Desire halves losses as it puts faith in Falklands exploration April 2, 2012 DESIRE Petroleum announced yesterday that it had halved its losses and said it would press on with its oil exploration in the Falklands. The group’s 2011 losses were $42.5m (£26.5m), compared with $113.9m the year before. Desire said it would not be drilling new wells but moving ahead with current operations in the region, which [...]
ENRC investors back $650m coal purchase April 2, 2012 INDEPENDENT shareholders in ENRC yesterday approved the Kazakh miner’s $650m (£405.7m) acquisition of the outstanding 75 per cent of Kazakh coal producer Shubarkol Komir from its founder investors. At a meeting yesterday, 96 per cent of the shareholders that voted supported the deal, ENRC said. Shareholders – excluding the three founder investors – had been [...]
Polyus gets gold price boost April 2, 2012 Russia’s Polyus Gold yesterday posted a 57 per cent increase in annual net profit, boosted by strong sales and high prices. Polyus, partly owned by oligarch Mikhail Prokhorov, added that earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation reached $1.1bn (£686m) in 2011, up 55 per cent year-on-year.
BHP in force majeure at mines April 2, 2012 The world’s biggest miner, BHP Billiton, is declaring force majeure – which allows it to opt out of a contract – at its coal mines in Australia’s Bowen Basin due to prolonged union strikes and heavy rain. About 4,000 workers went on strike last Tuesday and may remain out indefinitely, depending on union talks.
Providence makes £63m placing April 2, 2012 Providence Resources yesterday placed 13.15m new shares at 480p per share, a five per cent premium on the pre-placing closing price, raising £63.1m. The money will be used to repay a $40m bond, which the oil explorer issued to fund a bigger stake in the just-completed Barryroe drilling operation. The bond matures in July.
Glaxo ups stake in Theravance on drug success April 2, 2012 GLAXOSMITHKLINE bet another $212.9m (£133m) on the success of lung drug Relovair yesterday by raising its stake in US biotech firm Theravance – its partner on the new medicine – to 26.8 per cent. Britain’s biggest drugmaker has been working with Theravance for 10 years to develop Relovair, an inhaled therapy combining two ingredients, which [...]
Petroplus gets first offers for German plant April 2, 2012 SEVERAL interested parties have submitted offers for insolvent refiner Petroplus’ Ingolstadt plant in Germany, a spokesman for the refinery’s administrator said yesterday. “We’ve received non-binding offers and are now organising plant visits,” said the spokesman for administrator Jaffe Rechtsanwaelte Insolvenzverwalter. “We hope to be able to conclude negotiations in the second quarter,” he added. The [...]
PROFITS DIP AT WORLD’S BIGGEST CHOCOLATIER April 2, 2012 BARRY Callebaut, the world’s largest maker of chocolate products, warned yesterday that markets in Western Europe and North America remained fragile as it reported a slight dip in first-half profits, down 11.3 per cent in local currencies to SFr121.8m (£84m). The company makes chocolate for retailers including Nestle, Hershey, and Kraft.
CITY MOVES WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS April 2, 2012 Marsh The global insurance broking and risk management firm, a subsidiary of Marsh & McLennan Companies, has announced the appointment of Edwin Charnaud as chairman of its global infrastructure practice. Reporting to chairman, global industries Jim Pierce, he will continue to be based in London. Charnaud will retain his current responsibilities as leader of Marsh’s [...]
BEST of the BROKERS April 2, 2012 TALKTALK Credit Suisse rates the telecoms group “outperform” with a target price of 166p. The broker believes TalkTalk’s new TV platform YouView, to be launched this spring, could add 36p per share to its discounted cash flow. RANDGOLD Nomura has a “neutral” rating on the miner and has knocked its target price from £71.15 to [...]