British Gas owner Centrica’s share price lights up after raising full-year earnings forecast December 15, 2016 Centrica's share price lit up this morning after better-than-expected costing savings and a strong savings performance lifted its full-year earnings. The British Gas owner's stock rose more than five per cent in morning trading to 230p, after announcing its full-year adjusted earnings per share will come in at around 16.5p. The FTSE 100 utility's cash flow [...]
Government publishes steel requirements between now and 2020 in a bid to boost domestic industry December 13, 2016 The government has published details of its plan to use 3m tonnes of steel in infrastructure projects by 2020 in a bid to give beleaguered domestic steelmakers a better chance of winning government contracts. The amount of steel required across 18 central government infrastructure projects, including HS2, the Hinkley Point nuclear power plant and upgrading [...]
British Gas is blaming ultra high definition 4K TVs for adding £82m to energy bills by 2019 December 13, 2016 They may be turning into a must-have item, but energy inefficient 4K TVs are set to add £82m to UK consumers’ electricity bills by 2019, British Gas has warned. The ultra high definition (HD) TV sets have this year single-handedly caused the first rise in household energy bills from watching TV since 2011, preliminary findings [...]
De Beers’ diamond demand sparkles in 10th sales cycle despite slowdown as a result of Indian demonetisation programme December 13, 2016 Anglo American's diamond-producing arm, De Beers, had a sparkling performance in its latest sales cycle as year-on-year growth outshone a slowdown from India's withdrawal of high-value bank notes. In the 10th rough diamond sales cycle of 2016, De Beers provisionally raked in $418m (£331m), 41 per cent more than the $248m it brought in during the same cycle [...]
Exxon Mobil chief Rex Tillerson confirmed as Donald Trump’s secretary of state but President-elect delays business interest announcement December 13, 2016 The boss of the world's biggest oil company, Exxon Mobil, has been confirmed as President-elect Donald Trump's secretary of state. Rex Tillerson had been widely tipped for the role as America's top diplomat, though other figures such as former CIA chief David Petraeus and former presidential candidate Mitt Romney had also been considered. Read more: Yet another [...]
UK investors flock to fintech firm BullionVault as gold prices soar December 12, 2016 London fintech group BullionVault attracted a 90 per cent increase in UK gold investors this year and saw annual trading volumes increase by more than a quarter. Market volatility and uncertainty surrounding the EU referendum in June and ahead of the US election in November led gold and silver prices to soar, contributing to a trading [...]
Brent crude oil breaks $57 a barrel as deal with non-Opec producers triggers five per cent rally December 12, 2016 Oil prices shed earlier gains this evening after rallying more than five per cent during the day, as markets digested a landmark pact between oil producing countries and cartel Opec. Global benchmark Brent crude briefly rose above $57 a barrel for the first time since July 2015 in morning trading. This evening it was trading up [...]
Domestic energy bills may jump as S&P Global Platts data shows wholesale gas and electricity prices soared in November December 12, 2016 Domestic energy bills could be set to rise even further as new data shows wholesale electricity and gas prices sharply rose in November. Outages at French nuclear plants, from which the UK imports power, and shrinking spare capacity margins in the power market drove up day-ahead wholesale electricity prices by 16 per cent on average last month [...]
Donald Trump tweet about F-35 programme wipes billions off Lockheed Martin’s market value December 12, 2016 Lockheed Martin has become the latest victim of Donald Trump's rampant Twitter ranting and has lost billions off its market value in the process. The defence giant's stock fell 4.6 per cent on the New York Stock Exchange in early trade, down to $247.61, after the President-elect tweeted that the F-35 programme and its cost is "out [...]
