Rio Tinto chief resigns after $14bn write-off January 17, 2013 THE CHIEF executive of miner Rio Tinto quit his post immediately yesterday, in a surprise move following a $14bn (£8.7m) write-down on two of his recent acquisitions. Outgoing Tom Albanese, who joined Rio two decades ago, will be replaced by Rio Tinto’s iron ore chief Sam Walsh with immediate effect. The $14bn charge includes around [...]
Buy high, sell low: The price of aluminium’s meltdown January 17, 2013 RIO Tinto’s share price dropped sharply on its announcement of a $14bn (£8.7bn) impairment charge and the resignation of its chief executive Tom Albanese but the miner went on to recover most of that value over the course of the day, proving a certain amount of market respect for such decisive action. What went wrong? [...]
BlackRock sees profits surge on equity demand January 17, 2013 FUND titan BlackRock soared to a three year share price high yesterday after posting a 24 per cent increase in profits, led by high demand for its exchange traded funds (ETFs). The New York based money manager, the world’s biggest with $3.8 trillion of assets under management, attracted $47bn of extra cash from investors in [...]
Intel’s $13bn investment unnerves Wall St January 17, 2013 OUTGOING Intel chief executive Paul Otellini said yesterday the chipmaker would spend $13bn (£8bn) in 2013 on expansion, higher than the $10bn forecast, as it reported net income for the last three months of 2012 fell 27 per cent to $2.47bn. Its shares fell three per cent in after-hours trading as analysts said the higher [...]
Air watchdogs ground all 50 Dreamliners January 17, 2013 AIRLINES were left racing to rearrange flights yesterday after regulators decided to temporarily ground the entire 50-strong fleet of Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner planes due to safety fears. Europe, India and Qatar followed Japan and the US in keeping the new planes indefinitely confined to airports following several reports of burning batteries as well as brake [...]
Hammerson and Westfield call truce in battle for Croydon January 17, 2013 AUSTRALIAN mall owner Westfield Group has made peace with Anglo-French developer Hammerson in a long-running battle over an ageing Croydon shopping centre, agreeing to redevelop it together. The two have been wrangling for over a year about the Whitgift Centre in Croydon whose owners sided with both developers on the right to redevelop the site, [...]
Primark helps boost AB Foods’ revenues January 17, 2013 PRIMARK, the budget clothing retailer, has outsmarted its rivals on the high street after reporting a 25 per cent increase in sales yesterday. Its parent company Associated British Foods (ABF) said the launch of 14 new stores in Spain, the UK, Austria, Germany and the Netherlands helped to lift sales in the 16 weeks to [...]
Argos owner lifts forecasts January 17, 2013 SHARES in Home Retail Group jumped 14 per cent yesterday after the group raised its full-year profit forecasts and announced third quarter sales showed signs that efforts to turn Argos into a digital-led retailer were paying off. Chief executive Terry Duddy said he now expects full-year group profit before tax to be about £10m ahead [...]
Analyst Views | What do you think of home retail’s results? January 17, 2013 KEITH BOWMAN HARGREAVES LANSDOWNE For now, management appears to have moved some way in convincing investors that the company can prosper in the internet age…In all, analyst opinion has thawed from a ‘sell’ to a weak ‘hold’, with the group becoming a surprise Christmas winner. PHILIP DORGAN PANMURE GORDON This is a much better than [...]
Abu Dhabi Capital inks Northacre deal January 17, 2013 ABU DHABI Capital Management-owned Spadille has agreed a £25.65m deal to buy Northacre, the residential property developer that has a portfolio of prime London addresses across Mayfair and Kensington, including The Phillimores (above). The recommended 96p per share offer is a premium of around 21.5 per cent to the closing price in December, when the [...]