Airbus shares up three percent after profit rise

Miranda Wadham
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Airbus shares up three percent after profit rise
Airbus Group (EPA:AIR) reported a 6 percent rise in first-half core operating profit and revenue this morning, with a 34 percent rise in net income to 1.52 billion euros. The company confirmed its full-year financial forecasts, despite problems with their A400M military transporters, one of which crashed during a test flight in May. Airbus aims to deliver around 15 of the new cargo carriers to at an initial cost of 20 billion euors each. Seven NATO nations have been promised the aircraft, but its development has been slowed by delays and cost overruns. However, bad news related to the A400M has been offset by sales of passenger jets and helicopters, including an $18 billion deal with Chine for 75 planes. Airbus shares are currently trading up 3% this morning on the news.

Lloyds report profit rise, despite PPI fine

Miranda Wadham
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0
Lloyds report profit rise, despite PPI fine
Lloyds Bank (LON:LLOY) reported its half year results this morning, seeing a 38% rise in pre-tax profits. The results showed an underlying profit of £4,383 million, an increase of 15 per cent on the first half of 2014 but still below analysts forecasts. Profits for the six months to the end of June were £1.19bn, compared with £863m a year earlier. In a statement in October, the bank set itself several targets in areas including sustainable growth and improving efficiency. The report this morning highlighted progress in these areas, with Lloyds remaining the largest provider of mortgages to first-time buyers and helping 1 in 4 customers to get on the housing ladder in the first half of the year. The statement said showed progress in the efficiency of the running of the bank: “In the first six months of the year we have delivered run-rate savings of £225 million through our new Simplification programme as we continue to work towards our target of achieving a further £1 billion of savings by the end of 2017. These reductions, together with our strong underlying financial performance have resulted in further strengthening of our already market-leading cost:income ratio, which is now 48.3 per cent.” However, Lloyds have had to set aside more than £13bn in compensation, after the FCA found the bank mis-handled complaints between March 2012 and May 2013. The bank was fined a record £117m by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) over the mis-sold PPI. Lloyds’ chief executive Antonio Horta-Osorio said: “Today’s results demonstrate the strong progress we have made in the first half of the year. “We remain focused on our aim to become the best bank for customer sand shareholders, while at the same time supporting the UK economy.”

Amazon launches ‘LaunchPad’ for start-ups

Miranda Wadham
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Amazon launches ‘LaunchPad’ for start-ups
Never one to be left behind, Amazon’s latest venture will once again put them at the forefront of internet trade; they have recently added a new storefront on their website, a platform for hardware and physical goods startups to “launch, market and distribute” new products on Amazon. It has a similar theme to their Amazon Exclusives page, which launched in March and sold products exclusively from “up and coming” brands. With Amazon’s Launchpad, they are promising to “curate the cutting edge so you can discover unexpected and fresh new products.” Essentially, this is Amazon hoping to muscle in on the growing start-up sector. With crowdfunding platforms making these young businesses ever easier to set up, Amazon is now hoping to get in on this by offering start-ups a platform to market and promote their products. They have teamed up with 25 crowdfunding platforms, venture capital firms and startup accelerators, including Andreessen Horowitz, Y Combinator and Indiegogo, to bring together the set of products made by new businesses who will have access to 10 of its international portals for distribution. In a statement, Jim Adkins, Amazon’s Vice President, said: “As the pace of innovation continues to increase within the startup community, we want to help customers discover these unique products and learn the inspiration behind them. We also know from talking to startups that bringing a new product to market successfully can be just as challenging as building it.” “Amazon Launchpad gives customers access to a dedicated storefront featuring a variety of innovative new products from emerging brands. For startups, we handle inventory management, order fulfillment, customer service, and more, allowing them to focus their efforts on the innovation that results in more cool products.” One of the new platform’s first businesses is Pavlok, a brand who produce a bracelet that sends an electric shock to wearers when they engage in a bad habit. Their marketing manager Sims McGrath III said Launchpad provided an opportunity to tell the company’s story. “We were able to share details about our company, our mission, our CEO, and some of the success stories that have come from early users of Pavlok,” McGrath said. The company, which has made 3,000 sales through its own website, is “mentally preparing for an influx of orders, based on Amazon’s global reach,” he said.

Germanwings owner Lufthansa’s profits soar

Miranda Wadham
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0
Germanwings owner Lufthansa’s profits soar
Deutsche Lufthansa (ETR:LHA) reported net earnings this morning of 529 million euros for the last quarter, a rise of 356 million euros on last year. The company, which includes airlines such as Swiss, Austrian and Germanwings, attributed the rise to a fall in fuel costs and confirmed its full-year outlook for adjusted pre-tax earnings of over 1.5 billion euros before strike costs. However, the second quarter saw no strikes by Lufthansa’s pilots although a long-running dispute that has led to repeated disruptions.
These results come just after the airline announced it is to introduce a 16 euro booking fee for customers booking through third party sites; a bold move for a company that sells around 70% of their tickets through agents. The airline hope that it will allow them to have more control over their prices and save around 100 million euros.
Lufthansa have signed up to Concur’s TripLink, a product that allows business travellers to book tickets at their discounted corporate rate directly via Lufthansa’s own website. “If Lufthansa succeeds in providing a seamless booking platform, which not only retains but also helps to expand its customer base, one can expect a very successful outcome from this radical change,” Euromonitor senior travel analyst Nadejda Popova said to Reuters.

Renault reports jump in profits

Miranda Wadham
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0
Renault reports jump in profits
Paris-based carmaker Renault (EPA:RNO) reported a jump in first-half profits this morning, hitting its highest operating margin in a decade at 4.8%. Whilst the company failed to top rival Peugeot’s results, who reported a first-half profit for the first time since 2011, earnings were still better than expected by analysts; up 47 per cent in the first six months at €1.07bn. Revenues came in at €22.2bn, up 12 per cent on the prior year. Under Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn, Renault is stepping up productivity and technology sharing with 43.4 percent-owned Nissan and Daimler as well as gearing up to launch new products. Analysts expect Renault to reap the benefits in the second half of the year. The positive earnings results from automakers such as Peugeot and Renault bode well for Ferrari, who have just filed for IPO on the NYSE.

Ferrari IPO Special Report

UK Investor Magazine
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Ferrari IPO Special Report

Ferrari IPO: What you need to know

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Lord Rothschild and Neil Woodford jump into crowdfunding

Miranda Wadham
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Lord Rothschild and Neil Woodford jump into crowdfunding
Lord Rothschild and fund manager Neil Woodford have become the latest people to invest in Seedrs, leading a £10m investment round to fund the platform’s further expansion. Seedrs is Europe’s leading crowdfunding platform, allowing anyone to invest in businesses with as little as £10. It recently partnered with British Tennis legend Andy Murray to raise brand awareness and the firm has been growing at a rate of 15% month-on-month, leading the sector with 110 successfully funded campaigns. It was recently named by KPMG as one of the world’s 50 best fintech innovators. Augmentum Capital, founded Tim Levene and Richard Matthews, and Neil Woodford’s Patient Capital Trust are investing £7.5m into Seedrs, and a further £2.5m will be offered to existing shareholders and other individual investors through a campaign on the platform to achieve the total of £10m. Jeff Lynn, Seedrs co-founder and CEO, said he was “absolutely thrilled” to have Woodford and Rothchild involved. “The greatest fund manager of our time and the greatest financial family in history have looked at the equity crowdfunding space, decided that there is a huge opportunity to be won, and decided that Seedrs is the one that’s going to win it,” Lynn said. Augmentum Capital managing partner Tim Levene added: ‘We have been following the developments in equity crowdfunding for some time and believe Seedrs are the stand out company. ‘The market is still early in its development with many challenges to overcome. However, we believe Seedrs have the right blend of talent, vision, experience and rigour to ensure they become the leader in this exciting space.” Seedrs acquired California-based Junction Investments in October last year in an attempt to break into the US market, and it is believed that some of the £10m will be used for further expansion in the States, as well as marketing here and in Europe.

Schroders report strong Q2 earnings

Miranda Wadham
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0
Schroders report strong Q2 earnings
London-based asset management company Schroders (LON:SDR) released their quarterly earnings this morning, seeing profits climb 24% in the first half of the year on net inflows of £8.8 billion. The company’s pre-tax profits rose to £290.3 million, up from £233.9 million over the same period last year. Revenue increased 11% to £806.2 million. CEO Michael Dobson commented that “net inflows were particularly strong in fixed income and, regionally, in Asia Pacific and Continental Europe.” Net revenue at the wealth management arm of the business rose 5% to £105.5 million, with pre-tax profit following the trend and rising 14%. Their total assets under management also rose by 14%. On the back of the results, management lifted the dividend from 24p to 29p per share, and Schroders are currently trading up 1.53%.

Sony show positive results as it plans expansion

Miranda Wadham
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0
Sony show positive results as it plans expansion
Sony Corp (NYSE:SNE) reported a profit of 82.5bn yen this morning – triple that of in the last quarter – and an operating profit rise of 39%, far higher than expected by analysts. Sony attributed the positive figures to a renewed focus on sensor chips and video games, after moving away from phones and electronics. These figures mark the beginning of an expansion phase for a company that have posted losses for six of the past seven years. Sony plans to raise $3.4 billion selling stock and convertible bonds to help pay for a fourfold increase in semiconductor spending as it also invests in video game network services and virtual reality gear. This quarter’s results include 4.7bn yen of insurance recoveries “related to losses incurred from the cyber-attack on Sony’s network services including the PlayStation Network” in the 2011-12 financial year, the company said in a statement on Thursday. “Market expectations for Sony have changed to now anticipate growth,” Kazunori Ito, an analyst at Barclays Plc in Tokyo, said prior to the earnings release. “The PS4 had an excellent start and is now at a point where Sony is expected to begin reaping the benefits.” Sales were flat in the period from a year ago, down 0.1% to 1.8tn yen, but it expects to return to profit in the 2015-16 financial year for the first time in three years. The company are currently trading up 1.09%.

Jeremy Clarkson heads online with Amazon Prime

Miranda Wadham
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0
Jeremy Clarkson heads online with Amazon Prime
The controversial ex-host of BBC’s Top gear Jeremy Clarkson has signed a deal for a new version of the show with Amazon Prime’s Instant Video. Co-presenters James May and Richard Hammond will follow Clarkson to the online video site, after ruling out working on BBC’s new series of Top Gear hosted by DJ Chris Evans. The deal is quite the coup for Amazon and will propel them into the realms of mainstream TV, beating off online competitor Netflix and several big broadcasting channels to win the rights. No financial details have been released, although an Amazon insider has confirmed that they have made a “significant investment.” The show was confirmed by Jeremy Clarkson this morning, in a tweet saying “I am excited to announce that Hammon, May and I have made a deal with Amazon Video.” Clarkson was fired from the BBC show after a high-profile ‘fracas’ over catering arrangements on set in Yorkshire, where Clarkson reportedly hit one of the producers. Since then, there has been considerable speculation as to where he would head next. Clarkson has previously spoken of his regret at leaving the BBC, but said today that he feels as if he has “climbed out of a bi-plane and into a spaceship.” Amazon won the global rights to the new series, meaning it will appear on Prime video in the U.S., U.K., Austria and Germany. Amazon can also license rights to the show to broadcasters or streaming services in other territories around the world where Prime video isn’t available
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