All Posts Tagged With: "profits"
Oil companies have to be doing something bad: Shell is cutting thousands of jobs
Jennifer McClelland | RSS | Fri, Oct 30 2009 | 0 Comments
Royal Dutch Shell plc, or as many of us know it as, just Shell announced yesterday that it will have to eliminate 5,000 jobs due to the 62% drop in 3rd quarter net income.
It reported a net income of $3.3 billion or 53 cents per share, but that is less than half of the net income that it reported last year of $8.5 billion. Since the drop, the company has to do something, so like most companies the first place it cuts is its workforce. The cuts represent about 10 percent of the total number of employees for the company.
CEO of the company, Peter Voser, said in a statement, “Our third quarter results were affected by the weak global economy. We see some indications that energy demand and pricing are improving, but the outlook remains very uncertain, and we are not expecting a quick recovery.”
The company did not disclose where the cuts would be coming from, just that they would be coming.
It is quite annoying when a company starts to expect the kind of money they were making when things were outrageously overpriced. Of course the company make $8.5 billion in the third quarter last year, that is when gas prices were outrageous (and not to mention oil was at nearly $150 a barrel). With oil at half the price it was a year ago, it only makes sense that the company’s profits would be taking a tumble. I mean, we’re paying $2.50 at the gas station when we used to be paying $4.00, or more in some cases.
It is also irritating when the first thing a company resorts to as a cost cutting measure is to get rid of jobs. Could the executives not put their minds together to get a better idea than to cut jobs? This is 10 percent of the company’s workforce that they are talking about.
I suppose, though, in the near future that gas prices will be ridiculous again and that the economy will be on the right track once more. Until then, everyone can expect stories such as this one to come out about how jobs are being lost and profits are falling.
Source
Jobs that make six figures: These may surprise you.
Tags: profits, oil companies, energy demand
Social networking site Facebook finally sees some profits.
Jennifer McClelland | RSS | Wed, Sep 16 2009 | 6 Comments
Facebook has been operating in the red since the beginning of the company just a handful of years ago. Today it was reported that the company is finally beginning to have profitable operations and that according to CEO Mark Zuckerberg, the company is now cash flow positive and has been since the second quarter.
From the Facebook Blog as posted by Zuckerberg:
“We’re also succeeding at building Facebook in a sustainable way. Earlier this year, we said we expected to be cash flow positive sometime in 2010, and I’m pleased to share that we achieved this milestone last quarter. This is important to us because it sets Facebook up to be a strong independent service for the long term.
Over time, Facebook will continue to be as strong as all of the connections you make. We’ll continue building new and better things to make connecting with the people you care about as easy and rewarding as possible. We thank all of you for helping us reach the point where we are connecting 300 million people, and we hope to serve you and many more people in increasingly deep and innovative ways in the months and years ahead.”
In a previous release from Facebook, the company was not expected to be cash flow positive until sometime in 2010, so seeing profits in the second quarter 2009 is a welcomed surprise.
Facebook also boasts more than 300 million users all across the world.
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Tags: facebook, cash flow, social networking site
President Obama announces a new plan to close tax loopholes for companies
Jennifer McClelland | RSS | Mon, May 04 2009 | 0 CommentsToday the president announced some plans that he and his administration would put into place dealing with tax loopholes and other tax shelters for U.S. companies that try to defer tax payments by keeping profits in foreign countries rather than in the company’s home country. In his proposal, President Obama also said he wanted banks to be more transparent. He was talking about banks in nations such as the Cayman Islands that are considered tax shelters to Americans.
“If financial institutions won’t cooperate with us, we will assume that they are sheltering money in tax havens and act accordingly,” Obama said.
With the plan in place, companies wouldn’t be able to write off domestic expenses for generating profits abroad.
He also wants to do away with tax benefits that are saught by companies that outsource employees to other countries.
Related posts:Oil companies have to be doing something bad: Shell is cutting thousands of jobs
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Tags: financial institutions, cayman islands, tax loopholes
Abercrombie & Fitch see a 68% decline in 4Q profits
Jennifer McClelland | RSS | Fri, Feb 13 2009 | 0 CommentsAbercrombie & Fitch posted its numbers today relating to its 4th quarter and they weren’t good. Sales for the 4th quarter were down 68% and it only has itself to thank for that.
Chairman and Chief Executive Mike Jeffries said even in the weak economy Abercrombie will not be offering deals at the same level as its competitors.
“We are not promotional, and by promotional I mean 50 percent off a category or buy one get 17 free, somebody whispering to you about a secret sale. We don’t do stuff like that,” Jeffries said in a conference call with investors. “We do take clearance markdowns as a natural rhythm of the business and we’re strategic about how we take markdowns.”
So, even though it is attempting to “cut costs” the store will not be offering discounts or promotions on items that obviously fewer people are buying because they “don’t do stuff like that.” Well, people won’t buy “stuff like that” until they can afford it, which could be awhile.
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Tags: promotions, mike jeffries, economy
Starbucks to close 300 more stores, eliminate 6,700 jobs
Jennifer McClelland | RSS | Thu, Jan 29 2009 | 0 CommentsThe story of the store that over-expanded. Starbucks has been the butt of many jokes for years because of its odd store locations, sometimes across the street from each other. Well, now it appears that those days are numbered.
Last year, Starbucks closed several hundred stores all across the country due to falling profits and a looming recession. Now it has announced another 300 store closings and a loss of 6,700 jobs. Two-hundred of the stores will be located in the U.S.
I never understood why Starbucks chooses to locate in some areas, but not others. For example, I live in a college town with a student population of around 12,000. We have one Starbucks inside the student union and it’s a collaboration with Barnes and Noble. Yet, in the Grapevine Mills Mall just outside Dallas, there were 2 full size Starbucks. I like Starbucks, but for me, it’s just too inconvenient to buy on a regular basis.
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Tags: recession, population, locations
