Cable defends Royal Mail sale but won’t name key investors April 29, 2014 MINISTERS and advisers leading the Royal Mail float yesterday insisted the sale was a success, arguing that a higher price might have imperilled the sale and that the priority investors chosen were suitable. In his latest appearance in front of the business select committee to defend the £1.7bn Royal Mail stake sale, business secretary Vince [...]
BP sticks by Rosneft as Russia crisis hits profit April 29, 2014 OIL GIANT BP yesterday reiterated its commitment to Rosneft, despite the US putting sanctions on its head earlier this week. The FTSE 100 firm owns an almost 20 per cent stake in the Russian oil producer, whose chief executive Igor Sechin is one of president Vladimir Putin’s oldest allies. Russia has been at loggerheads with [...]
Bubble fears spark sell off in Grosvenor assets April 29, 2014 THE DUKE of Westminster’s property group has reduced its exposure to London’s luxury residential market amid fears that prices have overheated, it said yesterday, as it revealed a 38 per cent rise in profits. Grosvenor Group said it had“taken advantage of favourable pricing” to sell around £240m of residential properties in areas such as Belgravia [...]
Bottom Line: Oil giant stuck in a hard place over sanctions against Sechin April 29, 2014 BP BOSS Bob Dudley is no stranger to Russian controversy. In 2008, when he was head of the oil giant’s Russian arm, he was forced to leave the country in unusual circumstances after his visa renewal was refused and officials raided the firm’s local TNK-BP offices. Since he took over as chief executive of the [...]
EU extends sanctions over Ukraine April 29, 2014 THE EU has announced a further 15 people it has added to its list for sanctions over the violence in Ukraine. The list now contains the names of 48 Russian and pro- Russian individuals involved in the separatist movement. New sanctions have been announced against General Valery Gerasimov, first deputy defence minister, and Lieutenant General [...]
Cirrus snaps up British rival Wolfson for £291m April 29, 2014 AUDIO semiconductor-maker Wolfson Microelectronics has agreed a £291m takeover by Texas rival Cirrus Logic. Announced yesterday, the cash deal will see Wolfson’s shareholders receive 235p per share, a 76 per cent premium to the share’s value prior to the deal. The valuation still marks a significant drop from Wolfson’s peak in 2006 when the Edinburgh-based [...]
St James’s Place lures £1.2bn on improving customer sentiment April 29, 2014 FTSE 100 wealth manager St James’s Place yesterday said the improved outlook of investors helped it deliver a strong start to the year, as customers gave the company £1.2bn more of their savings to manage. The wealth manager, which offers services for affluent savers, reported a 17 per cent rise in assets under management versus [...]
Nokia planning €3bn dividend for stockholders April 29, 2014 NOKIA has announced plans to return over half of its €5.44bn (£4.48bn) windfall from the sale of its devices division to Microsoft back to shareholders. The Finnish mobile firm also appointed 46-year-old Rajeev Suri, formerly head of Nokia’s telecoms equipment business Nokia Solutions and Networks (NSN) as chief executive to lead the firm following the [...]
Apple hoping to raise up to $12bn from bumper bond sale April 29, 2014 APPLE is planning to tap US markets for up to $12bn (£7.13bn) as part of a seven-part bond offering to help the tech giant finance the $90bn share buyback it announced last week. The offering, rated Aa1 by ratings agency Moody’s yesterday, is split across notes with maturities from three to 30 years according to [...]
Camelot chief’s departure leads to restructuring April 29, 2014 NATIONAL Lottery operator Camelot yesterday announced its chief executive, Dianne Thompson, is retiring after 14 years in the job. The gaming company also unveiled restructuring plans to split the group into two separate entities over the next six months, in a move to maximise growth. Andy Duncan, Camelot’s UK managing director since 2011, will become [...]
