U.K high street lender Lloyds Banking Group on Tuesday reported a modest net profit of 2 million pounds ($3.2 million) in the first quarter when its performance beat market expectations.
The company, 40 percent owned by U.K. taxpayers, also recorded a pretax profit of 288 million pounds ($467 million) in the first quarter, which included a 375 million provision to compensate customers for missold insurance.
In the previous quarter, it made a 316 million pounds net profit and a loss of 3.5 billion pounds in the same period last year. Its 2 million pound net profit compares with a 2.4 billion pound net loss last year and a 37 million pound profit in the previous quarter.
Lloyds has taken a total provision of 3.575 billion pounds, by far the biggest of any British bank, to compensate customers who were sold payment protection insurance which they didn’t need.
Total income net of insurance claims was down 6 percent to 4.49 billion pounds.
Lloyds shares were up 1.6 percent at 31.5 pence in early trading.
The U.K. government injected much needed capital into Lloyds at the height of the financial crisis in 2008. It is now looking to sell off its shares, but only when their price has reached a certain level.
“The likelihood of reaching the government’s 70 pence-plus break-even point seems a long way off, even if Lloyds is making slow and steady progress, whilst the absence of a dividend is another drag on enticing potential buyers,” said Richard Hunter, head of equities, Hargreaves Lansdown Stockbrokers payday loans in one hour.
Total impairments improved from 2.6 billion pounds a year ago to 1.66 billion pounds. Within that total, the charge in the first quarter in the bank’s wealth and international division was 705 million pounds compared to 1.5 billion pounds a year earlier, primarily because of lower charges in its Irish and Australasian businesses.
Nonetheless, with two-thirds of the Irish portfolio classed as impaired, the bank warned that “further vulnerability exists.”
Customer deposits were up 6 percent year-on-year to 412 billion pounds. The core tier 1 capital ratio_ a key gauge of underlying financial strength _ was up from 10 percent last year to 11 percent in the first quarter.
Lloyds is still seeking to clinch a deal to sell 632 branches to meet the European Commission’s conditions for receiving state aid. While continuing to talk to the Co-operative Group, the bank’s preferred bidder, Lloyds said last week it was open to other offers.
Dow Chemical’s first-quarter earnings fell 50 percent after it took a pre-tax charge of $357 million to close some of its plants.
The nation’s largest chemical maker reported income of $412 million, or 35 cents per share, from January to March. That compares with $625 million, or 54 cents per share, for the same part of 2011.
Excluding restructuring costs related to the plant closures and other special items, Dow said it earned 61 cents per share. Revenue was flat at $14.7 billion.
Analysts, who typically exclude special items, expected earnings of 59 cents per share and revenue of $14.96 billion, according to FactSet.
The Midland, Mich., company has benefited from growth in emerging economies in the Asia-Pacific region and Latin America. But sales have weakened in Europe, where a growing debt crisis is pushing parts of the eurozone back into recession. In March, Dow decided to restructure its international business to account for the slowdown in Europe.
Dow cut 900 jobs, closed plants in Charleston, Ill., Portugal, Hungary and Brazil, and it idled operations at a plant in the Netherlands. The changes are expected to cut costs by about $250 million each year.
Dow Chairman and CEO Andrew Liveris said that Western Europe will continue to deal with “recessionary conditions” this year. The economic picture is better in the U.S., thanks to cheap natural gas prices. Natural gas prices have a huge influence on company margins because it’s such a big input in the process.
China’s economy appears to be moderating and Germany is showing signs of improvement, he said.
Shares of The Dow Chemical Co. fell by 59 cent to $35.49 in premarket trading.
Wendy’s gave its new CEO a pay package worth $4.6 million for the last four months of 2011.
Emil Brolick was hired last September after Wendy’s split from fellow fast-food chain Arby’s. The 63-year-old Brolick has been on a mission to reinvent Wendy’s as a higher-end burger chain by improving ingredients and remodeling restaurants.
An Associated Press analysis of a regulatory filing finds Brolick’s compensation included salary of $338,462, a bonus of $500,000, stock and option awards worth $3.2 million and an incentive-based bonus of $533,026.
Other compensation covered legal expenses related to the negotiation of his contract.
Wendy’s previous CEO, Roland Smith, received $16.5 million for the first part of 2011, including $11.3 million in severance pay.
The AP’s calculation includes salary, bonuses, perks and stock and option awards.
Oil prices fell to near $106 a barrel Monday in Asia as investors mulled how much the conflict over Iran’s nuclear program might disrupt global crude supplies.
Benchmark oil for May delivery was down 44 cents to $106.43 at late afternoon Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose $1.52 to $106.87 per barrel in New York on Friday.
Brent crude for May delivery was down 42 cents at $124.71 per barrel in London.
Crude has hovered between $105 and $110 for the last month, up from $75 in October, amid worries that a military strike by Israel or the U.S. on Iran’s nuclear facilities could disrupt supplies from the oil-rich Middle East. On Friday, reports said Iran’s crude exports fell sharply last month, suggesting sanctions imposed by Western powers have begun to impact that country’s economy.
President Barack Obama said Sunday that there is still time to resolve the dispute over Iran nuclear program diplomatically, but that the window is closing.
“A sizable risk premium is likely to remain in place for some time while the Iranian situation goes unresolved,” National Australia Bank said in a report. It “suggests that prices through 2012 will continue to sit north of $100.”
Signs of tepid crude demand in the U.S. and Europe and slowing economic growth in China were weighing on prices. Analysts are also concerned higher fuel costs will undermine consumer spending and trigger inflation.
“Elevated oil prices are beginning to take a toll on emerging market economies,” Morgan Stanley said in a report.
In other energy trading, heating oil was down 0.4 cent at $3.22 per gallon and gasoline futures fell 0.2 cents at $3.37 per gallon. Natural gas gained 1.4 cents at $2.29 per 1,000 cubic feet.
The Obama administration on Saturday said it would again gauge interest from the oil and gas industry to explore federal waters off the Alaska coast, another bid to expand domestic energy production as gas prices soar and political pressure grows.
The Interior Department said it would again issue an official request for drilling interest in potential development leases in federal waters in Cook Inlet off the south-central coast of Alaska.
A federal lease sale for that area a year ago was canceled because of lack of interest. Cook Inlet, the channel that runs from the Anchorage area south to the Gulf of Alaska, is home to Alaska’s oldest producing oil and gas basin.
The Interior Department has estimated the area could contain more than 1 billion barrels of oil and 1.2 trillion cubic feet of natural gas that is undiscovered and potentially recoverable. It has said at least one company has expressed interest, but has not identified it.
There were 13 exploration wells drilled in the federal waters in the Cook Inlet area between 1978 and 1985, but there are no active exploration or development facilities in the federal area now, according to the department payday loan lenders.
The new request for interest is the first stage in a likely two-year process for selling the federal leases and comes as the Obama administration has been under pressure to find new domestic energy sources, an issue that has already had a big impact on the 2012 presidential campaign.
Republicans have repeatedly hammered President Barack Obama, a Democrat, over rising prices at the gas pump, which have jumped almost 30 cents in the past month, pushing the national average to $3.87 a gallon.
They have also criticized Obama for failing to approve the $7 billion Canada-to-Texas Keystone XL oil pipeline, which Republicans argue would create thousands of jobs and bolster the U.S. economic recovery.
Obama earlier this week pledged to speed up approval for the pipeline, though analysts have said it will not likely be completed until 2014 at the earliest.
EDM Inc. named Chris Kerckhoff its director of business development.
Kerckhoff has more than 30 years of experience in construction/business development. He formerly was a principal with CS Consulting, and he was co-founder and principal in business development with CB&E, where he spent more than 10 years helping to guide that start-up business.
He is a member of AGC St. Louis-Green Building Task Force and Safety and Health Committee, the U payday loans.S. Green Building Council and the Landmarks Association of St. Louis.
Kerckhoff has a bachelor’s degree in real estate and construction management from the University of Denver.
Sotheby’s auction house says News Corp. executive James Murdoch is stepping down from its board.
In a filing to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday, the auctioneer said Murdoch had decided not to stand for re-election at Sotheby’s May 8 annual meeting in order to focus on his role as News Corp.’s deputy chief operating officer.
Murdoch, he younger son of media mogul Rupert Murdoch, has been shedding posts to concentrate on his role in his father’s television business.
Last month he quit as chairman of News International, News Corp.’s British newspaper division.
He has repeatedly denied knowing about widespread phone hacking at the now-shuttered News of the World tabloid, though his account has been contradicted by former associates.
McDonald’s extreme-green shamrock shake is going nationwide for the first time, the fast food franchise revealed on Wednesday.
The leprechaun-colored shake is currently available at every one of McDonald’s (, Fortune 500) 14,000 U.S. restaurants, according to company spokeswoman Ashlee Yingling.
The shamrock shake itself isn’t new. It’s been offered by McDonald’s restaurants at or around St. Patrick’s Day since 1970. But in the past, only certain restaurants offered the familiar green shake.
In its 42 years of existence, the shamrock shake has developed what McDonald’s refers to as a "cult-like" following among certain aficionados who prize its vivid-green hue.
So where does the shamrock shake gets its color? It’s basically a vanilla shake with mint flavor, said Yingling, and it gets the green hue from the syrup.
Like many of McDonald’s products, the shamrock shake once had its own mascot, named Uncle O’Grimacey, who appeared in commercials while singing a jaunty jingle about the shake.
O’Grimacey is an Irish version of the more well-known Grimace character, a rotund, purple creature of uncertain origin. O’Grimacey is green, of course, and unlike the naked Grimace, he wears clothes: a vest with shamrocks on it and a top hat of the sort worn by leprechauns.
But O’Grimacey won’t be pitching the shamrock shake this year.
"We will not be bringing back Uncle O’Grimacey or the jingle you referenced," said Yingling, when asked about his whereabouts.
KFC’s Double Down fails to take off
In fast food parlance, the shamrock is considered a "special" shake because of its exotic look and flavor. Not one to be outdone, the fast food franchise Jack in the Box () offers its own "special" drink: the bacon shake.
The bacon shake debuted on Feb. 2 and is only available for a limited time at certain restaurants, said Jack in the Box spokesman Brian Luscomb.
He said the bacon shake contains bacon-flavored syrup. But it contains no actual bacon, so it could actually be consumed by vegetarians, so long as they don’t mind milk products.
Denny’s to raise menu prices
The bacon shake also contains a lot of calories: 773 for a 16-ounce drink, according to Jack in the Box. That’s more than a 16-ounce shamrock shake, which contains 680 calories, according to McDonald’s.
But what did you expect? It’s a milk shake!
"Shakes are typically higher in fat and calories, but the bacon shake has about the same nutritional content as the other shakes," said the Luscomb, comparing it to other Jack in the Box products.
Two years of minimal wage increases have left Christoph Schoenau, a metallographer for auto and aircraft component maker GKN Plc at a factory near Frankfurt, feeling left out of Germany
Euro-area confidence in the economic outlook improved less than forecast in January as the region
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