Thailand’s PTT closes in on explorer Cove July 26, 2012 Thai oil firm PTT Exploration & Production moved a step closer to finalising its $1.9bn (£1.2bn) takeover of Cove Energy after securing acceptances for its offer from 72 per cent of shareholders in the Mozambique-focused gas firm. PTT, which in May set a minimum level for acceptances of 90 per cent, said it would extend [...]
Shares rebound on hopes for US stimulus July 26, 2012 Asian shares rose on Thursday on bargain hunting as hopes grew for more US stimulus to support growth and new European measures to contain the Eurozone’s debt woes, but sentiment remained frail. Worries about the Euro crisis eased somewhat on comments from European Central Bank (ECB) Governing Council member Ewald Nowotny who said there are [...]
Rolls-Royce profit up on fuel-efficient jet demand July 26, 2012 Rolls-Royce posted a better-than-expected 7 per cent rise in first-half profit, driven by airlines’ need to renew ageing fleets with more fuel-efficient planes. Rolls, the world’s second-largest maker of aircraft engines behind General Electric, on Thursday reported an underlying pretax profit of £637m for the six months to the end of June on revenues 5 [...]
Shell results kick off weak quarter for oil July 26, 2012 Weaker prices for oil worldwide and for gas in North America took their toll on Royal Dutch Shell profits in the second quarter. Netherlands based Shell, the second largest of the western world oil majors behind Exxon Mobil which reports results later on Thursday, said earnings in the period fell to around $6bn (£3.8bn) from [...]
OSBORNE URGED TO ACT AS DIP DEEPENS July 25, 2012 BUSINESS leaders, economists and politicians demanded a new economic strategy from the government yesterday, claiming its approach had been shown up as a failure after GDP nose-dived in the second quarter. In yet another blow to beleaguered chancellor George Osborne, the Office for National Statistics released preliminary data that showed GDP down 0.7 per cent, [...]
US Treasury secretary: Libor fiasco is fault of the British July 25, 2012 AMERICAN authorities did all they could to warn British regulators over flaws in the Libor system, as far back as 2008, the defiant US Treasury secretary Timothy Geithner told politicians in Washington DC yesterday. Geithner faced a grilling in front of the House financial services committee, yet insisted that US regulators warned the Bank of [...]
Carnwath leaves Barclays as Del Missier gets £8.8m July 25, 2012 EMBATTLED bank Barclays suffered another significant loss yesterday as a third board member resigned in the wake of mounting turmoil following the devastating Libor scandal. Non-executive director Alison Carnwath left the bank after almost two years on the board citing time pressures, as she holds numerous other directorships across the City. Although she has not [...]
It is time for some genuine radicalism from George Osborne July 25, 2012 IT was typically cunning of Ed Balls, the shadow chancellor, to call for a grand coalition on the economy yesterday. Cunning – but utterly wrong. George Osborne has failed lamentably – but that doesn’t mean Ed Balls is right, or that we need to ditch political debate in return for a disastrous neo-Keynesian consensus. The [...]
Architect of Citi calls for banks to be broken up July 25, 2012 THE MAN who turned Citigroup into a banking megalith said yesterday he now thinks such large institutions should be broken up in order to regain the public’s trust. Sandy Weill, who steered Citicorp into an $70bn merger with Travelers in 1998, told CNBC: “I think what we should probably do is go and split up [...]
Mexico fines HSBC $27.5m July 25, 2012 MEXICAN regulators yesterday fined HSBC $27.5m (£17.8m) for poor money laundering controls, following allegations the bank dealt with rogue nations and drug gangs. The country’s National Banking and Securities Commission highlighted 1,729 occasions where there was late reporting of suspicious transactions at the firm. The US Department of Justice is conducting its own investigation into HSBC, with analysts [...]
