Samarco dam disaster pushes BHP Billiton to $6.4bn loss August 16, 2016 And lo, it came to pass (almost): miner BHP Billiton unveiled a multi-billion dollar loss for the year, after a series of unfortunate events. The figures BHP said it had made an attributable loss of $6.4bn (£5bn) in the year to the end up June, down from a profit of $1.9bn last year. That was driven by $7.7bn of exceptional items, including [...]
California choo-choo-chooses Balfour Beatty to electrify a major rail link August 16, 2016 Balfour Beatty has been awarded a $697m (£540m) contract to electrify the 52-mile Caltrain rail link between San Francisco and San Jose – the largest US contract it's ever won. Shares in Balfour were up 0.5 per cent, at 242.3p, after the construction giant said it will begin work on the line, which operates across 17 cities [...]
Downing St hires top IoD policy wonk Jimmy McLoughlin August 15, 2016 Downing St has hired top policy wonk Jimmy McLoughlin from the Institute of Directors to take on a business relations role. McLoughlin has been deputy head of policy and head of external relations at the IoD since 2014, leading on areas such as entrepreneurship and the digital economy. It is understood he was given leave [...]
A tale of two cities: Sales of London new-build homes have plunged as sky-high prices put off buyers August 15, 2016 New research suggested sales of new-build homes in London have almost halved – despite the fact the city is in the grip of a housing crisis. Research by London Central Portfolio (LCP) using figures from the Land Registry has shown only 1,491 new-builds in inner London have been sold so far in 2016 – 43 per cent [...]
Outsourcer G4S has hired a new finance boss August 15, 2016 With appropriately Olympic timing, G4S said this morning it has appointed a new finance chief – from its own board. The outsourcer – best known to many for its problems providing security at the London 2012 Olympics – said Tim Weller, currently the chairman of its audit committee, will replace current chief financial officer Himanshu Raja when [...]
Pinewood board recommends £323m takeover offer August 12, 2016 Lights, camera, action: the board of the iconic studio behind the likes of James Bond and Star Wars has been made a takeover offer offer it can't refuse, valuing it at £323m. In a statement today Pinewood said it was recommending the cash offer by Aermont Capital, which will leave shareholders 560p in cash per share, as well as a [...]
It’s official: The Royal Mint says there’s been a major gold rush since the Bank of England’s interest rate cut August 12, 2016 There's been a gold rush on since the Bank of England's interest rate cut, it turns out – after the Royal Mint confirmed a huge uptick in the number of people buying gold. Chris Howard, the Royal Mint's director of bullion said today that its bullion trading site had experienced a 250 per cent increase [...]
Now there’s going to be a strike on Virgin trains – but Virgin has promised a “normal timetable” August 12, 2016 Virgin Trains has promised to run a "normal timetable" during three 24-hour strikes which were confirmed by the RMT union today. In a statement today, RMT said the three 24-hour strikes on Virgin East Coast, which were announced on Tuesday, will take place on Friday 19 August, Friday 26 August and Monday 29 August, threatening to disrupt [...]
That cat picture Tube advertising takeover is happening – here’s where, and when August 12, 2016 Remember that crowdfunding campaign which sought to replace all advertising on the Tube with pictures of cats? It's happening, people. In September. At Clapham Common (Cat-ham Common?) station. It's going to be paws-itiviely brilliant. Read more: Sigh. Yes, the Treasury has a cat The organisation behind it, the Citizens Advertising Takeover Service (yep – Cats), [...]
Police are treating the death of a man found in Hyde Park this morning as “suspicious” August 12, 2016 The Metropolitan Police force has confirmed a body was found in Hyde Park in the early hours of the morning. Reports suggested the man's body was found near Speaker's Corner. A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police said: "Police in Westminster were called to Hyde Park, W2, at 05.50 on Friday following concerns for a man officer attended [...]
