Ireland shows austerity does work September 20, 2011 IRELAND has experienced more austerity than most during its troubled history. Its 2011 budget was no potato famine, but tough nonetheless. Social welfare payments were cut by an average of four per cent – the first cuts since 1924 – and public sector pay was slashed by between five and ten per cent. Last month, [...]
RESTAURANT KING CLAIMS RAMSAY BID IS A GAMBLE September 20, 2011 THE jury is out as to whether Gordon Ramsay’s Bread Street Kitchen – the One New Change venture dubbed “the acceptable face of high street food” – will prove a hit. “Whatever anyone says about Gordon, he knows what people want and he is incredibly resilient,” said restaurant expert Simon Davis, speaking at last night’s [...]
Lufthansa warning hits shares at IAG September 20, 2011 SHARES in British Airways parent IAG fell 2.9 per cent yesterday after rival Lufthansa issued a profit warning. Germany’s Lufthansa, which is looking to sell its British-based BMI airline, said a weaker than expected August had dented operating profits, which are no longer expected to beat last year’s figure of €876m (£762m). The firm also [...]
UK small caps get boost from new takeover rules September 20, 2011 SEVERAL UK small-cap companies saw their shares boosted yesterday, a day after new takeover rules forced potential targets to tell the market the names of their prospective buyers. Arena Leisure, which had a market capitalisation of around £132m at yesterday’s close, saw its shares rise by 17 per cent during trading after it said it [...]
Revenues fall at Jefferies after trade backfires September 20, 2011 INVESTMENT bank Jefferies Group said yesterday its quarterly revenue dipped two per cent, hurt by a tough trading environment, but the mid-sized player raised its buyback programme to 20m shares. Revenue at Jefferies fell to $509.2m (£323.6m), hurt by a loss of $74m from trades the bank made on its own account. For the quarter [...]
Gulf Keystone raises $200m in rights issue September 20, 2011 KURDISTAN-FOCUSED explorer Gulf Keystone said it raised $200m (£127m) in a placing to help accelerate the development of the massive oil discoveries it has made in the semi-autonomous region of Iraq. The company said yesterday it issued 91m new shares in an oversubscribed placing at a price of 140p, representing a 14 per cent discount to [...]
Success for Max at Kazakh well September 20, 2011 BRITISH oil explorer Max Petroleum said it was encouraged by drilling results at a well in Kazakhstan, indicating 36 metres of potential net oil pay. Oil pay or net pay refers to the zone of a reservoir that contains economically producible oil. The Kazakhstan-focused company also said it recorded significant shows of oil and gas [...]
Sany Heavy to delay retail IPO September 20, 2011 CHINA’S Sany Heavy Industry has delayed the retail portion of its planned $3.3bn (£2.09bn) Hong Kong share offering, saying it needs more time to meet investors before pricing. Any delay during a share-sale process is usually indicative of lack of interest in the deal, but it was unclear whether Sany Heavy, China’s largest construction machinery [...]
Glasenberg buys more shares September 20, 2011 Glencore chief Ivan Glasenberg has bought another 1.5m shares in the commodities trader at 437.67p per share, adding to the £13.5m he bought on Monday and the £10m he spent last week. Glasenberg plans to use his dividend income to buy up shares, with yesterday’s £6.56m investment topping up his total spend to around £30m [...]
Rio Tinto says demand is on track September 20, 2011 Miner Rio Tinto said demand has held up in recent weeks despite signs of market unease. “We are seeing softer markets than we would have, even a few months ago. Customers are more cautious, but demand is not unwinding as some would fear,” chief Tom Albanese said.
