A round-up of today's other stories in brief.
Citigroup disappoints with 4% rise
Citigroup has disappointed Wall Street expectations with a 4 per cent rise in profits in the second quarter of this year as the bank acknowledged it faced a "challenging" environment with slower growth in the US and market turbulence abroad, writes Denis Staunton in Washington.
This is the fourth time in five quarters that Citigroup, the world's largest financial services firm, has fallen short of expectations. Net income was $5.27 billion (€4.17 billion), or $1.05 per share, up from $5.07 billion, or 97 cents a share, a year earlier. Revenue was up 10 per cent at $22.18 billion from $20.17 billion in the second quarter of 2005.
McDonald's sales boost earnings
McDonald's yesterday forecast higher than expected second-quarter earnings as breakfast offerings and a Happy Meal promotion in the US helped drive strong global sales in June.
The fast-food chain said preliminary earnings were expected to be about 67 cents a share, including 10 cents of income from the sale of its 65 per cent stake in Chipotle Mexican Grill and two cents of expenses.
Excluding one-time items, earnings would be about 59 cents a share, beating expectations of 56 cents a share. - (Financial Times service)
Emergency Doha trade meeting
Leading countries in the crisis-hit Doha round of trade talks held an emergency meeting last night in Geneva after the US, Brazil and some EU countries signalled they were prepared to compromise to reach a deal.
The meeting was called after Pascal Lamy, director general of the World Trade Organisation, told the G8 heads of government in St Petersburg that the round would collapse unless they made concessions. "The deadlock in which we are caught will lead us to failure very soon if you do not give your ministers further room for negotiation," he said. - (Financial Times service)
SMEs not operating at full potential
Small and medium-sized Irish businesses are only operating at two-thirds their potential, according to a new survey.
The study, carried out by Mazars whose staff met more than 100 companies in the manufacturing, distribution and services sectors during 2005 and 2006, found that the key issues faced by small and medium-sized businesses were poor profitability and cash flow and a lack of strategic focus on sales, marketing and planning.
Distribution firms were the worst affected, operating at only 60 per cent of capacity. Manufacturing was at about 61 per cent and services at 64 per cent.
US airline offers new travel class
American Airlines, which flies between Dublin and Chicago, and Shannon and Boston, has unveiled a new business class offering for passengers. On its Boeing 767-300s, it will offer "lie-flat" seats, a personal in-flight entertainment system with audio and video, and "state-of-the-art lighting". Completion of the enhancements is scheduled for early 2007.
