Complaints to small energy firms surge May 21, 2014 THE NUMBER of customer complaints to smaller energy suppliers has risen sharply over the past six months, according to new data released today. The public furore over the cost of living and rising energy bills has prompted an increasing number of people to shop around for cheaper deals. Big six supplier Npower still had the [...]
China’s house sector to slow May 21, 2014 THE CHINESE property market was downgraded by credit ratings agency Moody’s yesterday, with the group now expecting a “significant slowdown”. The group cut their view of the sector from stable to negative. While Moody’s still expect some growth in property sales, of up to five per cent, the expansion is a major drop from the 26.6 per [...]
DCC on the hunt for new deals as acquisitions boost revenues May 21, 2014 THE CHIEF executive of DCC yesterday said the services group would continue to look for deals in the UK and continental Europe, after acquisitions helped drive a 6.2 per cent rise in revenue last year. “We continue to have an appetite to deploy more capital in the UK,” Tommy Breen told City A.M. “We’d also [...]
HICL eyes more deals as profits rise May 21, 2014 HICL, a fund that invests in infrastructure projects, yesterday posted pre-tax profits of £153.8m for the year, up from £93.1m the prior year. The firm has invested £230m during the year, which includes 16 new investments. “Despite competitive markets, we still believe we will be able to make further investments, both in the UK and, [...]
Record sales for African Minerals May 21, 2014 African Minerals, the Aim-listed iron ore miner founded by the colourful former boss of Regal Petroleum Frank Timis, yesterday posted record first-quarter production of 5.3m tonnes and record sales of 4.6m tonnes, while cash costs fell over the period. “We are well advanced in our next stage of growth targeting low capital cost optimisation and [...]
Lekoil completes £22m placing May 21, 2014 Aim-listed oil and gas explorer Lekoil yesterday said it has raised around $37.7m (£22.4m) from a share placing, to fund its development of the Otakikpo oil field in Nigeria. On Tuesday Lekoil said it had bought a 40 per cent interest in the field. Mirabaud Securities and UBS are acting as joint bookrunners on the [...]
Part owners win whistle-blower rights in ruling May 21, 2014 A LANDMARK judgement by the Supreme Court yesterday confirmed that limited liability partnership (LLP) members are entitled to the same whistle-blowing rights as other employees. The ruling, which determined that former Clyde & Co employee Krista Bates Van Winkelhof can claim status as a whistleblower despite owning a part of the firm, may have wide-ranging consequences [...]
Gatehouse Bank appoints new boss to grow the firm in London May 21, 2014 GATEHOUSE Bank, the Shariah-compliant lender, yesterday unveiled a new boss to take over from current chairman and chief executive Fahed Faisal Boodai, who will remain in his role as executive chairman. Henry Thompson, who has been working in Shariah-compliant finance at Arcapita as head of legal, will take over the role with immediate effect. “I [...]
Leeds company unveils greener red London bus May 21, 2014 A LEEDS bus builder yesterday unveiled what it hopes will be the next double-decker bus to drive on London’s streets. Optare said its MetroDecker model weighs less than 10 tonnes, compared to over 12 tonnes for the newest Routemaster – making it “extremely fuel-efficient”. “We have worked hard to assess and evaluate every part of [...]
Playing nosey neighbours at Small Cap bash May 21, 2014 THE CITY’S small cap stars had their night in the spotlight yesterday at the Small Cap Awards in the St Paul’s Grange Hotel. The Saturday night TV fans among the crowd got quite a treat, with voice of X-Factor and Britain’s Got Talent, Peter Dickson, acting as master of ceremonies. His familiar and booming voice added [...]