Energy crunch: Oil prices rise over Iraq fears as cost of gas jumps after Ukraine cut-off June 16, 2014 Fears of a disruptive energy price spike grew yesterday as conflict escalated in Iraq and Ukraine’s gas supplies from Russia were abruptly cut off. Experts warned that growing geopolitical risk could send oil and gas prices sharply upwards, prompting a more severe market reaction and even a slowdown in the global economic recovery. The US [...]
Shell and BP to announce big trade deals with China June 16, 2014 SHELL and BP, the UK’s two biggest oil companies, are expected to announce trade deals with China today, on the second day of Premier Li Keqiang’s visit to Britain. The deals will form part of what is expected to be an £18bn package being brokered between firms in the two nations by the Chinese and [...]
Vince Cable to face probe over Oakeshott poll June 16, 2014 BUSINESS secretary Vince Cable is under investigation by the Parliamentary standards commissioner Kathryn Hudson, following a complaint over polling in his constituency, paid for by Lord Oakeshott. Cable’s aide Tessa Munt MP is also being investigated, following a complaint by Political Scrapbook that the members did not declare polling, which is thought to have cost [...]
British support for free trade starts to grow June 16, 2014 MORE BRITONS are coming around to the idea that free trade is good for the economy, the British Social Attitudes Survey shows today. And the fear of foreign businesses harming local firms is also showing some signs of fading, according to the study from the researchers at NatCen. The 2103 survey found 48 per cent [...]
What the other papers say this morning – 17 June 2014 June 16, 2014 FINANCIAL TIMES Cameron faces setback over Juncker David Cameron’s campaign to head off Jean-Claude Juncker’s election to the EU’s most high-profile job is facing its most serious challenge yet with Germany pressing for a vote to override the British Prime Minister’s objections as early as next week. Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor, has told European [...]
Alibaba reports slowing growth ahead of float June 16, 2014 ALIBABA Group, the Chinese e-commerce giant aiming for the largest stock market float in history, yesterday said revenue growth slowed dramatically last quarter, causing shares in co-owner Yahoo to tumble. The group, which wants to beat Facebook’s mammoth $15bn initial public offering by generating a market cap of $170bn, said fourth quarter revenue rose 38 [...]
Morgan Stanley emails exposed in bid battle June 16, 2014 THE dark arts of investment banking were brutally exposed yesterday as Allergan, the US healthcare group fighting off a $53bn (£31.2bn) hostile bid from a rival Valeant Pharmaceuticals, released emails designed to embarrass Morgan Stanley, the US investment bank that is now advising its unwanted suitor. The emails show that just a few weeks ago, [...]
US court ruling leaves Argentina to pay back holdout funds in full June 16, 2014 THE US Supreme Court dashed Argentina’s hopes of a further appeal on its debt restructuring yesterday, leaving the country liable for a looming $1.33bn (£780m) payout to hedge funds. The highest US court’s decision not to hear the Argentinian government’s case against creditors that rejected previous debt restructuring means that it may be faced with [...]
M&M Direct sold for £140m after listing snubbed June 16, 2014 BUDGET online sports retailer M&M Direct is set to be sold for up to £140m – reversing plans for a stock market listing in London. The company, founded as a catalogue retailer in 1997, has clinched a deal to be acquired by Danish clothing outfit Bestseller. The firm’s current backer, private equity firm TA Associates, [...]
Bottom Line: Slow and steady wins this race to market June 16, 2014 ONE NEEDS to look no further than the World Cup for a reminder of how people love to swing from one extreme to the other. An embarrassing 5-1 defeat to the Netherlands, for example, and suddenly Spain – the current World Cup holders and winners of the last two European Championships – are deemed to be [...]