Xerox posts $180m profit
NORWALK: Xerox Corp. said Thursday its cost-cutting efforts last year helped boost its fourth-quarter profit. It also forecast a bigger-than-expected profit for this year. Though revenue fell for the fourth quarter as businesses continued to scrimp on new equipment and supplies, Xerox said it earned $180 million, or 20 cents per share, up from earnings of $1 million, or break-even on a per share basis, a year earlier, when the recession was deepening as a result of the financial crisis.
Ryanair to stop cutting fares
DUBLIN: Irish airline Ryanair will not repeat last year’s 20 percent fare cuts but still expects passenger numbers to grow by 7 million this year, its chief executive said on Thursday. Michael O’Leary said fares would rise particularly in Ireland, where he expects them to be up at least 10 percent. He thinks rivals will also have to raise prices because of increasing airport charges. “Across Europe I expect fares over the coming 12 months will be flat,” O’Leary said, though he hoped they would rise.
Ireland’s trade surplus narrows
DUBLIN: Ireland’s trade surplus narrowed by 8.0 percent in November 2009 to 2.661 billion euros ($3.739 billion), official data showed on Thursday. November exports fell by 1.0 percent to 6.216 billion euros while imports rose 6.0 percent to 3.555 billion euros. The data released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) gave final figures for November and first estimates for October.
EU approves Oracle’s bid
BRUSSELS: Brussels regulators on Thursday approved US business software giant Oracle’s bid for hardware and software vendor Sun Microsystems, saying the deal would not skew the market in Europe. A major concern for EU competition watchdogs was the effect the takeover would have on the open source database market — which means freely-accessed software for millions of business users.
Lloyds plans to cut 600 jobs
LONDON: British bank Lloyds said on Thursday it intended to cut nearly 600 jobs in another shake-up at the state-rescued group that has already axed thousands of positions over the past year. “Lloyds Banking Group (LBG) is announcing today (Thursday) a number of changes within its wholesale and retail divisions,” it revealed in a statement.
Goldman reports $4.95bn profit
NEW YORK: Goldman Sachs Group Inc. on Thursday reduced its 2009 bonus pool as it posted a better-than-expected fourth-quarter profit. The Wall Street bank said the total set aside for compensation for the year was $16.19 billion, down from $16.7 billion at the end of the third quarter. The bank reported fourth-quarter net income of $4.95 billion, or $8.20 a share for shareholders, compared with a loss of $2.12 billion, or $4.97 a share, a year earlier.
