African Barrick eyes cost cuts July 30, 2013 MINER African Barrick Gold said yesterday that it is targeting $185m (£121m) in cost cuts, after posting half-year losses of $701m due to a $727m impairment charge. The FTSE 250-listed firm was forced to take the charge due to the plummeting price of gold and a review of its lower grade mines. African Barrick has [...]
EDF pulls out of US nuclear July 30, 2013 FRENCH utility EDF, the world’s biggest operator of nuclear plants, is pulling out of nuclear energy in the United States, bowing to the realities of a market that has been transformed by cheap shale gas. Several nuclear reactors in the US have been closed or are being shuttered as utilities baulk at the big investments [...]
Petra Diamonds output rises 21pc July 30, 2013 Petra Diamonds yesterday said full-year diamond production rose 21 per cent to 2.67m carats, beating company guidance of 2.65m carats and the majority of analysts’ estimates. The miner’s revenue rose to $403m, up 27 per cent from $317m in 2012. “This is another solid result for Petra, as the company continues to deliver further significant [...]
Sainsbury’s loses Tesco ad fight July 30, 2013 The Advertising Standards Authority is today expected to dismiss a challenge to Tesco’s price promise campaign, which was brought by rival Sainsbury’s. As the supermarkets jostle for market share among cost-conscious customers, Sainsbury’s led a group complaining that Tesco’s price-matching scheme had unfairly compared the former’s Fairtrade products with the latter’s Everyday Value range.
Chrysler warning hits Fiat July 30, 2013 Fiat’s US unit Chrysler, which generates most of the group’s net profit, lowered its outlook yesterday as it struggled to fill orders due to parts shortages, sending the Italian carmaker’s shares down four per cent. In recent quarters, Chrysler’s booming US sales have compensated for Fiat’s losses in Europe. Fiat-Chrysler boss Sergio Marchionne said Chrysler [...]
City Moves for 31 July 2013 | Who’s switching jobs July 30, 2013 Aviva Investors The asset management business has announced the appointment of Abigail Herron as head of engagement in its global responsible investment team. She joins from Co-operative Asset Management, where she headed its corporate governance function. Baker Tilly Alex Birch has been appointed associate director in the advisory firm’s restructuring and recovery team. Birch has [...]
Best of the Brokers for 31 July 2013 July 30, 2013 JD WETHERSPOON Deutsche Bank has maintained its “hold” rating on the value pub chain but raised its target price from 520p to 660p after better than expected final-quarter figures. The analyst notes improved sales with cautious optimism, although performance has been volatile, with 14 forecast changes in three years. GEM DIAMONDS Charles Stanley has reiterated [...]
London Report: FTSE shrugs off Barclays rights issue to tick up July 30, 2013 UPBEAT earnings from leading companies nudged Britain’s benchmark equity index higher yesterday, enabling the market to offset a slump in Barclays after the bank announced plans for a $9bn capital hike. The blue-chip FTSE 100 index closed up 0.2 per cent, or 10.70 points, at 6,570.95. Engineer GKN topped the leaderboard with a 6.5 per [...]
New York Report: Wall Street flat after shares in potash plunge July 30, 2013 THE DOW and the S&P 500 finished nearly flat yesterday, helped by gains in technology shares and Pfizer, while potash shares were the day’s big losers. The tech sector index rose 0.7 per cent, leading the S&P 500’s advance. Shares of Facebook jumped 6.2 per cent to $37.62, within striking distance of their $38 IPO [...]
Hamstringing banks with higher capital requirements will not stop the next crisis July 30, 2013 GREAT fallacies periodically grip the British establishment and cause enormous harm to the economy. The last big one was the obsession with joining the European Exchange Rate Mechanism at the end of the 1980s. Now we have the regulative fallacy. The great and the good are in its grip. They identified banks and excessive debt [...]
