Oil major to sell off half its US refineries February 1, 2011 BP REVEALED yesterday that it plans to sell off half its US refinery business, including the Texas City refinery that was the site of an explosion in 2005 that killed 15 workers. BP said several interested buyers have already enquired about the operations, which the firm plans to sell off before the end of 2012. [...]
Egypt President finally agrees to stand down February 1, 2011 EGYPTIAN President Hosni Mubarak finally bowed to massive collective pressure yesterday, saying he would step down at the September election, once a successor is elected. His move followed eight consecutive days of protests, culminating with more than a million citizens taking to the streets yesterday calling for the former general to step aside. In Cairo’s [...]
Thorpe set for return February 1, 2011 SWIMMING: Five-times Olympic champion Ian Thorpe is to hold a press conference today fuelling speculation of a comeback in time for London 2012. “If he’s going to have a crack he’s going to have to do it quickly,” said Australia head coach Leigh Nugent
Report: short-seller disclosure rules don’t make market safer February 1, 2011 OVER-ZEALOUS disclosure requirements for short-sellers are driving trades away from Europe and eroding liquidity, according to a report by Oliver Wyman commissioned by the Alternative Investment Management Association (AIMA), a hedge fund industry group. The study comes as Steve Maijoor, the newly appointed chair of the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) said: “Shortselling in [...]
Shahzad fit for World Cup February 1, 2011 CRICKET: England expect bowler Ajmal Shahzad to be fit for the World Cup despite the hamstring injury which has ruled him out of the two remaining ODIs against Australia. An ECB spokeswoman said: “Shahzad has suffered the type of tear that required eight days of rest.”
Wildcats to be wound up February 1, 2011 RUGBY LEAGUE: Wakefield Trinity Wildcats are to go into administration to avoid a winding-up petition brought by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs.
Zero per cent tax rate threatened as civil unrest spreads to Jordan February 1, 2011 AS civil unrest spread to Jordan yesterday, markets reacted to the news that a change of government could affect the country’s zero per cent export tax – and the companies that rely on it. Early yesterday Jordan’s King Abdullah dismissed his government and announced his intention to bring about “genuine political reform”. Jordan-based Hikma Pharmaceuticals, [...]
Chip producer ARM boosted by results February 1, 2011 SHARES in British chip manufacturer ARM Holdings, the firm behind Apple’s iPad, rose following a 72 per cent increase in full-year profits, despite warnings of a dot com bubble from analysts. Profits for the FTSE 100 chipmaker rose to £167.4m before tax in the year to 31 December, up from £96.8m the year before. Revenues [...]
Autonomy stock soars after record sales and profits February 1, 2011 SOFTWARE specialist Autonomy’s shares gained more than six per cent to close at 1,590p yesterday after it reported record profits and revenues for 2010. Double-digit sales rises for its key servers and cloud computing systems generated an 18 per cent growth in revenue to $870m (£547m), from $740m in 2009. Full-year pre-tax profits of $379m [...]
The ex-university prof who built a tech giant February 1, 2011 DR MIKE Lynch, 45, began working on the mathematics behind Autonomy’s software in the early 1990s, when he was writing his post-doctoral thesis at Cambridge University. He was studying the work of an 18th Century vicar, Thomas Bayes, who spent his life trying to prove the existence of God through mathematics. “He never succeeded,” Lynch [...]