Ritz accused of paying no corporation tax in 17 years December 17, 2012 The Ritz hotel has not paid corporation tax since 1995 thanks to its use of legal loopholes, according to last night’s episode of the BBC’s Panorama programme. The landmark building is owned by an offshore trust set up by the Monaco-based Barclay brothers, who yesterday said they do not have any direct involvement in the [...]
Hunting warns of dimmer outlook December 17, 2012 Energy services provider Hunting closed down more than seven per cent yesterday, as it warned the short term outlook was “increasingly cautious” in its operating markets. Hunting said it was seeing a switch from natural gas to liquids drilling in its drilling tools unit, although the London-listed company added that global offshore drilling continued to [...]
New contract splash for Rolls December 17, 2012 Blue-chip Rolls-Royce has netted a contract with the Finnish Navy to supply water jets to power high-speed landing craft. The contract is for 12 craft – to be built by the Marine Alutech shipyard in Teijo, Finland – and will enable the vessels to manoeuvre more effectively in the Scandinavian country’s shallow coastlines. The 19-metre [...]
Centamin counts the cost of Egypt’s unrest December 17, 2012 CENTAMIN shares roared back to life yesterday as the gold miner announced it had restarted exports of the yellow metal. But even a jump of 21 per cent did not restore the company’s share price to the level it was at before it was forced to announce the suspension of operations on 13 December. Shares [...]
DS Smith says £1.3bn deal not affected by accounting probe December 17, 2012 BRITISH packaging company DS Smith yesterday insisted its £1.3bn takeover of Sweden’s SCA Packaging is on track. FTSE 250-listed DS Smith took control of its competitor in June, but the completion accounts have still not being signed off and the firm is understood be disputing the final purchase price. Reports suggest DS Smith is seeking [...]
Oligarchs make peace over the world’s largest nickel producer December 17, 2012 NORILSK Nickel named longtime co-owner Vladimir Potanin as its chief executive yesterday under a Kremlin-inspired deal to end a boardroom war at the world’s top nickel and palladium producer. Roman Abramovich will take control of a 20 per cent voting stake and act as a buffer between Potanin and rival Oleg Deripaska, who owns a [...]
BP sells stake in North Sea gas field for £178m December 17, 2012 OIL major BP yesterday announced it was to sell its interest in a North Sea gas field to SSE for $288m (£178m) in cash. Completion of the deal, to sell BP’s non-operated 50 per cent stake in the Sean gas field, is expected in the first half of next year. Sean, located in the Southern [...]
Cookson Group split takes effect on LSE December 17, 2012 INDUSTRIAL materials supplier Cookson yesterday confirmed that its demerger had become effective, splitting the company into two separate divisions and getting rid of the Cookson name. In line with the terms of the demerger, Cookson shares were cancelled yesterday morning. As proposed at the start of November, the FTSE 250 listed firm said it would [...]
Imagination finally lands chip firm MIPS after bidding frenzy December 17, 2012 BRITISH chip designer Imagination Technologies has finally won the bidding for US-based company MIPS, in a deal that will speed up its entry into the fast-growing processor industry. The company agreed a $100m (£61.7m) price for MIPS yesterday, and bidding rival CEVA said it would not up its offer. The agreed price comes after a [...]
China snaps up iPhone 5s but shares wobble December 17, 2012 APPLE sold more than two million iPhone 5s in China in its first weekend on sale in the country, it emerged yesterday, but the company was knocked by its share price sinking during the day’s trading. Despite the record launch in China, which is expected to become Apple’s biggest market in the near-future, Apple stock [...]