26 Dec 07. EADS is expecting its earnings margin to lag behind its US rival Boeing (NYSE:BA) for some time, according to the European group’s medium-term forecast, Vision 2020. The forecast, which is to be presented in January, estimates that it will take EADS until around 2015 to achieve a double-digit operating margin for the first time in its history. “In our Vision 2020, we have set the target of raising our ebit margin to 10 per cent by half way into the next decade,” Louis Gallois, chief executive, writes in the group’s internal magazine. (Source: FT.com)
26 Dec 07. STMicroelectronics NV and Intel Corp. delayed the merger of their unprofitable memory units and said banks will commit less start-up financing to the venture than previously announced as credit conditions tighten. The transaction, which also includes an investment from buyout fund Francisco Partners LP, now probably will be completed by March 28, Geneva-based STMicroelectronics said in a statement today. The original deadline had been year-end. Credit markets have deteriorated since STMicroelectronics, Europe’s largest maker of semiconductors, and Intel, the world’s biggest, started planning the combination. The merger would create the biggest maker of flash memory chips that store software in mobile devices, helping the company combat a slump in prices and take sales from rivals. (Source: Bloomberg)
19 Dec 07. Oracle brushed aside Wall Street’s lingering concerns about a
US-led slowdown in technology demand as it reported surprisingly strong quarterly numbers and issued a confident forecast for the coming months.
The news, which lifted Oracle’s shares nearly 7 per cent in after-market trading, capped a strong run this year in which the company’s recent string of takeovers has started to feed through into a noticeable lift in revenues and profit margins. Underpinning Oracle’s latest earnings was a 28 per cent jump in revenues to $5.3bn, comfortably ahead of market expectations of $5.04bn, while new licence revenues rose 38 per cent, to $1.7bn. The decline in the US dollar contributed seven percentage points of growth in both cases. Net income rose 35 per cent to $1.3bn, or 25 cents a share, while proforma earnings of 31 cents a share topped Wall Street expectations of 4 cents. (Source: FT.com)
19 Dec 07. Saab is selling the real estate company Fastighets AB Järfälla Veddesta 2:81 to Danske Renting AB to a purchase-sum of SEK 665m. The profit amounts to approximately SEK 155 m., with a positive impact on cash flow by approximately SEK 140 m. The sale is a part of streamlining Saab’s operations.
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