Munich Re profits quadruple after dearth of catastrophes February 5, 2013 THE WORLD’S largest reinsurer yesterday reported an enormous jump in year-end profits following a quiet year for catastrophes. Munich Re smashed analysts’ already high expectations to announce a net profit of €3.2bn (£2.74bn) for 2012, up from €712m for the year before. Reinsurers help spread the risk of primary insurers and their profitability relies heavily [...]
Analyst Views | Has BP left its 2012 woes behind? February 5, 2013 RICHARD HUNTER HARGREAVES LANSDOWN The agreement on Rosneft leaves BP with exposure to the Russian region without some of the previous distractions, the dividend policy is progressive and the general streamlining of its operations form a strong base. SAM WAHAB SEYMOUR PIERCE BP has agreed divestments of $37.8bn since 2010, a year earlier than planned. [...]
BG warns on production goal for 2015 February 5, 2013 ENERGY firm BG Group warned yesterday that it would not hit its 2015 production target of more than 1m barrels of oil equivalent a day. In November, shares in the FTSE 100 explorer plummeted as it warned that this year’s output would be flat, largely due to delays to projects. New chief executive Chris Finlayson [...]
Boeing seeks Dreamliner test flight February 5, 2013 Boeing has asked the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for permission to conduct test flights of its 787 Dreamliner, suggesting the company is making progress in finding a solution to the battery problems that grounded the entire 787 fleet last month. The flight could test a potential fix for the problem. Yet passenger flights could still [...]
Glaxo to publish more trial data February 5, 2013 Drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline, which paid $3bn (£1.9bn) last year to settle charges that it gave misleading information on its medicines, said yesterday it would publish more of its clinical research data. When the company agreed to the fines last July, government officials called it the largest healthcare fraud case in US history, involving Glaxo drugs such [...]
McNulty joins Gatwick board February 5, 2013 Sir Roy McNulty, the transport stalwart who is currently deputy chair of the Olympic Delivery Authority, is joining Gatwick Airport after its chairman Sir David Rowlands steps down. Sir Roy, who will start on 1 April, has spent time on the boards of National Air Traffic Services (NATS) and the Civil Aviation Authority, and last [...]
Goldman’s O’Neill to step down February 5, 2013 THE ECONOMIST who first picked out the BRIC economies will retire from Goldman Sachs later this year. Jim O’Neill, the chairman of Goldman Sachs’ asset management division, coined the term to refer to the four markets of Brazil, Russia, India and China, which he forecast would lead a shift in the global economy. Earlier this [...]
Thomas Cook merges airlines February 5, 2013 THOMAS Cook plans to merge its German, British and Belgian airline operations, appointing a new airline management board to run the business. The world’s oldest travel group yesterday said that Condor, its German airline brand, Thomas Cook Airlines UK and Thomas Cook Airlines Belgium would become one airline segment within the group from 1 March. [...]
MPs’ concerns over pre-packs February 5, 2013 BUDGET constraints risk undermining the work of the organisation responsible for investigating insolvent companies, a group of MPs warn in a report released today. The business, innovation and skills committee said limited resources at the Insolvency Service affect its enforcement regime, sending the “the wrong message to delinquent directors”. The committee also raised concerns about [...]
Telecoms firm KPN planning a rights issue February 5, 2013 DUTCH telecoms group KPN set out plans for a €4bn rights issue yesterday, one of many debt-laden European firms expected to capitalise on surging equity markets in an attempt to avoid credit rating downgrades. KPN, in which Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim’s America Movil took a near 28 per cent stake in 2012, has along with [...]
