Bakrie in $1bn Bumi sell-off November 1, 2011 INDONESIA’S Bakrie group has announced a $1bn (£626.5m) deal to sell half its stake in London-listed coal miner Bumi – its venture with Nat Rothschild (pictured) – to help tackle its debts. The stake is being bought by Indonesian rival Borneo Lumbung Energi and will allow Bakrie to avoid a default on $1.35bn of loans [...]
BHP and Mitsubishi to put $4.2bn into Australian coal mining sector November 1, 2011 BHP Billiton and Mitsubishi Corp will invest a total of $4.2bn (£2.6bn) to expand coal mining in Australia and are looking at further investments, BHP said yesterday. The project initially will add 8m tonnes per year capacity in exports of metallurgical coal used in making steel, with an expectation of a rapid, low-cost expansion to [...]
THE SHOW MUST GO ON SAYS FOREX FINANCIER November 1, 2011 DIGITAL downloads decimating album sales, Russian born tycoon Len Blavatnik poised to swoop on the UK’s last major domestic music label – it’s fair to say the music industry has seen better days. Here to help the sector’s financially challenged artistes make the most of their remaining revenue sources – touring, merchandise and ticket sales [...]
Bank CEOs hit back at ethics accusations November 1, 2011 BANK chiefs clashed with a committee of MPs and peers yesterday to defend the industry from what they called unfounded “generalisations”. Responding to an accusation from the Conservative peer Lord Maples that the crisis had involved “a failure of ethics… particularly within investment banking”, Barclays chief Bob Diamond said that the query was rife with [...]
New watchdog: we don’t care if London is competitive or not November 1, 2011 THE NEW regulator charged with protecting consumers should not have to take into account the competitiveness of the City when making decisions, its incoming chief Martin Wheatley said yesterday. Appearing before the influential Treasury Select Committee, Wheatley, who will run the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) when it is created next year, said that the body [...]
Should the protesters at St Paul’s be forced to move their camp? November 1, 2011 This week we’re asking members of the Voice of the City Panel to say whether they think the protesters at St Paul’s should be allowed to keep their camp there. We also want to know how clear you think the aims of the protesters are. Finally, how have St Paul’s and the City of London handled the [...]
Pfizer beats forecast with $3.4bn profit November 1, 2011 PFIZER reported better-than-expected quarterly results yesterday, helped by the weaker dollar and strong performance of the nutritionals and animal health businesses it plans to sell or spin off. The world’s biggest drugmaker, whose top-selling Lipitor cholesterol fighter will face generic competition in the US from 30 November, boosted its full-year 2011 profit forecast and predicted [...]
US auto sales growth is at its best rate for year November 1, 2011 US CAR sales rose to near their highest level of 2011 in October, early sales results showed, although shares in General Motors and other automakers tumbled yesterday on concern that the industry’s slow recovery could falter. Chrysler posted a 27 per cent gain in October US sales – its best result in four years – [...]
BofA in U-turn over debit fees November 1, 2011 BANK of America has scrapped plans to charge a $5 per month debit fee, handing a victory to consumers and protesters angry with big banks. The second-biggest US bank said yesterday that the move was in response to customer feedback and competition. BofA was under pressure to make the change as rivals backtracked from plans [...]
Revenues lifted at Dollar Thrifty November 1, 2011 DOLLAR Thrifty Automotive Group posted strong third-quarter results that beat estimates on higher car rental revenue yesterday, and the company forecast fourth-quarter rental revenue growth of about one to two per cent. The company posted a third-quarter net income of $66.6m (£41.8m), compared with $49.2m a year ago. Revenue rose to $451.7m from $443.5m. Vehicle [...]
