New Zealand
Growth in profits might come for Leighton in 2010
Leighton Holdings Ltd is hoping for growth in profits in the year 2010, with the stabilization of the economy. With the announcement, its shares were up more than 8 percent.
During the current year, the company forecasts a rise in the net profit to about A$600 million ($506 million), provided there are no hindrances to the investments and the revenue crosses A$19 billion.
Chief Executive, Wal King, said, "The tide is coming in and every time the tide has come in it has always gone to a new high watermark."
Announcement for upgrade and price cuts made by Southern Cross Cable
Recently, Southern Cross Cable declared its plans to cut prices for services on its submarine cable network linking Australia and New Zealand to the US via Hawaii.
Furthermore, it also said that the company is mulling to increase capacity by more than 50 percent early in 2010. The company aims at creating a whole new cable system.
NZ economy lost $2.8 billion due to drought
A whopping sum of $2.8 billion was lost by the New Zealand economy due to the drought in 2007 and 2008.
A report released by a Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry that the total cost to New Zealand's primary sector was $1.9 billion on-farm and $900 million off-farm.
It should be noted that drought drastically reduced the quality of stock going into the next breeding season, reduced quantity of milk from dairy farms and increased costs due to purchase of supplementary feed.
Telstra sees its profits hike due to demand for broadband
It was recently forwarded by TelstraClear chief executive Allan Freeth that though he has not yet witnessed any notable growth in the economy, the company was able to increase its revenues and profits due to strong demand for broadband.
A rise by 2.8 per cent was seen in the sales for the year to $703 million, while profit before interest and taxation more than doubled to $18m.
Year-on-year profits for Contact Energy halved to $117m
Following a bumpy year of coinciding negative factors, Contact Energy has rolled out full year profits of NZ$117.5 million, exactly half last year's NZ$237.1 million. The underlying earnings per share were dragged down to 27.35 cents - due to the weather, the electricity transmission system, inflexible gas contracts and a customer exodus - which comes as a fall of 31 percent from 39.6 cents in the previous year. The interim dividend is being held at 17 cents per share by the company, payable on 22 September.
Microsoft launches Entourage Web Services Edition
The software giant, Microsoft Corp on Thursday launched a Web Service Edition of Entourage 2008 for Mac, which allows Apple Machine users to synchronize with its tasks, notes and categories software.
It may be noted here that Entourage is a Microsoft email application, which comes with Word, PowerPoint and Excel program created for Macintosh computers. Entourage
2008, Web Services Edition needs Mac OS X 10.4.9 or later.
New vibration treatment offers hope for people suffering from mitochondrial disease
Nearly one in 250 Australians is affected by the debilitating genetic disorder in which there is a steady decline of muscle mass and strength over their lifetimes. People suffering from the disease have to spend a lot of time resting, in bed or in a wheelchair.
Researchers will soon conduct trails to test efficacy of vibration therapy in treating mitochondrial disease. The trail will involve 25 children and young adults with the condition.
Over-sleeping including afternoon naps can increase Alzheimer risk
Recent study indicated that people who sleep for more than eight hours or enjoy afternoon nap are at higher risk of developing Alzheimer's. Over-sleeping nearly doubles the risk of Alzheimer's.
The reason behind association between the over-sleeping and the increased Alzheimer's risk is not yet clear. But researchers believe that by keeping a track of the sleeping hours of their patients, doctors can predict the onset of Alzheimer's.
Dick Smith NZ stores to sell select Dell products
As a result of a partnership Dell and Dick Smith stores, New Zealand becomes the latest market where Dell would have a retailer to on-sell its Inspiron PC products. Today onwards, all the 70 Dick Smith New Zealand stores will sell Dell's select range of laptops and desktops.
In May, Dell had signed a similar deal with Dick Smith Australia, thereby making its products available for retail sale off the shelves of the 70 Australian Dick Smith stores.
16% gain seen in Steel & Tube’s full-year profits after strong first half
A 16 per cent gain in full-year profit was recently posted by Steel & Tube Holdings, which supplies steel products to the construction industry. This indicated strong trading in the first half, which dissipated as expected in the second six months of the year.
Via a statement, the Wellington-based company informed that in the 12 months ended June 30, net income rose to NZ$26.1 million, or 29.6 cents a share, from NZ$22.5 million, or 25.5 cents a year earlier.
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