Antofagasta names chief December 3, 2014 CHILEAN miner Antofagasta yesterday appointed Ivan Arriagada Herrera as chief executive of its mining division. Arriagada, 51, takes up the role at the helm of Antofagasta Minerals with effect from 16 February 2015. He joins from Codelco, where he has been vice-president of administration and finance since 2012. He has also worked at BHP Billiton [...]
Airlines call for duty cuts on all tickets December 3, 2014 AIRLINES yesterday called for Air Passenger Duty (APD) to be abolished, and welcomed news that the duty on economy tickets for children under 12 will be removed from 1 May 2015. The measure was announced as part of George Osborne’s Autumn Statement, and he also pledged to extend the exemption to include children under 16 [...]
Fuel duty freeze welcomed but oil firms call for more support December 3, 2014 FUEL duty remains frozen at 58p per litre for petrol and diesel, the level it has been at since 2011. Yesterday’s Autumn Statement saw George Osborne keep fuel duty at the same rate for the seventh time. He told Parliament: “Despite falling fuel prices let me make this clear: we’ve cut fuel duty and we [...]
Aviva’s boss Mark Wilson wins over City sceptics to £5.3bn Friends Life deal with cost saving promises December 2, 2014 Aviva chief executive Mark Wilson has won over some of his harshest critics with promises of £225m in cost savings if the proposed £5.3bn Friends Life deal goes through. The companies yesterday confirmed the terms of the deal, and Panmure Gordon analyst Barrie Cornes, who was one of the City’s most vocal opponents of the [...]
Oil giant BG Group backs down over new chief Helge Lund’s pay pack December 1, 2014 Pressure from shareholders has forced oil firm BG Group to revise its remuneration package for incoming chief executive Helge Lund and reduce his share award from £10m to £4.7m. The company stated that a “significant number” of shareholders had questioned the structure of the original proposed pay package, in particular asking whether it was [...]
Intelligent Energy boss Henri Winand cheery in face of dismal numbers December 1, 2014 Despite the company’s numbers showing a decidedly downward trend, Intelligent Energy chief executive Henri Winand remains very positive on the future of the business. The energy technology firm yesterday posted its preliminary full-year results, the first Intelligent Energy has published since floating on the main market in July. They revealed a £7m decline in revenue [...]
Saudis refuse to commit to Opec production curb as falling oil price fears continue November 26, 2014 Fears about falling oil prices continued yesterday as the Saudi Arabian oil minister revealed that Gulf countries in the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) would not move to curb production at its meeting in Vienna today. Saudi’s Ali al-Naimi said the Gulf Co-operation Council, which included Opec members Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and [...]
Pressure grows over Helge Lund’s proposed £25m pay deal at BG Group November 26, 2014 Shareholders have been urged to vote against BG Group’s proposed pay package for incoming chief executive Helge Lund, which would see him earning a salary of £13.5m as well as a share arrangement worth £12m. The company is seeking approval for the share award, and proxy advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) yesterday recommended that [...]
Friends Life and Aviva started merger talks months ago November 26, 2014 Insurance firm Aviva has been in talks about a potential merger with Friends Life for a number of months, City A.M. understands. Discussions began when Aviva chief executive Mark Wilson contacted his opposite number at Friends Life, Andy Briggs. But it was only on Friday when Aviva was forced to confirm the talks due to [...]
City watchdog consults on new regulations for insurance firms November 26, 2014 THE WAY the insurance sector is regulated is to be changed in order to implement the Solvency II directive, which comes into effect on 1 January 2016. The Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) is consulting on proposed changes to its rules. It said that it would set out a regulatory framework to “ensure that those individuals [...]
