Bank chiefs warn of more pain to come as cost cutting expected to be ramped up February 17, 2016 Britain's bank bosses have warned that cost cutting measures will have to be ramped up as stunted revenues and low interest rates continue to take their toll on the sector. A survey of UK bank chiefs by PwC found that almost 70 per cent said they expect to implement a cost cutting scheme in the next [...]
North Sea oil workers will be given government funding to retrain as teachers as price rout continues February 16, 2016 Funding will be available for North Sea oil and gas workers who wish to retrain as teachers, the Scottish education secretary Angela Constance announced today. Financial support to help workers who have been made redundant will come from the £12m Transition Training Fund, launched by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon on 1 February. Funding will be [...]
Saudi-Russia oil deal doubtful as price stutters February 16, 2016 A deal announced between oil heavyweights Saudi Arabia and Russia to freeze production at January levels if other oil producing countries are to do the same has been dubbed “meaningless” by experts. Saudi, the de-facto leader of oil cartel Opec, has refused to enact a cut unless joined by Russia and the US who have both [...]
Metro Bank bows to market pressure, cuts share price ahead of planned market float February 16, 2016 Metro Bank, the London challenger, has been forced to lower the amount it’s hoping to raise through a market float by 20 per cent due to wild swings in bank share prices around Europe. The bank will now look to raise £400m in coming weeks, down from £500m, and cutting its share price at £20 from [...]
Gold price starts falling again after seeing a turnaround in early trading today February 16, 2016 The gold price has plunged by 2.85 per cent to $1,203.97 per ounce, its biggest single-session point drop in almost a year, after rallying earlier in the day to $1,213.95. Investors had thought the commodity's two-day losing streak was at an end given the 0.38 per cent gain in early trading but the turnaround has not [...]
Apple launches $12bn bond deal to fund share buybacks February 16, 2016 Apple has announced plans to return to sell debt across up to 10 tranches of corporate bonds, worth between $10bn (£7bn) and $12bn. The tech giant’s multi-billion dollar bond deal, which includes bonds with both fixed and floating interest rates, will help fund its share buyback scheme. The company said the proceeds will be used “for [...]
Royal Dutch Shell share price rises despite scrapping sale of south American oil assets February 16, 2016 Royal Dutch Shell scrapped the sale of some of its South American oil assets, which were expected to net it around $150m (£105m), saying it couldn’t elaborate on the reasons why. The oil major cancelled the sale of its 80 per cent stakes in the Bijupirá and Salema oil fields off the coast of Brazil [...]
Redefine International raises £115m to fund property deal February 16, 2016 Redefine International has raised £115m via a share placing to help fund its £437m acquisition of a portfolio of properties from insurer Aegon's UK Property Fund. The retail and commercial property investor, which is listed in both the UK and South Africa, bought the first tranche of the AUK Portfolio in October for £203.5m using existing cash resources and a [...]
S&P: Low brent crude prices not biggest threat to credit ratings of Russian oil majors such as Lukoil, Gazprom, Rosneft, Gazprom Neft, and Novatek February 16, 2016 Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s has said Russian government policy poses the biggest threat to the country’s oil majors, not oil prices which have crumbled over the last 18 months. Russian oil majors have been cushioned from the rout by government policy, which links how much tax they pay to oil prices, leaving the federal [...]
Circle Property makes £42m debut on London’s junior market February 16, 2016 A regional property company chaired by former Land Securities boss Ian Henderson has listed on London's junior market with a market value of £42m. Circle Property, which was founded by a group of family investors in 2002 and also counts banking heir Jamie Hambro and the Duke of Roxburghe as non-executive directors, owns 16 commercial properties across the country valued at [...]