TOP FED OFFICIAL HITS OUT AT LOW RATES February 6, 2012 Years of ultra-low interest rates, which the Federal Reserve is advocating, distort and damage the economy by hitting savers and paring back savers’ spending at a time when consumers are increasingly reluctant to borrow, St Louis Fed president James Bullard argued yesterday. As a result, current policies will fail, he said.
Warning of crisis over youth jobs February 6, 2012 Youth unemployment is threatening to become “a crisis we cannot afford”, said a report published yesterday. Over 250,000 young people have been unemployed for over a year according to Labour MP David Miliband, who chaired the commission, with a further 200,000 unemployed for over six months. “Some of the areas of the highest youth unemployment [...]
German factory orders bounce up February 6, 2012 Orders at German factories recovered more than expected at the end of 2011, due to strong demand from outside the Eurozone. New orders were up 1.7 per cent in December compared to November, when they tumbled by almost five per cent. A breakdown of the data showed that non-Eurozone orders bounced back by 12.3 per [...]
Randgold in dividend hike as profit lifts February 6, 2012 RANDGOLD Resources has seen its profits surge by 259 per cent, allowing it to double its dividend, it announced yesterday. The gold miner, whose main operations are in West Africa, attributed the figures to the strong performance of its Mali mines and rises in the price of gold. Randgold posted full-year profits for 2011 of [...]
ANALYST VIEWS: CAN RANDGOLD CONTINUE ON ITS GROWTH PATH? February 6, 2012 ANDY DAVIDSON | NUMIS Overall a positive operational and earnings update and a good hike in the dividend which should keep everyone happy. As expected, lower production from Tongon following the perfect storm of issues, offset by better ounces from the Loulo- Gounkoto complex. JOHN MCGLOIN | COLLINS STEWART With a strong gold price we [...]
Premier plugs East Fyne well February 6, 2012 FTSE 250-listed Premier Oil said yesterday it would abandon an appraisal well in the North Sea as it would not be commercially viable to continue. The East Fyne appraisal well was drilled to a depth of 5,020 feet. It encountered 11 feet of gas bearing sands and eight feet of oil bearing sands – at the [...]
Afren starts drilling off the Ghana coast in the hope of finding more oil February 6, 2012 OIL and gas company Afren yesterday announced that it had started drilling off the coast of Ghana. Afren said that drilling began at the Keta block with Eni Ghana. Afren and Eni – Italy’s largest energy company – each have 35 per cent stakes in the block. Japanese conglomerate Mitsui and the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation [...]
Greencore moves to sterling February 6, 2012 Food group Greencore is planning to change the denomination of its shares. Subject to approval at the company’s annual general meeting on Thursday, Ordinary Shares of €0.01 will be changed to £0.01 at close of business on 10 February. It said that for share dealing purposes the effective date of the change in share denomination [...]
Compass acquires Dora Gastro February 6, 2012 Compass Group, the world’s largest caterer, said yesterday it had completed its acquisition of Dora Gastro in the Czech Republic. The group announced that it had agreed to acquire the food services provider in December. However, it required the green light from the Office for the Protection of Competition in the Czech Republic. Compass, which [...]
Red Rock sells Mount Ida slice February 6, 2012 Red Rock Resources said yesterday it had sold a 50 per cent stake in its Mount Ida royalty for $14m. FTSE 250-listed Anglo Pacific is paying $14m (£8.8m) for the interest in the iron ore project, which is based in western Australia and is being developed by Jupiter mines. The acquisition will be paid for [...]
