WEEK FROM 01/02/2012 TO 07/02/2012
BUSINESS NEWS
BP has announced Q4 profits of £4.8bn and a dividend increase of 14%. The company has seen full-year profits transformed from a £2.3bn loss in 2010 to £16.2bn profit for 2011. Royal Dutch Shell has reported a £18.1bn profit for 2011.
Glencore International the world’s biggest commodities supplier is to merge with mining company Xstrata in a deal valued at around £56bn. In other mining news, BHP Billiton, the world’s largest mining company, reported a dip in six-monthly net profits to £6.2bn and ArcelorMittal reported Q4 losses of £630m.
The Anglo-Swedish drugs manufacturer AstraZeneca is set to cut 7,300 jobs, approximately 12% of its workforce. Elsewhere, GlaxoSmithKline has seen its Q4 pre-tax profits rise to £1.9bn from a £193m loss over the same period last year.
Smartphone maker HTC has reported an increase of 57% in its full year post tax profits; to £1.33bn.
AMR, the parent company of American Airlines, announced plans to cut 13,000 jobs – 15% of its workforce – in an attempt to reduce spending by £1.26bn. The airline, which filed for bankruptcy protection last year, made a loss of £568m in December alone.
UBS, Switzerland’s biggest bank, saw profits tumble in Q4 by 76% to £270m.
Brazil’s government has awarded contracts to privatise three state-owned airports. Private companies – as yet to be named – have paid £8.9bn for the concessions.
ECONOMIC NEWS
The UK service sector has seen its quickest growth in almost a year, with employment in the sector also growing rapidly; the sector accounts for over 70% of the UK’s economic output. UK manufacturing returned to growth in January with an increase in output and new orders in addition to a fall in costs.
The number of empty shops on UK high streets is set to increase in 2012 according to a new report. The vacancy rate remained steady in 2011 at 14.3%, however regional differences were large, with the highest in Stockport with a vacancy rate of 30% whist St Albans had the lowest with 8.2%.
US unemployment dropped to 8.3%; its lowest rate for almost three years after latest figures showed that 243,000 new jobs were created in January.
Germany’s trade surplus reached £132bn in 2011, with exports rising a record 11.4%; imports also reached an all time high of 13.2%.
Indonesia has seen its economy expand by 6.5% in 2011, the highest rate seen since 1996.