Fall in price of copper weighs on Antofagasta August 29, 2012 CHILEAN copper miner Antofagasta reported a 7.6 per cent drop in first-half profits yesterday, as falling copper prices and higher production costs took their toll. The FTSE 100 company said its pre-tax profits fell to $1.56bn (£985m) in the six months to 30 June, down from $1.69bn the previous year. Copper production was up by [...]
RusPetro records loss despite higher oil production levels August 29, 2012 RUSSIAN-focused oil and gas firm RusPetro yesterday reported a pre-tax loss of $26.4m in the six months to 30 June. RusPetro, which listed on the LSE in January, said the cost of sales and administrative expenses dragged profits down. Revenue increased to $33.8m (£21.3m) from $11.4m last year, on the back of higher production levels [...]
BP turns to Australia for cash with £327m Kangaroo issue August 29, 2012 BRITISH oil behemoth BP yesterday announced plans to sell Australian dollar bonds in a rare kangaroo issue. Kangaroo bonds are Australian dollar bonds sold by international issuers. The bond marks the first time that BP has tapped the Australian market for funding. The five-year issue was priced at A$500m (£327m) yesterday, with a coupon of [...]
Analyst Views | What do you think of Antofagasta’s results? August 29, 2012 CAILEY BARKER NUMIS SECURITIES Profits are down seven per cent year-on-year, and revenues up three per cent due to higher production offsetting lower copper prices. All in all it’s a good set of results, but they shouldn’t draw huge surprise. HELAL MIAH THE SHARE CENTRE Antofagasta has the potential to deliver strong results, however due [...]
Ophir Energy posts first-half loss August 29, 2012 African-facing Ophir Energy posted a loss of $24.4m (£15.4m) for the first six months of 2012, down from a profit of $6.1m over the same period last year. Regulatory costs arising from its initial public offering last year, plus general related management costs, weighed on the oil and gas exploration firm.
Severstal profit drops 74 per cent August 29, 2012 Russia’s third-largest steelmaker Severstal slumped to a 74 per cent profit drop in the second quarter of this year, to $155m (£98m). The company cited foreign exchange losses and the spinoff of its gold mining business, Nordgold, earlier this year for the drop in profits. Over the first half profit slid 49.1 per cent to [...]
Firms told to use clearing houses August 29, 2012 Firms buying derivatives to hedge against price movements ought to use clearing houses, not banks, the EU’s risk watchdog warned. Clearing houses are backed by default funds, whereas banks are riskier and charge high fees, the European Systemic Risk Board (ESRB) said. Though the ESRB carries no legislative clout, it nevertheless influences regulators and is [...]
Euro 2012 helps Paddy Power to a first-half win August 29, 2012 PADDY Power chief executive Patrick Kennedy said yesterday that a successful Euro 2012 campaign and its rapid expansion into online gaming had helped drive profits up by 21 per cent to €68.7m (£54.3m) in the first half of the year. The Irish bookmaker said despite taking a “bit of a drubbing” from a string of [...]
Domino’s Pizza tries to tempt Swiss in fresh expansion drive August 29, 2012 DOMINO’S PIZZA is to step up its expansion across Europe after buying the rights to operate stores in Switzerland, Lichtenstein and Luxembourg. The pizza chain, which has over 700 stores in Britain, Ireland and Germany, yesterday announced it will pay Global Brands £4.7m for Domino’s Switzerland, which already operates 12 outlets in the country. The [...]
Medal-winning performance at Chime as Olympics boost results August 29, 2012 THE OLYMPICS helped push pre-tax profit up almost 50 per cent in the first half of the year at Chime Communications. The marketing and advertising group yesterday reported 47 per cent growth year-on-year in interim pre-tax profit to £10.9m, boosted by its contracts with almost a third of the 60 top sponsors of the Olympic [...]
