City Views | Do you think it is expensive to live in London? February 4, 2013 TOBY WILLIAMS JP MORGAN Food kills me. Things like Pret are totally over-rated – £3.50 for a sandwich is extortionate and you’re lucky to get a proper meal for £10. If I was to eat out every day, I think I’d easily spend £40-£60 a week. JEMIMA HARRIS CLARKSONS It’s difficult for young people who [...]
Russian stock exchange priced February 4, 2013 MOSCOW’S stock exchange will be valued at up to $4.6bn in its planned stock market flotation, which will raise around $500m for the company and selling shareholders, according to a price range published yesterday. The Moscow Exchange, Russia’s main venue for trading in stocks, bonds, currencies and derivatives, is to float on its own platform [...]
Axe tax and lift growth, airlines urge Osborne February 4, 2013 SCRAPPING air passenger duty (APD) would end up benefiting the public purse, according to research conducted by PwC and commissioned by airlines. If the government ended the controversial levy on air travellers entering or leaving the UK, the subsequent boost to businesses could lift GDP by 0.46 per cent this year, the study by PwC [...]
US computer giant Dell gets closer to $24bn buyout deal February 4, 2013 DELL was last night moving closer to a near $24bn (£15.2bn) buyout deal, with price negotiations narrowing to $13.50 to $13.75 a share in what would be the biggest leveraged buyout since the financial crisis. Talks between Dell, the world’s third biggest computer maker, and a consortium led by its founder and chief executive, Michael [...]
Etihad triples its net profits February 4, 2013 ETIHAD Airways yesterday said its net profit tripled in 2012 as its fast-expanding global network attracted more passengers. Etihad – which has stakes in Air Berlin and Virgin Australia and is close to taking a stake in India’s Jet Airways – earned a net profit of $42m (£26.6m) in 2012, compared with $14m in the [...]
Choppy waters for cruise firm February 4, 2013 ROYAL Caribbean Cruises, the world’s second-largest cruise operator, yesterday said that strong US demand and a jump in bookings so far this year would help mitigate lingering weakness in Europe in 2013. The firm reported a fourth-quarter net loss of $392.8m (£249m), on revenue of $1.81bn, compared with a profit of $36.6m on revenue of [...]
Anglo warns of $225m loss on back of strikes February 4, 2013 MINER Anglo American will take a $225m (£143m) hit in this year’s results for its interest in its platinum operations, following violent strikes last summer. Anglo American, which is due to report its annual results next week, said it will take the $225m as an underlying loss in respect of majority-owned subsidiary Anglo American Platinum. [...]
Hard choices ahead as platinum prices fail to brighten February 4, 2013 THE strike that hit Lonmin’s Marikana platinum mine in South Africa last summer is the one that sticks most tragically in the memory, thanks to the appalling violence which broke out, ending with 34 strikers dead at the hands of the police on a single day – the bloodiest security incident in the troubled nation [...]
Bumi director urges Rothschild to return his 16m bonus shares February 4, 2013 WITH just over two weeks to go before Bumi’s boardroom battle on 21 February, senior independent non-executive director Julian Horn-Smith has called on co-founder Nat Rothschild to give up more than 16m bonus shares. Rothschild was granted the shares when his acquisition vehicle Vallar bought Bumi assets in 2011. “It is now clear that the [...]
Randgold tops FTSE 100 risers on record profit February 4, 2013 GOLD miner Randgold Resources yesterday posted record production and profits for last year, despite a tough time at some of its African operations. The FTSE 100 miner logged profits of $511m (£325m) over the year, up 16 per cent. Production was up 14 per cent, at 794,844 ounces of gold. Quarter on quarter, profit in [...]