Total profit rises in third quarter October 31, 2012 French oil company Total, Europe’s third largest oil firm, posted a 20 per cent rise in third quarter profit yesterday to €3.3bn (£2.7bn), up from €2.8bn last year. Profits from the refining and chemicals division was up 54 per cent to €564m, from €367m in the third quarter of last year. Oil and gas output [...]
Croda takes on JP Morgan Caz October 31, 2012 Global manufacturer of speciality chemicals Croda, which counts Procter & Gamble, Unilever, L’Oreal and Estee Lauder among its customers, yesterday said it had appointed JP Morgan Cazenove as joint broker, alongside Morgan Stanley, with immediate effect. In July it reported a six per cent increase in first-half profit, thanks to increased sales of high margin [...]
Mondi posts flat profits October 31, 2012 South African paper and packaging producer Mondi yesterday posted flat profits year on year. In the three months to September, underlying profit came in at €135m (£109m), down slightly from €136m over the same period last year, which the firm blamed on weaker demand over the summer months. Mondi added that price increases in the [...]
Who’s switching jobs October 31, 2012 RBC Wealth Management Adam Norris has been appointed senior manager in the wealth management firm’s newly-formed intermediary wealth solutions offering. He joins from HSBC Private Bank, where he focused on Channel Islands-based private clients. Norris has also held roles at Deutsche Bank. MIG Capital Paul Chrimes has been appointed chief operating officer of the trading [...]
Best of the Brokers October 31, 2012 LONMIN Deutsche Bank upgraded its rating to “hold” and increased its target price to 490p from 445p. The bank said the size of Lonmin’s proposed rights issue will “ensure the company’s survival”. WOLSELEY Jefferies downgraded its rating from “hold” to “underperform”, as it thinks the stock is no longer a US recovery play. The broker [...]
Wall Street flat after two day storm closure October 31, 2012 THE US stock market slowly returned to life yesterday after two days in the dark, in the wake of the massive storm Sandy that caused the market’s first weather-related two-day closure since the late 19th century. The Dow and the S&P 500 closed little changed while the Nasdaq Composite edged 0.4 per cent lower in [...]
Bad day for BG Group and Barclays helps send FTSE 100 into the red October 31, 2012 UK shares fell yesterday, ending the month on a down note as a string of gloomy earnings and outlooks from firms such as Barclays and GlaxoSmithKline weighed on sentiment. The FTSE 100 was down 1.2 per cent, or 67 points, at 5,782.70 at the close, more than shedding the previous session’s gains, led down by [...]
Changing profession could inject life into your career October 31, 2012 A RECENT survey of 1,500 professionals by the recruitment firm Marks Sattin found that 52 per cent anticipate changing jobs within the next year. And some want to go further. A complete change in career at some point in a professional life is increasingly normal. Of course, people switch for a variety of reasons: they [...]
Jobs of the week October 31, 2012 GLOBAL EQUITY SALES SPECIALIST LONDON £150k-£250k pa, plus bonus An independent private equity house is looking for a global equities specialist. This is a high-level position and only experienced candidates need apply. http://jobs.cityam.com/job/5600 CAPITAL MARKETS INTERNAL AUDITOR LONDON £55k-£70k pa A major investment bank seeks a senior manager to join its rates and credit internal [...]
Financial regulation is worsening Europe’s demographic time bomb October 31, 2012 THERE is more to Europe’s current challenges than debt, stagnation and unemployment. There is an elephant in the room that could become the biggest issue of all: an ageing population. Europe’s baby boom started in the 1950s and the proportion of retirees relative to the working population, therefore, is beginning to rise. This will inevitably [...]
