Business news

standard chartered Record Profit

”Standard Chartered Posts Record Profit”

Standard Chartered, the Asia-focused bank, today revealed full-year profits up 19% and income up to over $16 billion.
The bank reported a net profit of $2.13 billion for July December, based on Reuters calculations,
up from $1.4 billion a year earlier and in line with expectations for a $2.14 billion net profit.
Chief Executive Officer Peter Sands, whose bank gets most of its profit from Asia’s growing economies, said regulation poses the biggest threat as global lenders grapple with stricter capital rules.
A U.K. bank levy set to take effect this year will cost Standard Chartered $180 million after tax in 2011. Read more…

Goldman Sachs director Charged – Insider Trading

”Former Goldman Sachs Board Member Rajat Gupta Charged By SEC With Insider Trading”
The Securities and Exchange Commission said -
Federal regulators have charged a former Goldman Sachs board member with insider trading, saying he provided confidential information to the central figure in a major hedge fund probe.
According to the SEC, Gupta allegedly tipped off Rajaratnam immediately after Goldman’s board approved Berkshire’s investment in Goldman Sachs.
That same day, just minutes before the market close, Rajaratnam allegedly arranged for Galleon funds to purchase more than 175,000 Read more…

Vivendi Profit Increased

”Videogames, Brazil Drive Vivendi”

Vivendi SA posted a 4.4 percent increase in 2010 profit, aided by demand for video-games titles such as Call of Duty and World of Warcraft, and the company’s operations in Brazil.
Investors will also be on the lookout for any update on Vivendi’s planned purchase of Vodafone’s 44 percent stake in telecoms brand SFR. Vivendi owns the rest.
The group posted profit of €559 million ($772 million), or €0.45 per share, against a loss of €958 million, or €0.78 per share, in the same Read more…

berkshire hathaway

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway has reported a 43 percent jump in fourth-quarter profit thanks to the strong performance of BNSF railroad and a paper gain of $1.4 billion on the company’s derivative contracts and investments. Read more…

Air tanker $35 billion Contract

After a decade of delays and embarrassing missteps, the Air Force is poised to award one of the biggest contracts in military history — a $35 billion deal to build nearly 200 giant airborne refueling tankers — to either Chicago-based Boeing Co. or European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company.
Read more…

Google Punishes Overstock for Search Tactics

Google has penalized Overstock.com, saying the online retailer violated policy designed to keep companies from artificially boosting their search rankings. Overstock said the penalty, which moved some of its search results from the first page of Google results to the fifth or sixth, Read more…

Royal Bank Of Scotland losses

”RBS Misses Analyst Estimates With 1.1 Billion-Pound Loss”
Britain’s state-rescued Royal Bank of Scotland said Thursday that net losses narrowed sharply last year to £1.125 billion (1.327 billion euros, $1.823 billion).
Two years on from the global financial crisis, RBS’s recovery is ahead of schedule,” Chief Executive Officer Stephen Hester said in the statement. “We have much work still to do and there are significant obstacles still to overcome.
The return to operating profit reflects both the internal rebuilding process at RBS and the external recovery in market and economic Read more…

texas census

”Texas Census Numbers Show Huge Hispanic Growth”
Hispanics account for two-thirds of Texas’ growth over the past decade and now make up 38 percent of the state’s total population, according to new local U.S. Census figures.
Non Hispanic whites dropped to 45.3 percent and blacks make up 11.5 percent of Texas’s population. The figures, which were obtained by The Associated Press, were given Thursday morning to state leaders and Read more…

Kraft says Foods price increases

”Kraft says more price increases ahead”
Kraft Foods claims that the strength of brands such as Kenco, Philadelphia and Dairylea will help it pass on the price increases necessary to offset rising commodity costs.
Despite the Cadbury takeover helping to boost sales by 30%, Kraft’s net profit for the fourth quarter fell 24% to $540m (£335m) due to costs associated with integrating the UK business.
Kraft also warned that it would be increasing prices to offset rising commodity costs.
Operating income in the latest period was $1.24 billion, or 46 cents a share, Kraft also reported.

Net revenue rose 30% to $13.8 billion, mostly from Kraft’s acquisition of Read more…

steven slater

A JetBlue flight attendant got into an argument with a passenger on a jetliner arriving at John F. Kennedy International Airport on Monday, cursed the passenger, grabbed a beer from the galley and then deployed an emergency exit slide and fled the plane, authorities said. Read more…