Steel sector jobs could be saved by government March 13, 2016 The government is working with private equity fund Greybull on a deal to save 4,000 jobs at Tata’s Scunthorpe steelworks. The department for business, innovation and skills (BIS) is negotiating with both Tata Steel and Greybull to finalise a deal ahead of a 31 March deadline that could see the government taking a stake in [...]
Norwegian oil fund parts with Pimco amid market volatility March 13, 2016 The world's largest sovereign wealth fund has parted ways with bond giant Pimco as it seeks to overhaul its investment strategy. The Norwegian Sovereign Wealth Fund pulled its money last year amid widespread investor concerns over underperformance at some of Pimco’s largest fixed income funds. The loss of the fund as an investor is the latest [...]
AstraZeneca facing a shareholder revolt over performance targets March 13, 2016 Shareholders of drug giant AstraZeneca are gearing up for a revolt at the firm’s annual meeting next month after chief executive Pascal Soriot was handed £8.4m in pay last year. AstraZeneca will come under fire for not writing a key revenue target into Soriot’s bonus package. The pharmaceuticals group has revealed that Soriot’s pay more [...]
Bond Apocalypse Now: Is the end nigh for bond investment as M&G reveals high levels of outflows in its most recent results? March 13, 2016 The UK bond market is sitting on a bed of nitroglycerine, according to Bill Gross, one of the world’s most pre-eminent bond investors. Or at least, that was his prognosis in January 2010, since which time UK government bonds have returned over six per cent a year and yields on the benchmark 10 year gilt have [...]
Sir Martin Sorrell’s salary: How long would it take you to earn the WPP boss’s proposed £70m pay? March 13, 2016 Sir Martin Sorrell, the highest paid boss of the FTSE as chief of advertising giant WPP, is in line for an even bigger bumper payout that will leave him earning a more-than healthy £190,000 each day. Assuming a 12 hour working day, that potential £70m would be the equivalent of more than £15,000 per hour – more than the [...]
Chinese steel production posts weak start to the year March 12, 2016 Chinese steel production got off to a disappointing start this year, as the industrial commodity continued to be hampered by a chronic oversupply. Steel output in January and February continued to fall, shedding 5.7 per cent year-on-year to 121.1m tonnes, data from China's statistics bureau showed today. This helped prompt a further 10.4 per cent drop in the output of coking [...]
Its share price might be on a downward slope, but here are six reasons this Old Mutual spinoff might just work March 11, 2016 Shares in FTSE 100 insurance group Old Mutual have fallen after it unveiled plans this morning to split into four separate companies – suggesting investors are less than impressed at its plans Fear not, though. There could be good reason to be optimistic about this conscious uncoupling, if past precedent is anything to go by. “The [...]
Old Mutual share price rises as it unveils plans to split into four March 11, 2016 And lo, it came to pass: FTSE 100 insurance group Old Mutual has unveiled plans to consciously uncouple into four separate companies, after speculation over the move sent shares soaring on Monday. In a results statement today, the company said a strategic review by chief executive Bruce Hemphill had concluded it will split into four businesses: Old Mutual Emerging [...]
French auditor Cour des Comptes joins rising concern over EDF’s ability to finance Hinkley Point C March 11, 2016 A French auditor has joined the rising chorus of concern over utility giant EDF's ability to finance the £18bn Hinkley Point C project. Cour des Comptes, France's top audit body, said the state-owned utility should ask "serious questions" over the building the two nuclear power plants in Somerset. It comes a week after EDF's finance director, Thomas Piquema, resigned over the negative [...]
Competition and Markets Authority’s investigation into the big six: It’s time to welcome a new era in the energy industry March 11, 2016 An eighteen month investigation into the energy market is nearing a close, and the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has recommended some practical solutions. This is much needed, given that 20 years after privatisation, 70 per cent of big six customers are still on the most expensive tariff and have been for far too long. We've consistently said [...]