Record pre-tax profit for TalkSport’s owner UTV March 20, 2012 NORTHERN Irish broadcaster UTV Media yesterday reported a 10 per cent rise in adjusted full-year profits to a record £23.3m, up from £21.3m, on a six per cent revenue growth in its Radio GB division. UTV Media, which operates in four main areas – radio in Great Britain, radio in Ireland, commercial television and new [...]
Mayoral race kicks off with jobs and fares March 20, 2012 BORIS Johnson has taken an eight-point lead in the battle to be Mayor of London, according to a YouGov poll issued to mark the start of the official campaign. Johnson’s campaign has pulled ahead of the competition in recent weeks and the latest polling gives him 49 per cent of first preference votes, against 41 [...]
Economy is the defining issue for Londoners March 20, 2012 THE ECONOMY is set to define the election, according to an Ipsos MORI poll that found 59 per cent of Londoners cited the financial outlook as one of their most important concerns. Respondents said the other important factors are tackling crime (49 per cent), improving public transport (38 per cent) and building cheap homes (37 [...]
Cairn hit by Greenland oil plan failures March 20, 2012 CAIRN Energy said yesterday it had been hit by a $1.1bn (£693m) operating loss in 2011, triggered by failures in its Greenland exploration plans. But the company said it was well placed for further drilling campaigns, having posted a full year after-tax profit of $4.5bn following the sale of its Indian assets to Vedanta. A [...]
Genel reports a loss but is still upbeat on production March 20, 2012 GENEL Energy, run by former BP boss Tony Hayward, yesterday reported a loss in its maiden results but was buoyed by strong production figures. The firm, which relisted in London in November after a merger between an energy group and Hayward’s acquisition vehicle Vallares, show a $57.7m (£36.3m) loss on revenues of $24m. There was [...]
Petrofac in carbon capture plan March 20, 2012 The National Grid and Petrofac plan to build a carbon capture and storage (CCS) project in Britain with US partner Summit Power, the companies said yesterday. The consortium will apply for funding from the British government, which is due to relaunch a £1bn tender for CCS projects after a first round of funding failed on [...]
Falklands firm in option boost March 20, 2012 Falklands Oil and Gas, the explorer focused on the disputed South Atlantic islands, saw its shares jump 5.7 per cent yesterday after it said an unnamed group had bought an option to invest in the company’s licence areas.
Anglo American eyes expansion March 20, 2012 Miner Anglo American is looking to acquire iron ore assets in Australia and Africa to increase its footprint in the sector. “We are on the lookout for value-adding iron ore opportunities,” James Harman, head of business development for iron ore and coal for Anglo American told an industry conference, adding that Australia and Africa were [...]
Xstrata lawsuit gets go-ahead March 20, 2012 A Canadian court has given the green light to a $1.8bn environmental class action lawsuit against London-listed mining group Xstrata. The claimants are arguing that a subsidiary of Xstrata released a toxic cloud from a sulphuric acid plant in 2004 and are asking for damages for a range of medical complaints, lawyers said in a [...]
Mortgage lending sticks to upward path March 20, 2012 MORTGAGE lending has increased for the seventh consecutive month, on a year-on-year basis, new figures showed yesterday. Gross lending stood at £10.7bn, up slightly from £10.65bn in January and 14 per cent higher than the £9.4bn last February, the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) revealed yesterday. That is lower than the £12.22bn in December and [...]
