Production at Premier Oil hit by maintenance July 12, 2011 BRITISH oil explorer Premier Oil reported a disappointing downturn in first-half production as increased maintenance activity in the UK offset a good performance from its Asian fields. The FTSE 250-listed firm said its average production for the first half of the year fell 21 per cent from 42.8 thousand barrels of oil equivalent (kboepd) in [...]
Disaster losses hit new record July 12, 2011 DISASTERS this year have already caused the worst economic losses on record, Munich Re said yesterday. Catastrophes in Japan, New Zealand, Australia and the US led to $265bn (£166bn) of losses in the first six months of the year alone – far above the previous record of $220bn in 2005. The devastating 9.0 magnitude earthquake [...]
How the hacking scandal has hit the Sky brand July 12, 2011 THE last week has been dominated by phone hacking news. It is clear that the public disapproves of the practices used and there is general support for the closure of the News of the World – from the YouGov poll for the Sunday Times; 73 per cent think it is never acceptable for journalists to [...]
Sales boost for PSA Peugeot Citroen in China and LatAm July 12, 2011 FRENCH car maker PSA Peugeot Citroen said it increased the proportion of its sales of cars and light commercial vehicles outside Europe in the first half as it chases growth in emerging markets. Like other European auto makers, PSA is focusing efforts on fast-growing regions including China and Latin America as economic uncertainty and austerity [...]
Vedanta buys Cairn India stake July 12, 2011 Vedanta Resources has completed the purchase of a 10 per cent stake in the Indian arm of Cairn Energy, in a deal valued at around $6bn (£3.77bn). The move comes after Cairn Energy agreed last week to sell a 40 per cent stake in Cairn India to Vedanta. The sale, one of the largest in [...]
Wolseley sells Electric Center July 12, 2011 Wolseley, the builders’ merchant, signed an agreement to sell its Electric Center business to Edmundson Electrical, a leading distributor of electrical equipment in the UK. The sale will be completed in the next few weeks following a period of employee consultation, the group said in a statement yesterday. It follows the sale of its Brandon [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS EDITED July 12, 2011 Ernst & Young The accountancy firm has strengthened its UK mining and metals team by appointing David Russell as a director, in advance of an anticipated acceleration of IPO and M&A activity in the resources sector. Russell has worked in Africa, Canada and Australia over his 30-year career in the industry, largely as a mining [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS July 12, 2011 BRITVIC RBS rates the soft drinks maker a “buy” with a £5 target price as it believes Britvic has now hedged against 95 per cent of its input cost inflation – expected to be 9-11 per cent in the UK this year – leaving it protected against further shocks. RBS expects third-quarter trading to be [...]
FTSE extends losses as Eurozone debt fears grow July 12, 2011 FINANCIALS and commodity stocks led a sharp fall on Britain’s FTSE 100 yesterday as investors extended a recent sell-off on worries that Europe’s debt problems would spread beyond Greece, Portugal and Ireland. Eurozone finance ministers on Monday promised cheaper loans, longer maturities and a more flexible rescue fund in an effort to prevent debt contagion [...]
European fiscal worries push US stocks down July 12, 2011 US STOCKS closed lower for a third straight day yesterday as Europe’s fiscal woes and a weak start to tech earnings gave investors little reason to buy even after the recent losses. Moody’s downgrade of Ireland’s credit rating late in the session provided the latest jolt to stock investors, reminding them of the scope of [...]
