UK house prices soar as lack of homes fuels cost of living crisis September 22, 2014 House building in the UK has been in a continual state of decline since the 1970s, making it harder to own a home and to pay rent, according to a report released yesterday. In the several years preceding the financial crisis, just under 200,000 houses were completed per year – half the number that [...]
US data storage colossus EMC looking to rivals HP and Dell as possible merger targets September 22, 2014 EMC, the biggest maker of corporate data storage equipment, reportedly held merger talks with rivals Hewlett-Packard (HP) and Dell. Under pressure from an activist shareholder and the expected retirement of its longtime chief executive, the company is exploring options including a sale, according to the Wall Street Journal. Merger talks between HP and EMC, which [...]
WPP investing $25m in adtech September 22, 2014 ADVERTISING giant WPP yesterday announced it had taken a $25m (£15.3m) stake in AppNexus, the world’s largest independent adtech provider based in New York. AppNexus’s technology lets marketers, publishers, content providers and media investment management firms to buy and sell digital advertising, which delivers 30bn impressions a day. WPP said the investment would cement its [...]
London Mining and Glencore share prices hit by dispute over contract payment September 22, 2014 London Mining has accused Glencore of non-payment of an iron ore contract between the two mining firms, hitting shares in both companies hard yesterday. Shares in Aim-listed London Mining plummeted over 10 per cent yesterday to close at an all-time low of 23.25p, while giant mining company Glencore saw its shares fall nearly five per [...]
Velocys share price hits high note after patent win over CompactGTL September 22, 2014 A High Court patent case between two energy companies providing conversion of natural gas into liquid fuel was settled in favour of Velocys yesterday over its rival CompactGTL. The patent case victory sent shares in Aim-listed Velocys 5.2 per cent higher during trading yesterday to hit a record high of 248p, before falling back to [...]
Gemfields sees glistening future as its revenues more than treble September 22, 2014 Leading coloured gemstone supplier Gemfields revealed its revenues had more than tripled as it returned to profit in 2014, boosted by strong emerald and ruby sales. Shares in Aim-listed Gemfields jumped over five per cent yesterday, as it said revenues rose to $160.1m (£97.9m) in the year to 30 June 2014, up from $48.4m in [...]
Latin American states to be hit most by oil price fall September 22, 2014 Latin American petro-states face being hardest hit by the recent 15 per cent drop in price of oil to below $100 (£61) per barrel (pb), according to a new report released yesterday. The report by research consultancy Capital Economics said lower oil prices could hit Latin American producers worst because many relied on higher prices [...]
Angola LNG plant needs huge rebuild September 22, 2014 ANGOLA’S liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant faces a lengthy closure and massive reconstruction work to fix design flaws and corrosion of its nearly-new equipment, which will add at least $12bn (£7.3bn) to the project’s cost. US oil group Chevron, its biggest shareholder, accepted there were design problems with the project, which began production last year [...]
Laying down the law on M&A and sell offs September 22, 2014 LAW FIRM of the year The past year has seen law firms work with the government and banks on the selling of shares and on the investigations into alleged failings at big companies. Against that backdrop lawyers have also started to benefit from the upturn in the M&A and financing markets, beefing up their private [...]
City Moves for 23 September 2014 | Who’s switching jobs September 22, 2014 Baker & McKenzie Gillian Coyle has been appointed London HR director at the law firm. She joined in 2010 as the head of the HR business partner team, and previously spent 12 years at Deloitte. Coyle will also serve on Baker & McKenzie’s London Management Committee. Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management Astrid Manroth has been appointed [...]