Private equity takes another bite out of the North Sea as Total sells oilfields for $635m July 10, 2019 Total is set to sell a group of North Sea fields it bought from AP Moller-Maersk in 2018, becoming the latest oil major to sell off assets in the dwindling basin. Private equity firm Hitec Vision and Petrogas, the Omani oil group, will chip in to buy the $635m (£509m) fields. Read more: Chrysaor takes [...]
Page Group warns of lower profits amid economic uncertainty July 10, 2019 Recruiter Page Group today warned that global economic uncertainty will hurt profits this year, sending shares 10 per cent lower in early trading. Challenging macro-economic conditions will send 2019 operating profit down to £161.1m, with the company previously hoping to hit as high as £168m. Read more: Page Group CEO takes leave of absence after [...]
Exclusive: UK companies complacent on productivity, survey shows July 10, 2019 Nearly two-fifths of large UK companies called their productivity levels “very concerning” but big firms are investing only 0.25 per cent of their annual turnover to remedy the problem, new research has revealed. Read more: UK productivity drops for third quarter in a row A survey by the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) [...]
German factories set to cut workers’ hours to cope with downturn July 9, 2019 The number of German factories shortening their employees’ working hours to cope with the country’s economic slowdown is expected to rise significantly over the next three months, the Ifo Institute think tank has said. Read more: German malaise continues as factory orders tumble Almost four per cent of Germany’s manufacturing sector has in recent months [...]
Deadline extended for Barrick’s Acacia bid July 9, 2019 Barrick Gold has said it needs more time to firm up its indicative offer for Acacia Mining. The Canada-based gold miner now has until 19 July to form make a proposal to investors holding the 36.1 per cent of Acacia shares it does not yet own. Read more: Acacia production bounces after shareholder opposes Barrick [...]
Sterling trades at two-year lows as recession worries mount July 9, 2019 The pound was trading at two-year lows against the dollar today as investors become increasingly gloomy about the UK economy’s second-quarter performance. Read more: Brexit uncertainty plagues business investment Sterling had fallen 0.5 per cent by 4.30pm UK time to buy $1.246, a price not traded at since mid-2017. Against the euro it had dropped [...]
Grounded: Oversupply of coffee beans sends global prices tumbling July 9, 2019 So much coffee is now being produced in the world that global prices are crashing, according to new data. A record seasonal surplus of beans being produced pushed down coffee futures to their lowest levels in more than a decade during April, with a rise in demand for caffeinated drinks failing to stem the plummeting [...]
British businesses attack post-Brexit immigration policy July 9, 2019 Over half of British business with staff from abroad would be hurt by government proposals that skilled migrant workers would have to earn £30,000 to get a UK visa after Brexit, a survey has shown today. Read more: ‘Low growth economy’: Brexit uncertainty plagues business investment Meanwhile almost 60 per cent of employers said they [...]
London listings triple in second quarter after Brexit extension July 9, 2019 The number of companies selling shares on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) for the first time bounced back in the second quarter of the year after the extension of the Brexit deadline. Read more: Trainline on track as it posts big sales boost in first results since IPO There were 15 initial public offerings (IPOs) [...]
Blast off: Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic plots public listing July 9, 2019 Space may be the final frontier, but Virgin Galactic is readying itself to overcome a fresh obstacle before launching into the great unknown: a stock market listing. Sir Richard Branson’s space-tourism venture is planning to go public as part of a deal with a special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC). Read more: Fifty years on from the [...]