Premier Foods’ under fire from top shareholder over collapsed bid talks with McCormick April 13, 2016 Premier Foods' third biggest shareholder has slammed the company for failing to recommend McCormick's 65p per share offer to the board, after its American suitor walked away today. Paulson & Co, a US hedge fund that owns a seven per cent stake in Premier and has already locked horns with the company over its handling of the [...]
The Co-operative Group eyes sale of 300 food stores to focus on convenience April 13, 2016 Around 300 Co-operative food stores could face the axe as part of plans to shed its larger shops and focus on expanding its more profitable convenience business. The mutual, which has over 2,800 stores throughout the UK, is understood to have hired bankers at Rothschild to find buyers for the stores to help raise funds to spruce up the rest of its [...]
Global shale gas market expected to hit $214bn by 2022 April 13, 2016 The world's shale gas market could swell to $214bn (£150.2) in just a few years time. This would come as global shale gas grows at an annual compound rate of 14.4 per cent from 2015 to 2022, according to the report by Allied Market Research. Similarly, the world's thirst for shale gas is expected to increase at an annual [...]
World’s biggest private coal miner Peabody files for bankruptcy protection in the US April 13, 2016 The World's biggest private coal producer, Peabody, has been forced to file for bankruptcy protection in the US, amid what it described as a historically difficult business environment. The move will help it shore up liquidity and whittle down its debt, which was $6.3bn (£4.4bn) at the end of 2015, the firm said as it made a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing. [...]
Fresnillo share price rises as gold output sparkles April 13, 2016 Fresnillo shares ticked up today, after the precious metals miner said it's on course to meet production targets this year. The London-listed company's shares rose as much as two per cent to 1,012p this morning, before settling back down to 1,008p later in the day. Fresnillo reported gold production shot up 26 per cent to 230,0000 ounces in the first quarter [...]
Opec flags less oil demand growth ahead of freeze meeting April 13, 2016 The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) predicts global oil demand will be less than previously thought this year. Opec cut its forecast for world oil demand growth by 50,000 barrels per day (bpd) in its closely watched monthly report released today. It also warned there could be further downward revisions due to a slowdown in the emerging market economies, [...]
The Twitter news merry-go-round increases volatility in financial markets, study says April 13, 2016 Investors who threat the merry-go-round of news and opinion about stocks on social media as if it were brand new information are stirring up volatility in the financial markets. While this will come as no to surprise to most market mavens, now researchers Pieran Jiao, Andre Veiga and Ansgar Walther over at Oxford University have been able to quantify by how much. Their [...]
Stocks surge on strong Chinese trade figures, while Tesco’s return to profit proves every little doesn’t help April 13, 2016 Strong trade data from China was enough to offset disappointing results from Tesco this morning and push UK stocks to their highest level of the year. Gobal shares rallied on the latest sign that the process of rebalacing in the world’s second largest economy is on course. Exports from China jumped by 11.5 per cent in March in dollar terms [...]
The Financial Conduct Authority wants to alter the IPO process – potentially changing how the blackout period works April 13, 2016 Alright, so the IPO market may not exactly be booming at the moment – but the UK's financial watchdog thinks it needs to be more tightly regulated all the same. In an interim report published today, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has put forward a package of measures aimed at putting an end to "potentially anti-competitive [...]
House prices: London and regional rental prices climbed higher in March April 13, 2016 London rents rose by 7.7 per cent in the year to March as demand for rental property in the capital remained strong, new research shows. However, HomeLet said that the data comes ahead of reforms that are predicted to have a major impact within the sector, including a stamp duty increase for buy-to-let properties, and could tell [...]