Drax ditches biomass plant plan February 21, 2012 Britain’s coal-fired power producer Drax has scrapped plans to build a dedicated biomass plant on its site in North Yorkshire, but said it was ready to invest in biomass-fuelled power generation if given appropriate regulatory support. The company claimed state support levels for using only biomass in power generation were still too low. For 2011, [...]
Dragon Oil sees profits surge February 21, 2012 Dragon Oil said yesterday its profits surged 76 per cent in 2011, helped by a production ramp up at its Turkmenistan oil field and a higher oil price, though was silent on whether it would proceed with a takeover bid for explorer Bowleven. Dragon Oil posted full-year operating profit of $856.2m (£542m). It said in [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS February 21, 2012 Quindell Portfolio The Aim-listed consultancy, software and outsourcing business has appointed Gillian Baker as head of investor relations and chair of the company’s newly formed strategy and integration advisory board. Baker started her career at IBM, working with clients in the finance and insurance sectors, before joining the Innovation Group in 2000 as senior vice [...]
FTSE closes down as doubts remain about Greek bailout February 21, 2012 The FTSE 100 closed down today after investors remained unconvinced by the Greek bailout deal. London’s blue chip index closed down 17.05 points, or 0.3 per cent at 5,928.20, retreating from a seven-month closing high it reached on Monday following high expectations for the Greek deal. Having risen 6.5 per cent since the start of [...]
ASDA sales growth slows February 21, 2012 Supermarket firm Asda suffered a slowdown in sales growth as shoppers were squeezed by rising prices and muted wages growth. Britain’s second-biggest supermarket chain said today that sales at stores open over a year, excluding fuel and VAT sales tax, rose 1 per cent in the fourteen weeks to 7 January. Asda said underlying sales [...]
FTSE Flat as Greek bailout gets the nod February 21, 2012 THE FTSE 100 was broadly flat this morning as Eurozone leaders agreed a second bailout for Greece after weeks of tortuous negotiations. Investors overall were encouraged by the move but there were still fears that the €130bn lifeline was only a short term fix for Greece which is drowning in debt. The deal was largely [...]
UK public finances in bigger than expected surplus February 21, 2012 UK public finances posted their biggest monthly surplus in four years in January, driven by a drop in local government borrowing and a modest rise in tax receipts, the Office for National Statistics said on Tuesday. The figures will come as a relief for Chancellor George Osborne after ratings agency Moody’s warned last week that [...]
Amec launches £400m buyback as profits jump February 21, 2012 Engineering group AMEC said it would launch a £400m share buyback programme and raised its dividend by 15 per cent, as it posted a jump in 2011 profit alongside a positive outlook for the current year. AMEC, whose customers operate in the mining, oil and gas, nuclear power and renewable energy sectors, on Tuesday reported [...]
Eurozone agrees second Greece bailout February 21, 2012 Eurozone finance ministers sealed a €130bn bailout for Greece to avert a chaotic default in March after persuading private bondholders to take greater losses and Athens to commit to deep cuts. After 13 hours of talks, ministers finalised measures to cut Greece’s debt to 120.5 per cent of gross domestic product by 2020, a fraction [...]
Oil surges on Iranian fears February 20, 2012 OIL prices surged yesterday after a defiant Iran banned sales to Britain and France, amid growing fears over the country’s nuclear ambitions. Brent crude nudged over $121 a barrel – the highest level for eight months – as the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) arrived in Tehran to assess first hand the Islamic Republic’s controversial [...]