax profit rose 16.1% to 21.6 million pounds, while revenue advanced 9.8% to 634.6 million pounds, “The first quarter has seen further progress against Rentokil Initial’s turnaround program,” said CEO Alan Brown. The firm is sticking to its 2009 outlook.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.


Pearson quarterly revenue up

30 Apr 2009 at 11:16pm

LONDON (MarketWatch) — Publishing firm Pearson said Friday that first-quarter revenue totaled 1 billion pounds, up from 800 million pounds a year ago. The firm said that it’s trading in line with forecasts set out in March. It’s expecting tough market conditions for U.S. School publishing, financial advertising and the consumer books industry in 2009. However, testing, Higher Education and International Education businesses and content and subscription-based revenues at the FT Group are expected to grow.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.


Exporters rise in Tokyo, miners drop in Sydney

30 Apr 2009 at 5:32pm

HONG KONG (MarketWatch) — Asian markets traded mixed early Friday, with Japanese stocks lifted by exporters on a weakened yen and after Canon raised its annual outlook, while banking and mining shares declined in Sydney. The Nikkei 225 Average gained 0.7% to 8,887.64 and the broader Topix 1000 climbed 0.7% to 843.38. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.4% to 3,765.10, while New Zealand’s NZX 50 inched up 0.1% to 2,743.36. Several regional markets, including those in China, Hong Kong, India, South Korea and Singapore, were closed Friday for a holiday.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.


Japan’s core consumer price index falls in March

30 Apr 2009 at 4:49pm

LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) — Japan reported Friday its core consumer price index fell 0.1% on year in March, after posting flat results in the previous two months. The drop was the first on-year fall in retail prices since September 2007 but was above market expectations for a 0.2% drop, according to Dow Jones Newswires. The headline CPI, which includes volatile items not grouped in the core reading, were up 0.3% on month but down 0.3% from the same time last year.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.


Yahoo execs see trimmed bonuses for trying year

30 Apr 2009 at 3:07pm

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Yahoo Inc. executives received bonuses at half of their targeted range for 2008, a trying year that saw the company’s share price sag amid an unsolicited takeover bid from Microsoft Corp. , the company said Thursday. President Sue Decker, who left Yahoo this past January, received a $600,000 bonus for 2008, while the company paid some $23,000 for her “car services” during the year, according to a proxy filing. Yahoo Chief Financial Officer Blake Jorgensen, who will be leaving the company when a replacement is found, received a $250,000 bonus for 2008, according to the filing.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.


Hartford reports quarterly net loss of $1.21 bln

30 Apr 2009 at 2:04pm

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Hartford Financial Services reported a first-quarter net loss of $1.209 billion, or $3.77 a share, late Thursday. That compares to first-quarter net income of $145 million, or 46 cents a share, a year earlier. The operating loss, which excludes net realized investment gains and losses, was $1.175 billion, or $3.66 a share, in the latest period. Hartford was expected to lose $3.05 a share, according to the average estimate of 14 analysts in a Thomson Reuters survey. The company said it will suspend all new variable annuity business in Japan and the U.K. Hartford also said it canceled plans to start selling variable annuities in Germany. At the end of March, Hartford said it had more than 500,000 policies in force and $30 billion of assets under management in Japan. Hartford shares fell 13% in after-hours trading on Thursday.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.


QLogic earnings fall 16% in fourth fiscal quarter

30 Apr 2009 at 1:37pm

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — QLogic Corp. saw earnings slip 16% in its fourth fiscal quarter as sales declined across all the company’s networking businesses. For the quarter ended March 29, the company reported net income of $19.2 million, or 16 cents a share, compared to net income of $22.8 million, or 17 cents a share, for the same period the previous year. On a non-GAAP basis, the company said it would have earned $24.5 million, or 20 cents a share, for the recent period. Revenue fell 22% to $130.5 million. Analysts were expecting earnings of 21 cents a share on revenue of $135 million, according to consensus estimates from FactSet Research.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.


MetLife reports quarterly net loss of $574 million

30 Apr 2009 at 1:35pm

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — MetLife Inc. reported a first-quarter net loss of $574 million, or 71 cents a share, late Thursday. That compares to net income of $615 million, or 84 cents a share, a year earlier. Operating earnings, which exclude net realized investment gains and losses, were $159 million, or 20 cents a share, in the latest period. MetLife was expected to make 34 cents a share, according to the average estimate of 19 analysts in a Thomson Reuters survey.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

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May 01 2009 01:03 am | Stock Market News

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