New blow for BP as Russian office raided August 31, 2011 BAILIFFS and armed special forces stormed BP’s Moscow’s offices yesterday, just a day after the Kremlin rubbed salt into the oil giant’s wounds by signing a coveted Arctic exploration deal with US rival ExxonMobil. BP was ordered to let bailiffs search through all documents by a court in Siberia, where Andrei Prokhorov, a minority shareholder [...]
Shell poised to sign $800m deal for Ukrainian shale gas August 31, 2011 ROYAL DUTCH Shell, the world’s largest oil producer, is poised to sign an $800m (£492m) deal to explore and develop shale gas fields in the Ukraine, a presidential official told journalists yesterday. President Viktor Yanukovich’s chief of staff said Shell and Naftogaz, the Ukrainian state-run gas and oil company, intend to sign a deal today [...]
Higher taxes hurt profit at JKX Oil as the firm forgoes dividend August 31, 2011 SHARES in FTSE 250-listed JKX Oil and Gas fell more than four per cent yesterday after the energy group posted a drop in first-half operating profit, weighed down mainly by higher taxes in Ukraine. Pre-tax profits at the eastern Europe-focused oil group fell 32 per cent to $32.7m (£20.1m) for the six months to 30 [...]
Tesco to quit Japan after eight years August 31, 2011 TESCO yesterday announced that it would quit Japan after a bruising eight years in which it failed to gain a profitable foothold in the market. Japan is known as a difficult market to crack for western companies, especially in the notoriously tough grocery sector. Tesco has 129 stores, mainly in the Tokyo area, having started [...]
Carrefour issues profit alert August 31, 2011 CARREFOUR has warned its 2011 profits will slump 15 per cent as it cuts prices in a bid to reverse falling market share and tackle an increasingly tough economic environment. The French retailer said it was scaling back its Carrefour Planet hypermarket revamp as it continued to face headwinds in Greece and Italy. It also [...]
Earnings at Hermes flying as luxury market booms August 31, 2011 HERMES unveiled record profit margins yesterday as the sale of luxury items continued to weather the overall consumer downturn. The company, best known for its bags and scarves, saw a 49 per cent jump in half-year profits to €290.9m (£257.4m). Sales were up by 22 per cent at €1.31bn, with jewellery and watches performing particularly [...]
WH Smith plans to buy back £50m more shares August 31, 2011 WH Smith is to double its share buyback scheme by mopping up another £50m of stock, the retailer said yesterday. In October the group announced a share repurchase programme for the 12 months to 31 August of £50m, which was then extended by a further £5m. The group will now buy back another £50m for [...]
HOLLYWOOD A-LISTERS HIRED BY M&S August 31, 2011 MARKS & Spencer has unveiled a new marketing campaign starring Hollywood A-listers Rosie Huntington-Whiteley and Ryan Reynolds. Transformers star Huntington-Whiteley and romcom actor Reynolds will be used to plug the firm’s Autograph collection. The move by boss Marc Bolland is aimed at widening the retailer’s international appeal.
Asian exit sends message to ailing US arm August 31, 2011 IF a butterfly flaps its wings in China, it changes the weather in New York. And if Tesco exits Japan, it sends a chill wind through its US business. The decision to pull out of Japan was a no-brainer. It had a sub-scale operation of just 140 stores, a work-force of 4,367, and annual sales [...]
Buchan rejects payout as he exits Southern Cross August 31, 2011 JAMIE Buchan, the chief executive brought in to turn around care home operator Southern Cross, refused to accept a final payout of more than £400,000 as he left the firm yesterday. Buchan declined a £430,000 golden handshake and a £64,000 pension payment after cutting his basic salary by 20 per cent in February. His austerity [...]
