Co-op Energy ups pressure over green tax November 13, 2013 INDEPENDENT energy provider Co-operative Energy put further pressure on the government yesterday by reducing its planned price increase, on the expectation that green levies will be removed from customers’ bills. Last month the firm announced a 4.5 per cent increase to customers’ energy bills, which it has now cut to 2.5 per cent. The government [...]
Tullow Oil slides on dry French Guianan well November 13, 2013 FTSE 100-listed energy explorer Tullow Oil’s share price slid two per cent yesterday, after its minority partners in a French Guianan project said an exploration well was dry. In an interim management statement, Tullow said that “evaluation operations are ongoing” on the well, but Aim-listed stakeholders Wessex Exploration and Northern Petroleum said it would be [...]
BG hires new chief operating officer as Houston steps down November 13, 2013 FTSE 100-listed oil and gas explorer BG Group yesterday said its chief operating officer (COO) and executive director Martin Houston will retire by the end of next year, after 30 years with the company. Houston, who joined BG’s predecessor firm British Gas Corporation in 1983, has stepped down from the board and executive committee with [...]
Fastest growing UK tech firms listed in Fast 50 November 13, 2013 LONDON-based real-time advertising exchange Infectious Media has been named the UK’s fastest growing technology company with revenue growth of nearly 10,000 per cent since 2008. The title was awarded yesterday as part of Deloitte’s Technology Fast 50, a ranking of the 50 fastest growing UK technology companies. “With the financial crisis in full swing, we [...]
Moto G targets the low-end for Motorola November 13, 2013 MOTOROLA, Google’s mobile handset division that reported a $248m (£154m) loss last quarter, is betting that low-cost smartphones will rejuvenate its struggling business. The Moto G is Motorola’s latest effort to take back the consumer smartphone business, but it’s a device that shuns the high-end price tag of competing devices from Apple and Samsung. “You [...]
Kier trading in line with board’s guidance November 13, 2013 Kier Group, the FTSE 250-listed construction, services and property firm, yesterday said it is trading in line with expectations and that its construction division has an order book of £2.2bn. After completing its acquisition of May Gurney in July, Kier has secured new work of more than £300m in its services division, contributing to a [...]
Balfour Beatty awarded US metro contract November 13, 2013 FTSE 250 infrastructure group Balfour Beatty yesterday unveiled a new £213m contract to build the metro rail line in Denver, Colorado. Balfour will hold a 50 per cent stake in the joint venture, with other firms also working on the project including Graham Contracting and Hamon Contractors. Design and construction of the rail line is [...]
Interserve keeping up with expectations November 13, 2013 Support services and construction group Interserve yesterday said that performance continues in line with expectations and that it has won more than £1.8bn of new work so far in 2013. The FTSE 250-listed firm saw strong growth in UK support services and equipment services and resilient performances in its construction units, which it said offset [...]
Glencore starts trading in Johannesburg November 13, 2013 Miner Trader Glencore Xstrata’s shares will start trading on the Johannesburg stock exchange from today, which its chief executive called “a significant step for Glencore”. This is a secondary listing for the firm, which already trades on the London Stock exchange. “It not only deepens our relationship with South Africa, it highlights our confidence in [...]
Drax says 2013 earnings will beat forecasts November 13, 2013 Drax, the owner of Britain’s largest coal-fired power station, yesterday said trading since publishing its half-year results in July has continued to be good, so it expects its full-year earnings and earnings per share to be materially ahead of market forecasts. The FTSE 250-listed firm said it has benefitted from solid operating performance from its [...]