Shareholder spring freezes over: Reckitt Benckiser, Rolls Royce, and GlaxoSmithKline give their approval to executive pay plans May 5, 2016 The prospect of a fresh shareholder spring was delivered another blow today. Shareholders of consumer goods giant Reckitt Benckiser, engineering firm Rolls Royce, and drug-maker GlaxoSmithKline all gave their approval to their respective executive pay packages with votes coming in above 80 per cent in favour across the board. Reckitt, now rebranded as RB, had the toughest time of the three [...]
The falling oil price could be about to trigger one of the biggest ever waves of bankruptcies in the US May 5, 2016 The oil price slump could be pushing the US to one of its biggest waves of bankruptcies. This week Midstates Petroleum and Ultra Petroleum went under, pushing the total number of energy sector bankruptcies to 59 since the beginning of the oil rout, according to Reuters data, the law firm Haynes & Boone and bankruptcydata.com. The avalanche of bankruptcies is closing [...]
Saudi Aramco raises oil prices into Asia in biggest hike for more than a year May 5, 2016 Saudi Aramco, the Saudi Arabian state-owned oil company, is hiking oil prices into Asia in the biggest rise for over a year. Aramco, which recently announced that a five per cent listing of its shares later this year would value it at around $2 trillion, said today it will raise its official selling price for benchmark Arab [...]
Before the bell: What you need to know before the US market open May 5, 2016 Oil has steamed ahead so far today, with West Texas Intermediate crude oil higher by three per cent at $45.70 a barrel after wildfires in Canada, as well as fighting in Libya dragged on production. International benchmark Brent crude added 2.6 per cent to $45.75 a barrel. Yesterday the latest US inventories posted a higher than expected addition to stockpiles [...]
Oil price jumps after Canadian production is threatened by wildfires sweeping the country May 5, 2016 The price of oil has been pushed up today after wildfires ravaging Canada’s oil-sands district forced companies to put production on hold. Meanwhile, fighting in Libya weighed on output around the Middle East and North Africa. US benchmark West Texas Intermediate climbed three per cent to $45.12 a barrel, adding to gains made yesterday. Read more: Crude oil surge [...]
Crude oil surge pushes up the price of petrol at the pumps May 5, 2016 Motorists have suffered the second consecutive month of price rises at the pumps as a result of the rebound in the oil price. A 25 per cent increase in the cost of a barrel of oil from $36.51 to $45.49 has sparked the highest price since 10 November 2015, motoring group RAC data for April shows. [...]
Charter Court Financial Services auction sunk by Brexit fears May 4, 2016 The auction of Charter Court Financial Services has collapsed due to concerns over the impact of a Brexit on the UK housing market. Bidders were told the sale process has been abandoned in recent days, it was first reported by Sky News. BC Partners, Varde Partners and Warburg Pincus were among the buyout firms interested [...]
Gardening spend in the UK shows signs of slowing, survey shows May 4, 2016 The amount people in the UK spend on gardening is falling, new research has revealed. Despite the UK being a nation of garden lovers, with a third of people spending time every week gardening, total spend would appear to have dropped since Lloyds Bank Insurance carried out a survey last year. Just 12 per cent [...]
RBS shareholders approve executive pay at annual meeting, joining Aviva and BAE Systems in waving through exec pay packages May 4, 2016 Embattled Royal Bank of Scotland has been fighting to defend its management practises and executive pay this afternoon at its annual shareholder meeting (AGM) in Edinburgh. The banks shareholders eventually voted overwhelmingly in favour of the bank's executive pay, with over 99 per cent approving the report. RBS boss Ross McEwan faced a barrage of [...]
Time Warner picks up a boost from HBO’s Game of Thrones and Turner Broadcasting, sending the share price higher May 4, 2016 US media giant Time Warner, which counts channels HBO and CNN as assets, has posted slightly better-than-expected revenue figures for the first quarter, up 2.5 per cent year-on-year. Time Warner's cable channel Home Box Office (HBO), that last month began airing the latest instalment of the popular Game of Thrones series, and its Turner Broadcasting unit both pulled [...]