Japan moves to open some nuclear plants May 14, 2012 THE LOCAL assembly in a Japanese town that hosts a nuclear plant agreed yesterday it was necessary to restart two off-line reactors, its chairman said, the first such nod since all the country’s stations were halted after the Fukushima crisis. But further discussion lies ahead before two reactors at Kansai Electric Power Co’s Ohi plant [...]
Essar Oil reports £60m quarterly loss as refining margins shrink May 14, 2012 ESSAR Oil reported a quarterly loss yesterday as refining margins weakened. The company, which is 87.09 per cent-owned by India-focused Essar Energy, reported a loss of 5.15bn rupees (£60m) for the fourth quarter to 31 March, compared with a profit of 3.2bn rupees for the equivalent period last year. The company has been hit by [...]
Genel expands in Kurdistan May 14, 2012 OIL company Genel Energy, whose chief executive is former BP boss Tony Hayward, said yesterday it will buy a 23 per cent stake in the Bina Bawi exploration licence in Kurdistan for $175m (£109m). The licence lies alongside Genel’s Taq Taq oilfield, which is already producing. The new exploration could yield 500m to 1bn barrels [...]
Lonmin profit takes a dive May 14, 2012 Platinum producer Lonmin said yesterday pre-tax profit tumbled in the first half of its financial year, as weak European demand weighed on prices and a record level of safety stoppages imposed by South African authorities hit its output and operating costs. The world’s third-largest platinum producer said production problems, a 10 per cent drop in [...]
Afren buoyed by Nigeria find May 14, 2012 FTSE 250-listed oil and gas explorer Afren has said its successful Ebok North fault block exploration well offshore Nigeria has encountered excellent quality reservoir sands, with data support indicating oil in excess of 100m barrels of oil, towards the upper end of its expectations. Chief executive Osman Shahenshah said: “We are delighted to have continued [...]
TEPCO LOSS TOPS £6BN AFTER FUKUSHIMA CRISIS May 14, 2012 TOKYO Electric Power Co (Tepco) yesterday posted an annual loss of almost two trillion yen (£6.2bn) as compensation claims for the Fukushima nuclear disaster – triggered by a tsunami and earthquake last year – brought it to the brink of bankruptcy. The company is to be taken over by the government, which will inject one [...]
Polymetal offloads Amikan May 14, 2012 Miner Polymetal announced yesterday that it had sold Amikan , which owns the Veduga gold deposit in the Krasnoyarsk region of the Russian Federation, to Polygon Gold. The price tag paid by the Canadian firm is $20m (£12.4m) in cash and 750 ordinary shares of Polygon. “I am very pleased that Veduga, a non-core asset [...]
Serco starts the year with £4bn contracts win May 14, 2012 OUTSOURCING firm Serco has won nearly £4bn of contracts so far this year, but said yesterday its revenues from the Americas had slumped. The FTSE 100-listed group, which runs services from the Docklands Light Railway to prisons and air traffic control centres around the world, said it expected first-half revenue to grow by around six [...]
Travis Perkins says it is winning market share as sales increase May 14, 2012 BRITISH builders’ merchant and do-it-yourself retailer, Travis Perkins, said yesterday it was on track to meet profit expectations for the year after posting a rise in sales and market share gains in the first four months of the year. The group, which also trades as City Plumbing, Keyline, Tile Giant, Wickes and BSS, said group [...]
WS Atkins in US private placement May 14, 2012 Engineering consultancy group WS Atkins is looking to raise $75m (£46.5m) in the US fixed income markets via a private placement, it said yesterday. The firm’s first foray into the US markets will see it sell seven-year notes with a coupon of 4.38 per cent. It will use funds raised to repay drawn funds and [...]
