Kazakhmys copper output drops January 31, 2013 Copper miner Kazakhmys said yesterday full-year copper cathode output fell two per cent on lower grades. The Kazakhstan-based company produced 292,200 tonnes of copper cathode from its own concentrate, down from 298,500 tonnes a year earlier.
Vedanta oil and gas output jumps January 31, 2013 Oil and gas production jumped 21 per cent over 2012 for India-focused Vedanta, the firm said yesterday. Group earnings were 31 per cent higher last year than in 2011, helped by a strong performance from its Indian oil and gas unit Cairn India.
SSE forecasts rise in profits January 31, 2013 Energy firm SSE yesterday said its full-year profits could be up to five per cent higher, adding that it was on course to deliver an increase in the dividend. The energy giant, which hiked prices last year, also said it lost more than 100,000 UK customers over the nine months to December.
City Moves for 1 February 2013 | Who’s switching jobs January 31, 2013 Ogier The law firm has appointed three new partners. Matthew Newman joined Ogier in 2008 from DLA Piper. Rachael Reynolds joined in 2008 from Clyde & Co. Nick Williams joined in 2007 from Clifford Chance. Freshfields The law firm has appointed David Haworth as head of its London tax practice. He succeeds Sarah Falk. Haworth [...]
Best of the Brokers January 31, 2013 STOBART GROUP Espirito Santo rates the logistics firm “sell” with a fair value of 70p. The broker has cut its earnings per share forecasts by around 13 per cent for the next two years, based on a downbeat update from the firm. Espirito Santo is worried about the group’s high and rising levels of debt, [...]
FTSE falls again as weak results dampen mood January 31, 2013 LONDON’S top shares closed lower yesterday as downbeat company earnings and mixed global economic data triggered the sharpest one-day fall on the FTSE 100 since mid-November. Earnings were in focus after updates from British oil heavyweight Royal Dutch Shell and drugmaker AstraZeneca, and Facebook in the United States, disappointed. Shell alone took 16 points off [...]
Markets ease ahead of key jobs numbers January 31, 2013 US stocks edged lower yesterday on caution ahead of today’s all-important jobs report, but the S&P 500 still posted its best monthly gain since October 2011. The benchmark S&P 500 advanced 5.1 per cent in January as investors cheered a compromise that temporarily postponed the impact of the “fiscal cliff” and fourth-quarter earnings were better [...]
Why the government will struggle to deliver a Silicon Valley for Britain January 31, 2013 THE UK has a desperate need for growth. But while many of the means of reaching this goal – tax reform, for instance – are controversial, the need for innovation is widely accepted. Economic evidence clearly demonstrates that a key driver of growth is the development and adoption of innovative products and services. A natural [...]
Osborne isn’t the cat’s whiskers but we don’t have to give up on austerity January 31, 2013 AS THE UK economy skids towards a triple-dip recession, many are looking at George Osborne and his plan A and wondering whether someone else could do better. Osborne’s own cat Freya, for instance. If we saved on Osborne’s salary and, in a spirit of austerity, paid his replacement with Whiskas and the occasional catnip chew [...]
Customers have no incentive to punish mis-selling banks January 31, 2013 BANKS are embroiled in another “mis-selling” scandal, but we can be sure that customer behaviour won’t be affected. Few people will switch bank as a result. Regulation means we are indifferent to how our banks behave. Why? Because we know banks will always be fined for their faults, and we know we’ll always be compensated. [...]
