Fresh takeover bid for Billabong December 19, 2012 A fresh $555m (£341.6m) offer for Billabong found little favour with investors yesterday as the stock dived 13 per cent on concern the Australian surfwear firm’s latest profit warning might lead the suitor to lower or even withdraw the bid. Billabong said a consortium led by board director Paul Naude and New York-based private equity [...]
BP sells stake in China gas field December 19, 2012 Oil giant BP yesterday announced that it is to sell an interest in a Chinese gas field in a $308m (£189m) cash deal. The sale of its 34.3 per cent interest in Yacheng, in the South China Sea, to Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Exploration Company is part of BP’s ongoing divestment programme. The sale of Yacheng [...]
Gulfsands buys into Morocco December 19, 2012 Junior stock market-listed Gulfsands Petroleum has acquired a Moroccan oil explorer for around $30m (£18m). Cabre Maroc, acquired from Caitness Petroleum Limited, operates several “highly prospective” oil and gas licences in North Morocco. Completion of Gulfsands Petroleum’s acquisition is due to complete in January, and development and exploration activity will start next year. RBC Capital [...]
Who’s switching jobs December 19, 2012 Kleinwort Benson Nick Bennett has been appointed head of private wealth management in the private bank’s Guernsey office. He joins from Schroders Private Banking, where he was most recently head of private banking in the Channel Islands. Bennett has also held roles at Lloyds TSB. Development Securities The property investment firm has appointed Marcus Shepherd [...]
Best of the Brokers December 19, 2012 LADBROKES Panmure Gordon has cut the bookmaker from “buy” to “hold” on valuation grounds. The broker keeps its target price at 195p, and believes that much of the firm’s turnaround potential has been priced in. INFORMA Westhouse cut its rating for the publisher from “buy” to “neutral” following a 15 per cent rise in the [...]
Fiscal cliff fight dampens gains on Wall Street December 19, 2012 US stocks sold off late in the day to close at session lows yesterday as talks to avert a year-end fiscal crisis turned sour, even as investors still expect a deal. The S&P 500 slipped after a two-day rally that took the benchmark index to its highest close in two months. Defensive-oriented shares led the [...]
US budget hope and Christmas cheer push FTSE close to 6,000 December 19, 2012 BRITAIN’S blue-chip share index scaled fresh nine-month highs yesterday on growing expectations of a US budget deal, and nearing tough technical resistance levels en-route to the 6,000 mark. Although the US political ping-pong continued, the main parties looked to be closing in on an agreement to avoid the “fiscal cliff” of tax hikes and spending [...]
Russian business stereotypes need to be consigned to the distant past December 19, 2012 BRITISH statesman Lord Curzon once famously said that every Englishman enters Russia a Russophobe, and leaves it a Russophile. Though time has passed since the Great Game of Rudyard Kipling, the saying is still relevant. According to a recent Economic Intelligence Unit survey of 200 international senior executives, less than 15 per cent would view [...]
Recent scandals are no excuse to break up universal banking in Britain December 19, 2012 BREAK up the banks!” goes up the rallying cry. It’s not coming from the mob, however, but from various pockets across Parliament. For those wanting to appear tough on banks, it has become almost obligatory: you’ll only be taken seriously if you push for the nuclear option. With banks as unpopular as they are, this [...]
The best Christmas gift can’t be found on the high street December 19, 2012 CHRISTMAS is a time of consumption and, this year, despite some conflicting statistics, central London seems heaving. The New West End company estimated that the first weekend of December saw 16 per cent more shoppers than in 2011, many from abroad. Retail sales in December are typically twice those of other months and, for many [...]
