February 2012 UK Share Price and Stock Market News Archive

As reported by the BBC, India's Essar Energy shares have dropped by over 10% following the company’s reports of a post-tax loss for 2011. The firm saw a loss of $568 million for the calendar year, in comparison to its 2010 profit of $248 million. The company said 2011 had seen many challenges, with weaker refining margins and a lower...

As reported by the BBC, carmaker Volkswagen’s annual profits have doubled after the firm sold a record amount of vehicles in 2011. The company announced a net profit of 15.8 billion euros for 2011, compared with 2010’s figure of 7.2 billion euros. The firm delivered over 8.2 million vehicles, a rise of almost 15% from 2010. Volkswagen...

As reported by the BBC, Australian surf gear maker Billabong has declined a takeover bid from TPG Capital, saying it is still in talks with the investment group. TPG had offered 765 million Australian dollars (A$3 per share), which Billabong called too low. Billabong has watched its fortunes shrink in recent years thanks to falling global...

As reported by the BBC, Credit Agricole has announced a huge loss for the three months before New Year 2012, attributing the decline to its exposure to the Greek crisis. France's third-biggest bank lost 3.1 billion euros (£2.59bn; $4.1bn), rising 9.4% from the same period during 2010. It lost 1.1 billion euros total in 2011. French rivals...

The globe’s largest retailer, Wal-Mart, has announced its rising quarterly profits following a solid holiday season. For the three months leading up to 31 January, Wal-Mart churned a net profit of $5.2 billion (£3.3bn), rising 3.4% in comparison to the same quarter in 2011. But the figures did not match market hopes and its shares...

As reported by the BBC, financial markets have shown a mixed reaction on the announcement of another bailout package for Greece. New York’s Dow Jones briefly exceeded the 13,000 mark before ending nearly flat, while markets in Frankfurt, London and Paris all dropped slightly. The euro was changed very little from Monday's ending price....

As reported by the BBC, European stock markets ended favourably before a conference of eurozone finance ministers which is expected to settle a new rescue plan for Greece. Cash-strapped Athens must decide on the 130 billion euro (£110bn; $170bn) bailout package before mid-March to dodge a default on its debts. Britain’s FTSE 100 went up...

As reported by Renew Economy, shares in the two largest solar energy firms jumped drastically last week following suggestions that 2012 sales would be stronger than previously forecast. Suntech, the globe’s largets maker of silicon solar panels, went up by 14% on Friday to $3.85 on the Nasdaq. Suntech said it had expected 2011 shipments...

As reported by the BBC, American carmaker General Motors generated record profits during 2011 but showed huge losses for its European operations. The company made a net profit of $7.6 billion (£4.85bn) during the year, a 62% jump from 2010. However, the company lost $700 million in Europe, including its UK Vauxhall factories in Luton and...

As reported by the BBC, Billabong shares have gone up by over 60% as the firm announced a restructuring scheme after TPG Capital offered a takeover bid from. Billabong’s shares surged as much as A$2.93 (up from A$1.79) at the Australia Securities Exchange. The firm will sell off a stake of its Nixon brand, shut down unprofitable stores...

As reported by the BBC, for the first time ever, shares in technology firm Apple have exceeded $500 per stake. This marks an astonishing turnaround for the company, whose shares were in 1997 worth as low as $3.19, when it confronted the possibility of bankruptcy. The firm is now worth $460 billion. The firm’s revival by Steve Jobs, who...

As reported by the BBC, Japanese camera-maker Olympus has announced a loss in profits during the nine months before 31 December 2011, while it still disputes an accounting scandal. The company saw a 33.09 billion yen loss during the period, which compares to the 5.84 billion yen profit during the same period in 2010. Olympus has confessed...

As reported in the BBC, Barclays has announced a 3% drop in revenues to £5.9 billion for 2011, affected by a downturn in its investment bank division. The bank also reported that the bonus pool in the investment banking arm was down by 32% to £1.5 billion last year. As a news conference, CEO Bob Diamond declined to talk about his own...

Carmaker Toyota has raised its annual profits forecast, stating its recovery is on target following the blow of the Japanese tsunami, the strong yen and Thai floods. The company made a 80.9 billion yen profit ($1.05 billion; £660 million) between October - December, a drop of 13.5%. However, it raised its yearly profit forecast to 200...

As reported by the BBC, media group News Corporation watched its net revenues rise 65 per cent in the three months up to the end of December 2011, comparing positively to the same time period in 2010. The growth is the first time the firm’s profits have risen compared to 2010 since New Year 2011. The media group made $1.06 billion (£888...

As reported by the BBC, lower commodity prices are pushing down profits for BHP Billiton, the world's largest mining company. The Anglo-Australian firm reported a 5.5% yearly fall in first-half revenues to $9.9 billion (£6.2 billion). The company also forewarned of a turbulent future citing Europe's debt crisis and a slowing Chinese...

Australia’s largest investment bank Macquarie Group has said it anticipates that full year profits will fall by 25 per cent because a weak market is affecting its business, reports the BBC. Its investment and trading banking operations were the most severely hit, said the company in a statement. The bank’s shares dropped five per cent...

Shareholders in Olympus will finally get the opportunity to grill the management on the accounting scandal that led to the stock price plummeting.An extraordinary general meeting (EGM) has been called on 20 April. The company has admitted it has been hiding losses of $1.7bn (£1bn) for up to twenty years, reports the BBC. The scandal has...

Shares of Australian mining firm Lynas have risen after it received a licence from Malaysian authorities to run a rare earth refinery in the SE Asian country. Lynas shares ended 19% stronger at A$1.590 at the Australian Securities Exchange. After being completed, the plant is to be one of the largest supply sources of rare earth elements...

Facebook, the largest social networking site in the world, has announced its stock market flotation plans. Facebook said that it aimed to raise $5bn (£3.16bn), roughly half the amount a number of analysts had predicted. However, the initial public offering (IPO) is still likely to be the largest sale of shares by an online company,...

Internet retailer Amazon has announced a dramatic drop in profits and warned of worse than anticipated results this year. For the three months ending 31 December, net income at the online giant was $177m (£144m), plummeting from $416m a year earlier. The fall came despite revenues during the period increasing by 35 per cent to $17.43bn....