Fortescue agrees debt facility September 18, 2012 ■ Australia-focused Fortescue Metals Group has agreed a $4.5bn (£2.7bn) debt facility, as it moves to shore up its balance sheet in the wake of falling iron ore prices. The debt, underwritten by Credit Suisse and JP Morgan, gives the Perth-based company until November 2015 to make its first repayment. Iron ore prices have plummeted [...]
Shares sink in Leni Gas and Oil September 18, 2012 ■ Shares in Leni fell 14.96 per cent yesterday, as the exploration company reported a rise in pre-tax losses to £971,000 from £808,000 over the six months to 30 June, largely down to administration expenses. Revenue increased to £1.75m, from £1.5m. Leni, currently involved in a legal dispute with Mediterranean Oil and Gas over assets [...]
Work Group issues profit warning September 18, 2012 ■ Work Group’s Aim-listed shares plunged almost 20 per cent yesterday after the recruiter warned that profits for the current year will be below market expectations. The firm said net fee income fell four per cent to £6.2m in the first six months of 2012, and pre-tax losses were cut by nearly three-quarters on a [...]
City Moves | Who’s switching jobs September 18, 2012 Barclays Tom Wood has been appointed head of professional services at the banking group. He joined Barclays in 2007 as a relationship director, and most recently spent three and half years as corporate director and deputy head of its professional services team. Wood has also held roles at RBS. Jupiter Asset Management Andrew Clark has [...]
Best of the Brokers September 18, 2012 BRITISH AMERICAN TOBACCO Nomura has raised its target price by 3.5 per cent to 3,500p and maintains its “buy” rating on the tobacco seller. BAT is enjoying better volumes in Japan, offset slightly by tougher competition from bootleggers in Brazil, the broker points out. For the year, Nomura has raised its earnings per share estimate [...]
FTSE feels pain from Spain as the Eurozone waits for a bailout plea September 18, 2012 BRITAIN’S top share index eased for a second day yesterday, retreating further off recent six-month highs on uncertainty over whether steps taken by the US and Europe will be enough to kick-start the global economy. In UK’s top trading partner the Eurozone, a big hurdle is Spain. Madrid’s reluctance to make a formal request for [...]
US stocks flat as bellwether cuts forecasts September 18, 2012 US stocks ended flat to slightly lower yesterday after bellwether FedEx cut its profit forecast and investors pulled back after last week’s rally on central bank stimulus. Falling oil prices weighed on the market for a second day, with the S&P 500 energy index, down 0.7 per cent, the day’s biggest decliner among the S&P’s [...]
A humanities education is the best preparation for a life of leadership September 18, 2012 THERE will always be a need for higher education to produce the experts essential to advanced economies. Scientists, engineers, doctors and lawyers are indispensable, and universities will always train them because there will always be the resources for training them. However, there is a curious blindness to the equally great need in our complex societies [...]
The iPhone5 may be boosting GDP by even more than JP Morgan predict September 18, 2012 APPLE’S iPhone5 has already smashed sales records. More than 2m online orders were placed on the first day that consumers could make purchases over the web. So it’s little wonder that JP Morgan has estimated that iPhone5 sales could add as much as 0.5 per cent to American GDP. These numbers have attracted criticism. After [...]
Ten golden rules of investing September 18, 2012 Unless you need your money back soon, you should think long term and avoid getting caught up in the daily noise of markets. This is for two reasons. First, it makes sense to align your own investment time horizon with that of the companies in which you invest. You’ll find that all good companies – [...]
