SERVICES

Petrofac, an oil & gas service provider has reported that its full year revenues rose 33 per cent to US$5.8 billion from US$4.4 billion in 2010, which shows the strong performance in all its four reporting segments.

Glencore, the supplier of metals, minerals, energy and agriculture products has reported its preliminary 2011 results with revenues for the year ended 31 December 2011 at $186,152 million, a 28% increase compared to $144,978 million in 2010.

Ashtead Group, the investment holding and management company, remains confident over the outlook for end construction markets in the short term, particularly in the U.K. Ahead of Q3 results on March 6, the group has secured 'Buy' ratings from Jefferies, Peel Hunt and Numis Securities.

Laird, the global technology company, has reported its results for the financial year ending 31 December 2011 with an increase in revenue from continuing businesses by 19% at £491.3 million compared to 2010. Organic revenue growth rose 12%.

Petrofac Limited, the provider of facilities solutions to the oil and gas production and processing industry, with continued growth, high levels of backlog, exceptional revenue visibility is scheduled to report its preliminary results on March 5, 2012.

BBA Aviation, the provider of global aviation support and aftermarket services expects to deliver a positive underlying progress achieving a full year result in line with the board's expectations. The group is scheduled to report its final results for the year ending on 31 December, 2011 on March 2, 2012.

Laird, the supplier of products and technology solutions is confident to deliver underlying earnings of not less than 16 pence per share for the year as a whole. The group is expected to release its preliminary results on March 2, 2012 with its increase customer base and expanding technology portfolio.

Man Group, the alternative investment management company, has reported its final results for the nine months to December 31, 2011 which are in line with expectations.

Man Group, the alternative investment management company is confident to deliver the positive performance as markets are normalised and trading opportunities re-emerged.

Despite challenging economic environment, WPP, the communications services provider continues to focus on its long-term plans and strategic goals of improving operating profits by 10-15 percent per annum.

Standard Chartered, the retail and commercial banking giant has reported a 11percent rise in its annual profit before tax at $6,775 million for the year ended on 31 December, 2011.

Interserve, the support services and construction company, is conscious of the continuing risks to global economic recovery and believes that it has the capability to double earnings per share over five years. The group is scheduled to release its preliminary results for the year ended December 31, 2011 on February 29, 2012.

Serco, the services group has delivered solid results for the period ended on December 31, 2011. It recorded robust growth in revenues including good organic growth, increased the operating margins and maintained a strong cash generation profile and financing position.

Standard Chartered, the retail and commercial banking giant, is on track to deliver another strong performance for the FY 2011. Ahead of preliminary earnings on February 29, 2012 it secured buy rating from all top brokerage houses such as Nomura Securities, Investec Bank and Seymour Pierce.

Whitbread, which owns Premier Inn, Costa, Beefeater and Brewers Fayre, is confident that it will continue to outperform in the challenging consumer economy based on the strength of its brands and its customer propositions.

Lloyd's Banking Group (LBG) and the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), UK's leading part-nationalised banks, are reportedly planning to approach the European Central Bank (ECB) for a special three-year funding scheme.

The profit was driven by considerable increases in e-book sales at Penguin and the Financial Times Group, both of which are owned by Pearson.

HSBC Holdings, the global banking and financial services organisation, has reported a robust performance for the year ending December 31, 2011 with profit before taxes of $21.9billion.

Serco, a FTSE 100 international service company, has been added in the 'Buy' list by all the UK top brokers as it is expected to deliver the full year results in line with expectations on Tuesday, February 28, 2012.

Ahead of full-year earnings, JP Morgan has assigned "Overweight" rating to the operator of Persimmon Homes, Charles Church, Westbury Partnerships and Space4 as the Group expects to perform in a challenging environment due to the overall economic situation, while the UK housing market remains stable.

Ahead of WSP Group preliminary 2011 results, the UK top brokers Jefferies has recommended 'Buy' rating on the stock, while Espirito Santo has assigned 'Outperform' rating with a target price of 300 pence per share. The consultancy company is scheduled to report its preliminary 2011 results on February 27, 2012.

Hammerson, the real estate investment trust is scheduled to release its full year 2011 results next week amid reports that Jefferies has assigned 'Buy' rating on the stock with a target price of 447 pence per share.

Losses double year-on-year for Royal Bank of Scotland after hits over pension mis-selling and Greek debt write-offs.

Pirate Bay, the world's most resilient torrent tracking and file-sharing Web site could soon be forced to bid farewell to Britain after a court ruling upheld an Internet Service Provider's (ISP) decision to ban the Web site in the near future.

In its latest statement, Foxconn (the Apple-contracted Chinese company under review for labour practices) has promised to hike wages by 16 to 25 per cent.

Google and Stanford University have confirmed they are one of the first recipients of the 2013 Fit EV battery-electric vehicles from Honda. The vehicles have been given as part of the Honda Electric Vehicle Demonstration Program.

A British Student, Glenn Mangham, 26, has allegedly stolen valuable information after breaking into the heart of Facebook. The talented hacker had earlier pointed out security loopholes with the Yahoo website and apparently won an appreciation award from the firm for his noble work as ethical hacker.

The European Court of Justice has decisively ruled out implementation of anti-piracy filter by social-networking sites to stall copyrighted content from being uploaded on their sites. The ruling involves a case filed against Netlog by a Belgian music royalties firm, Sabam.

In separate reports released on Feb. 15, both Airbus and Boeing have agreed that there is tremendous potential for growth of the aviation industry in the Asia-Pacific region.