Coal of Africa gets $100m boost October 1, 2012 Shares in Coal of Africa soared 18 per cent yesterday after it announced a Chinese group was to inject $100m (£62m) into the coal miner, after full-year losses tripled. Coal producer Haohua Energy International, a subsidiary of Beijing Haohua Energy Resource, is to buy $100m in stock at 25p a share. The mining company said [...]
Arcelor to close French furnaces October 1, 2012 ArcelorMittal has told unions it will permanently close two mothballed furnaces in northeastern France, enraging workers who blocked access to the steel plant and management offices at the site yesterday. In a blunt response to the Socialist government’s demand last week to restart or sell the furnaces, ArcelorMittal said it would give the state a [...]
Gifford named as the new lord of the Mansion October 1, 2012 IT was all change in the City yesterday as Alderman Roger Gifford was elected as the 685th Lord Mayor of the City of London. Gifford got his shout out, quite literally, as tradition dictates eligible Sheriffs are paraded in front of the liverymen at the Guildhall before being voted in by the archaic tradition of [...]
Events group ITE hit by currency woes but forecasts leap in sales October 1, 2012 EVENTS group ITE yesterday said foreign exchange rates had hit its bottom line this year, although the firm’s sales are due to be in line with market expectations. The group, which organises exhibitions and conferences in developing markets and is reliant on Europe and Russia, said the pound’s strength against the euro and ruble had [...]
Has Ite group’s update changed your view of the company? October 1, 2012 MALCOLM MORGAN | PEEL HUNT Like-for-like growth of 10 per cent is encouraging, but the guidance on budgeted exchange rates is less so and we will downgrade our annual profit forecast by five per cent. Underlying growth remains encouraging and hence we retain our “buy” recommendation and 274p target price. STEVE LIECHTI | INVESTEC The [...]
Who’s switching jobs October 1, 2012 Barclays Jim Murphy has been appointed director of financial institutions trade in Barclays’s trade and working capital team. He joins from HSBC, where he was a director in its project and export finance team. Murphy has also worked at Deutsche Bank. BlackRock James Wilkinson has been appointed European chief investment officer for BlackRock’s global real [...]
Best of the Brokers October 1, 2012 CAPITAL & COUNTIES Seymour-Pierce has downgraded the developer to “add” from “buy”, maintaining its 233p target. The broker said a recent equity sale provided cash to expand. ELECTRO-COMPONENTS Panmure Gordon cut its recommendation to “sell” from “hold”. Analyst Andy Brown pointed to cut forecasts and a lower seven per cent dividend yield. SINCLAIR IS PHARMA [...]
FTSE rebounds after Xstrata board gives thumbs up to Glencore bid October 1, 2012 BRITAIN’S FTSE 100 share index rebounded from three-week lows yesterday, bolstered by strong US manufacturing data and prospects of more takeover activity after Xstrata’s board gave long-awaited backing to a bid from Glencore. Adding to the relatively upbeat investor mood on the first day of the new quarter, Spanish bank stress tests late on Friday [...]
Manufacturing data gives Wall Street a boost October 1, 2012 WALL Street started a new quarter with a modest rally yesterday, lifted by a surprising expansion in US manufacturing in September. After rising more than one per cent by midday, the major US stock indexes came off their highs, with the Nasdaq the hardest-hit. Market participants said Wall Street has shown signs of fatigue as [...]
Ed Miliband’s populist policies will make the UK’s bad position worse October 1, 2012 OUR political climate currently mirrors our economic situation – bleak and shockingly uninspiring. At a recent breakfast for business leaders in London, a veteran newspaper journalist spoke of the challenge faced across the West as one of “unpopular governments and unconvincing oppositions”. The polls in Britain bear this out. A ComRes poll for the Independent [...]
