Qatar gas industry suffers November 22, 2010 Qatar’s profit growth from its burgeoning liquefied natural gas industry could come to a halt if neighbouring countries cannot afford to keep up with rising prices, energy sources said yesterday. A pipeline to the United Arab Emirates has been running at less than two-thirds of full capacity, because the UAE cannot afford the fuel. Qatar [...]
Australia’s biggest float soars November 22, 2010 Shares of Australian rail-freight firm QR National, the country’s biggest float since 1997, rose four per cent in their trading debut yesterday, offering mild hope for a clogged pipeline of more than A$10bn (£6.2bn) worth of floats. QR National, which was wholly-owned by the state of Queensland until it floated a 60 per cent stake, [...]
EU consumer confidence at two-year high November 22, 2010 MORALE among consumers in Eurozone countries has surged to its highest level in almost two years, according to research announced today. The European Commission’s “flash” consumer confidence index for November was measured at -9.5, considerably higher than the expected level of -11, around which the index has floated for the last couple of months. In [...]
OECD reveals 18 months of straight growth November 22, 2010 GROSS domestic product (GDP) has grown for the sixth consecutive quarter among members of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Across 30 of the OECD’s member countries, the economy grew by an average of 0.6 per cent in the three months to September, according to data released yesterday. The results marked the fifth [...]
CHINA REASSURES POOR OVER?FOOD?PRICES November 22, 2010 CHINA’S government yesterday insisted that inflation is firmly under control, after food prices jumped 10.1 per cent in October. The government threatened price controls, and promised food subsidies for the poor. Meanwhile, Thailand technically entered recession after its economy retracted for the second quarter in a row, falling by 0.2 per cent. The annual rate [...]
Qinetiq wins NASA deal worth $2bn November 22, 2010 UK DEFENCE technology group Qinetiq has won a multi-year engineering contract with US Space Agency NASA worth up to $2bn (£1.25bn). Qinetiq’s US arm will provide engineering support and ground operations to the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida from March 2011, although contract terms are still being finalised. The deal is for at least five [...]
Mitie targets outsourced jobs November 22, 2010 SUPPORT services firm Mitie said it plans to cash in on growing government outsourcing in the next 12 months, as it reported a 12 per cent growth in pre-tax profit for the latest half. Mitie said yesterday pre-tax profit for the six months to the end of September was £47.5m, while revenue grew 14.7 per [...]
Anglo American continues mine sell-off November 22, 2010 MINING group Anglo American plans to divest its Callide coal mine in Australia to better focus on high-margin export operations. Callide, located in central Queensland state, primarily supplies coal to domestic power stations. The mine produced 8.8m tonnes of thermal coal in 2009 and has a resource base of more than 1bn tonnes. “The strategy [...]
Big Yellow pays its first interim dividend since ‘07 November 22, 2010 SELF-storage firm Big Yellow Group posted a 26 per cent rise in first-half adjusted pretax profit and resumed its interim dividend. “The business is experiencing the usual seasonal slowdown, but as in previous years, we look forward to an improvement in demand from early 2011 as we enter our more buoyant spring and summer trading [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS November 22, 2010 DIXONS Seymour Pierce rates the retailer “buy” with a target price of 37p. The broker is looking for progress in the Nordic countries and the UK in the firm’s results on Thursday, with a first-half loss of £8m. It forecasts 37 per cent growth in 2011 pre-tax profit as the firm’s new strategy takes effect [...]
