Samsung profit dips on low demand

29 July 2011 Last updated at 05:27 GMT Falling demand for LCD televisions has hit profits of electronics manufacturers in Asia Samsung has become the latest electronics maker to report a drop in profits due to a weak demand for TVs.

Samsung said net profit was 3.5tn won ($3.3bn; ?2bn) in the second quarter, an 18% drop from a year earlier.

The company said its TV unit made a loss for the second successive quarter as sales of Liquid Crystal Display's (LCDs) fell 15%.

On Thursday, Sony reported a loss of $199m for the first quarter due to falling TV sales.

Analysts said weak demand for TVs would continue to hurt its profits in the short term.

"It will be difficult to boost earnings sharply in the third quarter as demand for memory chips and TVs will continue to remain depressed," said Song Myung-sup, an analyst at HI Investment & Securities.

"Its loss-making flat-screen business will also report break-even at best," he added.

However, the company reported robust growth in its mobile phone business with a 43% surge in sales.

Profits in the telecom unit rose by 6.3% from a year earlier to 1.7tn won.

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BYD shares fall on profit warning

13 July 2011 Last updated at 05:22 GMT BYD has been trying to boost its sales by introducing new electric and hybrid car models Shares of the Chinese car and battery maker BYD have fallen at the stock exchanges in Hong Kong and Shenzhen, after the company issued a profit warning.

BYD said its profit for the first half of the year could plunge by as much as 95% because of a drop in car sales.

BYD's shares dipped by as much as 6.7% in Hong Kong.

The company said the end of tax incentives for small cars in China had hit demand for its vehicles.

BYD revealed that its profit for the first six months of the year is likely to be between 121m yuan ($18.7m; ?11.7m) and 363m yuan, compared with 2.4bn yuan during the same period last year.

Uncertain times?

BYD's problems are not just confined to falling car sales, its other business units have also witnessed a recent slump.

The company said that sales of components that it makes for mobile telephone handsets and its assembly business also declined during the first half of the year, as one of its major customers deferred orders.

Last month, BYD reported that its first quarter profit dropped by 84%, compared to the same period last year.

Analysts said that given the company's recent performance, there may be more tough times ahead.

"It's below my expectation and there is a chance that they make a loss in the second quarter," said Steven Man of Samsung Securities.

Billionaire US investor Warren Buffett's company MidAmerican Energy, holds a 9.9% stake in BYD.

The renowned American investor, who made his fortune from the investment firm Berkshire Hathaway, is dubbed the Sage of Omaha.

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Crown Estate sees record profit

7 July 2011 Last updated at 08:15 GMT Assets in central London were "holding their own very well", the estate's chief said The Crown Estate has announced a record annual profit as the property value of its portfolio rose to ?7.3bn.

The estate, whose portfolio includes Regent Street, Windsor Great Park, and much of the UK's coastline, seabed and farmland, said profits rose 9.6% to ?230.9m in the year to March.

Its profits go to the Treasury while the monarch receives a fixed payment.

Under government proposals, the Queen's funding is due to become directly linked to the estate's performance.

Currently, the Queen receives payment from the Treasury, via the Civil List, to meet the costs of her official duties and to cover staff costs. Payments are also received from the Department for Transport and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

But the Chancellor, George Osborne, has proposed replacing this system with a Sovereign Grant, to be given to the monarch based on 15% of the Crown Estate's profit from two years previously.

Due to start in 2013-14, the grant is expected to be about ?34m for that year, based on 2011-12's expected profit.

Roger Bright, chief executive of the Crown Estate, said of the change: "As far as we're concerned it's business as usual. All our profits will still go the Treasury and the Treasury will decide how to use it."

He added that growth had been seen across the estate.

Licensing windfarms had increased the value of the estate's seabed, but it was also "invested in prime quality assets in central London and the west end and they're holding their own very well", he said.

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Vatican finances return to profit

2 July 2011 Last updated at 13:47 GMT The Vatican has been making financial reports public since 1981 The Vatican has announced its finances have returned to profit - after three consecutive years in the red.

Its report said the Holy See saw revenues of 245.2m euros (?222m; $356m) against expenses of 235.3m in 2010.

But annual donations from churches worldwide - known as Peter's Pence - were down nearly $15m to $67.7.

The separately administered Vatican City State also made a 21m-euro profit due to strong ticket sales at the Vatican Museums.

The Vatican lost 4m euros in 2009 and was also in the red in 2008 and 2007.

Most of the Vatican's outlay is to cover the activities of Pope Benedict XVI, and services such as Vatican Radio which is broadcast on five continents in 40 different languages.

The Vatican began publishing annual financial reports in 1981 when Pope John Paul II set out to challenge perceptions that the Vatican was rich.

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Oil demand boosts Glencore profit

14 June 2011 Last updated at 09:15 GMT Glencore is the world's largest commodities trader Commodities trading giant Glencore has reported a sharp rise in profits and revenue thanks to strong demand for grain and oil in particular.

Net profit for the first three months of the year was $1.3bn (?800m), up 47% on the $886m the company made a year earlier. Revenue was up 39% to $44.2bn.

These are the first results Glencore has published since becoming a publicly-listed company last month.

The listing was London's largest initial public offering.

Glencore shares fell 1.8% following the results announcement, and are now trading at 513.8 pence, down from their launch price of 530p.

'Healthy demand'

The company highlighted the performance of its oil division that saw "substantially improved results". It said both oil and grain sales were well ahead of the first quarter last year.

Continue reading the main story It also said it benefited from increased volatility and tighter supply in commodity markets.

The firm said it was "well positioned" for the rest of the year, when demand for commodities and general economic activity would "remain healthy".

"Our first quarter results show that Glencore continues to deliver a strong return on equity," said the firm's chief executive Ivan Glasenberg.

Glencore's directors and employees still hold about 80% of the company, making them extremely wealthy on paper.

Glencore is the world's largest commodities trader, employing about 57,500 people across more than 40 countries. It made a profit of $3.8bn on revenues of $145bn last year.

It trades metals and minerals, as well as energy and agricultural products, and has benefited from the recent growth in demand for commodities, especially from China.

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Cost-savings lift TalkTalk profit

19 May 2011 Last updated at 07:13 GMT TalkTalk said it was continuing to work to improve the service its customers get TalkTalk has seen its profits increase five-fold in its first annual results since it was demerged from Carphone Warehouse.

Its pre-tax profit for the year to 31 March 2011 totalled ?57m, up from ?11m a year earlier.

TalkTalk said profits were lifted by ?55m of cost-savings connected to completing the integration of former sister business Tiscali.

However, it said this process had caused disruption for some customers.

"A number of customers suffered disruption, which caused higher levels of complaints and churn," the company said.

"We have worked hard to mitigate the impact of this disruption, and we are confident that we are now making major progress in improving the experience for our customers, which will lead to lower churn."

TalkTalk's annual revenues rose 5% to ?1.8bn.

It separated from Carphone Warehouse in March 2010, when it was listed on the FTSE 250 stock index.

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