Underlying profit growth

Trinity Mirror has reported a fall in profits and revenues for 2015, but said that the low-cost model behind its newly launched national title, the New Day, means it will be profitable by the end of the year – if the paper can attract enough readers. Two million copies of The New Day hit the streets for free on Monday, with the cover price rising to 50p after two weeks, as Trinity Mirror attempts to build a regular readership of about 200,000 copies for the weekday newspaper. Parent company Trinity Mirror, the publisher of titles including the Daily Mirror and Sunday People, said the low-cost operation supporting the New Day, which employs 25 staff, means that if it can lure readers, it will be profitable quickly. “The launch of our new national newspaper, the New Day, is an exciting and innovative initiative which builds on our confidence in print media,” the company said in Trinity Mirror’s full-year results for 2015. “If successful, the title is … [Read more...] about Trinity Mirror: low costs mean New Day could be profitable this year

We will possibly end the year with lower double digit earnings growth which comes after a significantly long period of time. That sets the overall tone for next year in terms of FY21 earnings, says Shibani Sircar Kurian, Fund Manager, Equity, Kotak Mahindra AMC. Excerpts from an interview with ETNOW. How have you perceived the recent run up? How much further could it go?The market sentiments clearly have started gaining positive momentum. The broader market seems to have bottomed out and over the last few weeks, we are seeing outperformance in the broader markets. If you look at the markets, notwithstanding the near term data on growth, there are a few key things we must keep in mind. Number one, the data that came out yesterday shows the resumption in government spending. Two, with the corporate tax cuts, for the year as a whole, earnings growth being in the lower double digit range means the pace of earnings downgrades are now behind us. That is another clear positive. Three, … [Read more...] about Earnings growth may hit double digits in FY20: Shibani Sircar Kurian

MUMBAI: Tata Sons chairman N Chandrasekaran said the holding company of the $110-billion group has resolved the high leverage at its flagship operating companies and is turning the focus toward funding growth across businesses. It has set an ambitious target of making at least five of the group’s 10 verticals contribute 10-15% each to the Tata Group’s profits in contrast to the current situation when TCS contributes the bulk of the profits. “At Tata Sons level, if you really look at all known direct exposures, we are sorted,” Chandrasekaran said in an interview to ET. Many operating companies had carried huge debt, telecom in particular. Many leading Indian conglomerates are currently slashing debt, enlisting strategic partners or selling assets. Tata Sons under Chandrasekaran has also undergone a deleveraging exercise, exiting the retail telecom business and repaying lenders. “If you look at the overall debt of the group, largely the net debt is very … [Read more...] about Tata Group sets sights on five growth engines

Insurance firms Aviva and Friends Life have both reported better-than-expected annual profits before a £5.6bn takeover, which is expected to be approved by shareholders later this month. Aviva, the UK’s largest insurer, is acquiring Friends Life at a critical time, with life insurance firms under pressure from new UK pension rules which have triggered a collapse in sales of annuities. Aviva posted a 6% rise in operating profit to £2.17bn for 2014, a touch higher than expected. Friends Life beat City forecasts by a greater margin with a 38% jump in operating profit to £556m. Aviva lifted its final dividend by 30%, taking the total to 18.1p a share. Its shares rose more than 6% to 564.17p, while Friends Life’s gained 5.6% to 428.87p, making them the two biggest risers on the FTSE 100 index in morning trading on Thursday. The Friends Life brand will disappear after the takeover, which will bring cost savings of £225m, in part through 1,500 job losses. … [Read more...] about Aviva and Friends Life report forecast-beating annual profits ahead of takeover

PHOTO: AFP PESHAWAR: After around five months, the federal government has finally released money owed to the province under the net hydel payment (NHP) dues. However, the full amount was not released and the province has been promised that it will get the balance in the next fiscal year. This was disclosed by Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Finance Minister Taimur Saleem Jhagra on Monday while addressing a news conference at the K-P Revenue Authority (K-PRA) about the economic performance of the province. He was flanked by the K-P Information Minister Shaukat Ali Yousafzai and K-PRA Director General Tahir Orakzai. Jhagra said that the centre was due to pay the province Rs50 billion this year under NHP payments. Despite an agreement between the provincial government and the federal government that the latter will release funds in monthly instalments, the government had initially fallen short of the payments. However, he said that the centre has now released Rs40 billion … [Read more...] about Centre releases some of K-P’s net hydel profit dues

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Growth of U.S. labor costs was not as robust as initially thought in the third quarter, suggesting inflation could remain tame in the near term. FILE PHOTO: Work crews construct a new hotel complex on oceanfront property in Encinitas, California, U.S., November 26, 2019. REUTERS/Mike Blake The sharp downward revision to labor costs, reported by the Labor Department on Tuesday, also pointed to some easing of the squeeze on profit margins. Corporate profits have been reduced by strong labor cost growth that has outpaced revenue. With worker productivity still sluggish, however, the pace of growth in labor costs is likely to remain solid. “This is certainly good news for companies’ profit margins which have been under pressure,” said Lydia Boussour, a senior economist at Oxford Economics in New York. “However, slower productivity growth and steady compensation growth will keep upward pressure on unit labor costs going … [Read more...] about U.S. third-quarter labor cost growth slashed; productivity weak