Lamprell soars as crucial debt waiver agreed January 2, 2013 SHARES in rig maker Lamprell jumped more than 20 per cent in trading yesterday, as the beleaguered engineering firm agreed waivers to its banking covenants. The London-listed company, which issued five profit warnings last year, was due to have its debt facilities tested on 31 December. Lamprell said yesterday that it had finished the year [...]
IMIC confirms Afferro approach January 2, 2013 BIDDING for junior stockmarket-listed Afferro Mining hotted up yesterday, as fellow AIM-listed International Mining & Infrastructure Corporation (IMIC) confirmed that it had approached the miner with regards to a possible takeover offer. IMIC has proposed an offer at between 115p and 140p for each Afferro share, which would value the iron ore miner at around [...]
ArcelorMittal disposes of $1.1bn stake in Canadian iron ore unit January 2, 2013 STEELMAKER ArcelorMittal said yesterday it would sell a 15 per cent stake in a Canadian mine operator to an Asian consortium led by South Korean POSCO and Taiwan-listed China Steel in a deal worth $1.1bn (£674m). Through the stake in ArcelorMittal Mines Canada, the consortium will acquire the Labrador Trough iron ore mining and infrastructure [...]
Production begins at BP’s Skarv January 2, 2013 Oil major BP has kicked off production at the Skarv field in the Norwegian Sea. Skarv, which is offshore the west coast of Norway, has an estimated recovery of around 100m barrels of oil and more than 1.5 trillion cubic feet of gas, according to BP. The field, which will ramp up output in the [...]
Weir sells LGE to Babcock for £23m January 2, 2013 Engineer Babcock has acquired a liquid gas services company from the Weir Group for £23m, it said yesterday. LGE Process, which designs and builds plants for the processing, storage and handling of liquid gases, will be combined with Babcock’s design services business unit. In the year to December LGE posted gross revenue of £26.3m, Babcock [...]
Kingfisher loses flying licence January 2, 2013 Troubled airline Kingfisher has suffered another blow, after the Indian government’s aviation authorities refused to renew the company’s flying licence. Kingfisher Airlines was told to pay employees their past-due salaries before a new permit will be granted. The carrier has not left the ground since October, when its engineers and pilots went on strike. The [...]
UK firms look to more upbeat 2013 economy January 2, 2013 BUSINESS expects the UK’s bumpy economic ride to stabilise into growth during 2013, according to two surveys out this morning. Company directors are far more optimistic than 12 months ago, according to a poll from the Institute of Directors (IoD). The number of directors who thought 2013 would be better than 2012 surged ahead of [...]
Manufacturing picks up in India and China January 2, 2013 INDIAN and Chinese factories dialled their activity up a notch as 2012 came to a close, but similar rises were not enjoyed across the rest of Asia. India’s manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) climbed to 54.7 in December, from 53.7 in November, Markit data revealed yesterday. As this value is further above 50, it signals [...]
Best of the Brokers January 2, 2013 DOMINO’S PIZZA Numis upgraded the takeaway pizza business to “buy” from “add” and keeps its target of 625p, believing the company is likely to generate strong growth in 2013. Numis expects to see new developments, such as a gluten free menu and higher ecommerce advertising, greater expansion with new stores in the UK and the [...]
FTSE hits highest level in 17 months as smashes through 6,000 barrier January 2, 2013 BRITAIN’S top share index raced through the 6,000 level for the first time in 17 months yesterday boosted by a last-minute budget deal in the United States and solid global PMI data. London’s blue chip index closed up 129.56 points, or 2.2 per cent at 6,027.37, bettering the average return on the first day of [...]
