FTSE 100 falters as markets wait-and-see July 24, 2012 Britain’s top shares index was a touch lower on Tuesday after sharp falls in the previous session with volumes low. At midday British time, the FTSE 100 was down 0.1 per cent at 5,526.80 points, having slumped 2.1 per cent on Monday. Investors have been concerned about the ongoing Eurozone crisis, which is now clearly [...]
Barclays picks lawyer to head review July 24, 2012 Barclays has picked veteran lawyer Anthony Salz to lead a review of its culture and practices following the Libor scandal that rocked the bank, forcing its chairman and chief executive to quit. The review could include a change to the bank’s bonus structure and is expected to complete before May 2013. The scandal has shown [...]
Anglo in Mozambican metallurgical buy July 24, 2012 Anglo American is to buy a majority stake in the Revuboe metallurgical coal project in Mozambique for A$540m (£357m) from Australia’s Talbot Group, boosting its presence in a key region for the steelmaking commodity. Anglo said on Tuesday it would buy a 58.9 per cent stake from the group founded by the late mining tycoon [...]
Ofcom unveils 4G auction July 24, 2012 Telecoms regulator Ofcom has said that the auction of spectrum for 4G services will get under way by the end of the year, laying the path for the next-generation mobile services to be rolled out in 2013. The plans should see 4G services, which offer high-speed data speeds for mobile internet, reach at least 98 [...]
Asia shares up after China PMI July 24, 2012 Asian shares inched higher on Tuesday, helped by improving Chinese manufacturing data, but the euro remained under pressure as surging Spanish borrowing costs stoked fears that the Eurozone’s fourth-largest economy will be forced to seek a bailout. The HSBC flash China manufacturing purchasing managers index rose to a five-month high in July, driven up by [...]
Provident Financial boosted by Vanquis growth July 24, 2012 British sub-prime lender Provident Financial reported a 17 per cent rise in first half profit, benefiting from strong growth at Vanquis Bank, its online and internet division, which gives credit cards to those turned down by mainstream banks. The company, whose roots date back to 1880, on Tuesday reported a pretax profit of £72.9m for [...]
Rosneft and BP in talks over TNK-BP stake July 24, 2012 Russian state oil company Rosneft said on Tuesday that it had expressed its interest in buying BP’s stake in Anglo-Russian oil firm TNK-BP and would enter talks with the British corporate. “The parties agreed to commence negotiations on this matter and signed a non-disclosure agreement,” Rosneft said in a statement. BP announced on 1 June [...]
Carpetright sales boosted by bed business July 24, 2012 Carpetright, Britain’s biggest flooring retailer, said quarterly underlying UK sales growth picked-up a touch, helped by the development of its bed business, an extended laminate range and store refurbishment. The firm said on Tuesday sales at British stores open over a year rose 1.7 per cent in the 12 weeks to 21 July. That compared [...]
Man Group cuts $100 million costs as assets tumble July 24, 2012 Hedge fund manager Man Group unveiled another round of cost cuts aimed at propping up its weakened revenues on Tuesday, as its fight to staunch rising client outflows and falling assets continued. The fund firm, whose share price has slumped by more than three-quarters since the start of 2011, announced plans to make another $100m [...]
EU’s Juncker reaffirms commitment to Eurozone July 24, 2012 Eurogroup head Jean-Claude Juncker reiterated a “strong commitment” to the euro zone as a whole on Tuesday after Moody’s changed its outlook for Germany, the Netherlands and Luxembourg to negative from stable. “We take note of the rating decision of Moody’s which confirms the very strong rating enjoyed by a number of euro area Member [...]
