UK guarantees £230m loan for Ineos’ Grangemouth oil refinery July 17, 2014 The UK government yesterday said it would guarantee a £230m loan for Grangemouth oil refinery in Scotland, reaffirming its support for the region ahead of September’s referendum. The Treasury said the loan – which would be used to build the largest ethane storage tank in Europe – would protect thousands of jobs in [...]
Energy price freeze fails to halt 110k from quitting SSE July 17, 2014 ENERGY giant SSE yesterday revealed that it lost 110,000 customers in the last quarter, despite freezing its prices. The FTSE 100-quoted firm, which in March pledged to freeze its tariffs until 2016, blamed the drop to 8.99m customers on “very competitive market conditions”. It also said that average electricity consumption had fallen by around seven [...]
GKP founder leaves board July 17, 2014 GULF Keystone Petroleum’s chief executive and founder Todd Kozel has said he will step down from the board, heading off a rumoured shareholder revolt at the oil explorer’s annual meeting yesterday. The firm said that Kozel would stay on as a consultant to maintain its relationship with the Kurdistan autonomy’s government. Non-executive director Mark Hanson [...]
96 per cent of UK firms worry about affording energy bills July 16, 2014 OVER half of UK businesses think the country’s energy security is worse than it was five years ago and 96 per cent are concerned about how to afford their gas and electricity bills, according to a new survey from the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) today. In a poll of more than 550 business leaders, [...]
Severn Trent expects to ramp up dividend as operating costs rise July 16, 2014 Severn Trent yesterday said that it was trading in line with expectations and planned to raise its dividend by 5.6 per cent this year, although its operating costs were set to rise due to inflation, taxes and higher energy spending. Despite speculation that there would be fierce shareholder opposition at yesterday’s annual general meeting – [...]
Rio Tinto raises iron ore output July 16, 2014 SHARES in mining giant Rio Tinto jumped three per cent yesterday, after the firm showed that its plan to aggressively ramp up iron ore output was well underway. The FTSE 100 firm said iron ore production in the second quarter rose 11 per cent year-on-year to 73.1m tonnes.
Takeover talk boosts Meggitt July 16, 2014 ENGINEERING and aerospace firm Meggitt was yesterday the biggest climber on the FTSE 100, amid rumours of a potential takeover bid from United Technologies. The company’s shares soared over eight per cent in early trading and closed 9.6 per cent higher at 537p, after the Daily Mail wrote that the US conglomerate may be preparing [...]
Energy industry fears cutback on green subsidies after cabinet reshuffle July 16, 2014 Two key supporters of chancellor George Osborne were yesterday named as ministers in the Department of Energy and Climate Change (Decc) as part of the government’s reshuffle, prompting concerns of a squeeze on renewables investment. Matthew Hancock replaces Michael Fallon as business and energy minister and Amber Rudd replaces energy minister Greg Barker, although she [...]
Banco Espirito Santo on red alert as banking crisis hits new depths July 16, 2014 Espirito Santo Financial Group’s (ESFG) debt crisis deepened yesterday, raising questions over whether Rioforte, one of its companies, would be able to repay over $1bn (£580m) in debt to Portugal Telecom. The share price of Banco Espirito Santo (BES), Portugal’s top lender backed by ESFG, closed at just €0.38 (£0.30), down around 70 [...]
Capita share price up as outsourcing firm picked for new prisoner tagging contract July 16, 2014 Outsourcing firm Capita will manage a six-year prisoner tagging contract previously held by G4S and Serco, the Ministry of Justice confirmed yesterday. The FTSE 100-listed company has been managing the service on an interim basis since April, after G4S and Serco were found to have overcharged the government. The new contract is worth £228.8m. Three [...]
