CITY VIEWS: HOW WORRIED ARE YOU ABOUT THE IRANIAN NUCLEAR THREAT? February 20, 2012 GEORGE LYLE | ECS “To be honest I haven’t thought about it very much. Obviously it’s a concern as I’ve read about it and seen it on the news, but the question is how much of what we hear is the truth?” ZE LIM | LINKLATERS “I’m not too worried yet. There are lots of [...]
Rio Tinto aims for driverless trains growth February 20, 2012 MINER Rio Tinto yesterday unveiled a $518m (£327m) plan to pioneer the use of driverless trains in Australia in a bid to ramp up its production. The company, which already has driverless trucks, plans to run fully automated trains across its 1,500 km (930 mile) iron-ore rail network in north west Australia from 2014, to [...]
Kingfisher summoned to explain scrapped flights February 20, 2012 AVIATION chiefs in India yesterday summoned executives from struggling airline Kingfisher to explain a string of flight cancellations. The directorate general of civil aviation wants answers after 32 out of the 240 flights that Kingfisher operates each day were cancelled over the weekend. Loss-making Kingfisher has been denied financial assistance from the Indian government and [...]
Roche gets nod for skin cancer drug February 20, 2012 PHARMACEUTICALS giant Roche said yesterday that the European Union had approved Zelboraf, which represents a new treatment option for patients with the deadliest form of skin cancer. The go-ahead, expected by investors after Roche flagged it as recently as December, follows one in the United States last August. The new drug is given as a [...]
Kier wins £100m contract for EDF nuclear power plant groundwork February 20, 2012 BRITISH construction group Kier has won a £100m contract from France’s EDF to prepare the ground for construction of a new nuclear power station in the west of England. Kier said in a statement that the contract to carry out site works for the Hinkley Point C nuclear power station, which is due to provide [...]
International Ferro loses less February 20, 2012 South Africa’s International Ferro Metals yesterday said it had narrowed its losses in the final six months of 2011. The net loss after taxation dropped from Zar107,000 (£8,700) in 2010 to Zar92,000. But the Aim-listed company reported production of ferrochrome down 15 per cent over the period. Chief executive Chris Jordaan said: “The combination of [...]
Workers occupy Arcelor plant February 20, 2012 Workers at an idled ArcelorMittal steel plant in north east France occupied the site yesterday, seeking to put their plight on the political map ahead of a presidential election where industrial decline is a central theme. Some 200 workers invaded management offices at the factory in Florange, in the Moselle region close to Belgium and [...]
Alibaba Group takes $3bn loan February 20, 2012 Chinese e-commerce firm Alibaba Group was yesterday set to sign a $3bn (£1.9bn) loan it plans to use to take private its Hong Kong-listed unit, Alibaba.com. Alibaba Group, which is 40 per cent-owned by Yahoo, is looking to take Alibaba.com private in a bid to strengthen founder Jack Ma’s control of his e-commerce empire.
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS February 20, 2012 Royal Bank of Scotland RBS has appointed Stuart Dean as head of healthcare in the corporate and institutional banking (CIB) team. Dean has worked at RBS for more than 11 years in the bank’s structured finance division in the south of England and London. Before joining RBS, he spent two years at the John Lewis [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS February 20, 2012 LADBROKES UBS rates the betting group “buy” and has lifted its target price by 5p to 175p. The firm’s full year results were above forecasts, with strong growth in UK retail, which the broker says will continue this year thanks to double-digit growth at betting machines and a boost from Euro 2012. UBS expects to [...]
