Analyst Views | What impact would closing the mine at Maltby have? September 25, 2012 NICK SPOLIAR WH IRELAND Closing the mine would be a major change, arguably removing a major distraction and releasing the energy of the business in the direction of a fully service-based model, but at the price of an impairment charge and further downgrade. Setting aside Maltby, the outlook statement is strong. JON LIENARD N+1 BREWIN [...]
Glencore pares back purchase ambitions for miner Kazzinc September 25, 2012 GLENCORE has trimmed its plans for an increased stake in zinc producer Kazzinc, as it said yesterday it would acquire an extra 18.91 per cent of the firm from Verny Capital. The commodities giant, which already owns 50.7 per cent of Kazakhstan-focused Kazzinc, was originally targeting an acquisition of up to 48.73 per cent from [...]
Aviva sets deadline for £300m sale of Malaysian joint venture September 25, 2012 INSURANCE giant Aviva has set a deadline of 29 October to receive bids for its Malaysian insurance business, reports suggested yesterday. Prudential, Manulife and Sun Life Financial are thought to be in the running to buy the British firm’s holding, which is expected to fetch at least $500m (£317m). Aviva set up the business five [...]
China’s richest getting poorer September 25, 2012 CHINA’S super-rich have taken a hit this year, with the number of dollar billionaires in the country falling for the first time, according to the annual Hurun rich list. The number of billionaires fell by 20 per cent to 251, while manufacturing has become the biggest source of wealth, as the government has moved to [...]
New World heralds oil progress September 25, 2012 New World Oil and Gas yesterday posted an increased pre-tax loss of $1.4m (£862,000) for the six months to 30 June, compared to $995,000 over the same period last year. The oil and gas exploration company has made “significant progress” at its flagship Blue Creek Project in Belize, where it has identified a prospective 329m [...]
Profits down at Mediterranean September 25, 2012 Revenue at Mediterranean Oil & Gas for the six months to 30 June jumped to €8.5m (£5.23m) from €1.5m last year, although pre-tax profit fell to €2.1m from €2.9m. The cost of sales and administration expenses were the main reasons for the decline in profit. Over the half year gas production across all assets rose [...]
Augean loses chief executive September 25, 2012 Augean Waste Management’s chief executive Paul Blackler said yesterday he plans to step down, as the group posted increased revenue over the six months to 30 June of £20m, up from £19.4m over the first half of 2011. The waste management company reported a pre-tax profit of £0.9m, from a loss of £0.1m last year. [...]
Mortgage loans hit a record low value in August September 25, 2012 MORTGAGE lending crashed to a record low in August, the British Bankers Association (BBA) said yesterday, with borrowers actually paying back more than they took out. Net lending hit negative territory for only the second time since the BBA started recording the data in 1997, the data revealed. The first negative reading was May this [...]
US consumer confidence climbs giving recovery hopes a boost September 25, 2012 US CONSUMER confidence rocketed to a seven-month high in September, the Conference Board’s index showed yesterday, while two house price indices indicate modest growth. Sentiment jetted up from August’s 61.3 to 70.3 in September, where 100 is the average result recorded in boom year 1985, while expectations soared from 71.1 last month up to 83.7. [...]
High petrol cost driving Italians away from fuel-guzzling cars September 25, 2012 IN CAR-MAD Italy, record-high petrol prices are changing the motoring habits of a lifetime and turning customers to less glamorous, more reliable vehicles, as well as other forms of transport. Prices at the pump recently broke through €2 per litre in some stations, a psychological threshold for car enthusiasts in the home of gas-guzzling sportscar [...]
