Lookers sales pick up speed as the British car market surges October 30, 2013 CAR DEALER Lookers said it expected to post “significantly” higher profits this year thanks to the boom in the UK’s car market. New car sales in Britain soared by 12.1 per cent last month to their highest level in more than five years, defying the negative trend across much of continental Europe. Lookers said it [...]
Petrofac partners with Bonatti on new Algerian gas contract October 30, 2013 FTSE 100-listed oil and gas services provider Petrofac yesterday unveiled a $650m (£405m) deal in partnership with Italian contractor Bonatti, to extend the life of the Alrar gas field in south east Algeria. The engineering, procurement and construction contract will last 32 months and has been awarded by Algerian state-owned oil explorer Sonatrach. “We are [...]
Trading suffers as Fiat cuts 2013 forecast on weak Latin America October 30, 2013 ITALIAN automaker Fiat yesterday cut its 2013 financial targets as expected, after third-quarter revenue in Latin America fell because incentives expired in Brazil. Fiat now expects to earn a trading profit of between €3.5bn and €3.8bn (£3.2bn) in 2013, the bottom end falling below an analyst forecast range of €3.65bn to €3.92bn. Fiat said its [...]
Sable raises £17m in share offering October 30, 2013 Aim-listed Sable Mining, the iron ore producer run by Andrew Groves and ex-England cricketer and businessman Phil Edmonds, yesterday said it has raised £17.1m from new and existing investors in an enlarged and oversubscribed share offering. The money will be used to accelerate the development of the company’s flagship Nimba iron ore project in south [...]
Gulf Keystone issues $50m bond October 30, 2013 Gulf Keystone Petroleum, the Aim-listed oil and gas explorer with FTSE 250 ambitions, yesterday said it has issued $50m (£31m) bonds priced at par, which will be consolidated with a $275m debt facility issued in October 2012. The funds raised will be used to help the firm reach its production target of 40,000 barrels of [...]
Genel keeps full-year guidance October 30, 2013 London-listed oil explorer Genel Energy yesterday posted a 10 per cent increase in third-quarter production, compared to the same period last year. It maintains its full-year production and revenue guidance. “We continue to see Genel as a good long-term investment benefiting from falling political risk across Kurdistan and increasingly mature oil province,” said Will Forbes, [...]
Sanofi lowers annual outlook after vaccine hit October 30, 2013 FRENCH drugmaker Sanofi has lowered its 2013 profit guidance for a second time after a slowdown in China, weaker generic sales in Brazil and manufacturing problems at a Toronto vaccine plant dented third-quarter results. Sanofi said it now expected full-year earnings per share around 10 per cent lower than in 2012 at constant exchange rates, [...]
Finnish state considering rescue of struggling miner Talvivaara October 30, 2013 FINNISH nickel miner Talvivaara, struggling for cash just months after its latest fundraising, could be rescued by the government with a package focused on debt relief, sources familiar with the discussions said yesterday. Once hailed as a pioneer in cost-efficient mining, Talvivaara’s sole Sotkamo mine has been hit by a slew of production problems and [...]
Sprint back in black but it loses customers after SoftBank deal October 30, 2013 SPRINT posted a decline in third-quarter revenue yesterday as it lost more subscribers than expected following the shutdown of its older iDen network and warned that customer defections would remain high in coming quarters. Sprint, the third-biggest US mobile operator and 80 per cent owned by SoftBank, reported net subscriber losses of 360,000 for the [...]
Teva Pharmaceutical chief exec resigns after denying departure October 30, 2013 TEVA Pharmaceutical Industries, the world’s largest generic drugmaker, said yesterday that its chief executive Jeremy Levin was stepping down and finance chief Eyal Desheh would stand in on an interim basis, effective immediately. Earlier this week, Teva and Levin denied an Israeli media report that Levin was considering resigning due to a rift with the [...]
