Shell shareholders set for cash bonzanza after oil major scraps scrips May 22, 2014 Royal Dutch Shell announced this morning that it is cancelling its scrip dividend programme, after tax issues in the Netherlands meant that costs started racking up for the Anglo-Dutch oil major. The FTSE 100-listed firm introduced the programme in late 2010, as a means of conserving cash, but analysts estimate it cost the company between [...]
SSE is losing customers and its price freeze won’t help May 21, 2014 SSE today announced a 9.6 per cent rise in full-year profit to £1.55bn, which was poorly received by consumer groups. While profits for its supply arm fell 28.6 per cent, critics argued that the £1.55bn figure jarred with the 8.2 per cent price hike on customers’ bills last year. SSE is losing customers. Its number [...]
Barclays upbeat on brent crude as geopolitical risk keeps prices buoyant May 20, 2014 The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) gave a cheerful outlook on the oil market in its latest monthly report, and now Barclays is getting in on the act. Research today from the FTSE 100 bank said that it expects the brent oil price to stay above $105 (£62.40) per barrel on average this year [...]
Lonmin: The death toll rises with no resolution in sight May 19, 2014 Lonmin held a hasty media call this afternoon to talk about the 17-week strike and subsequent violence currently taking place in South Africa, which gave little reassurance that the situation will be resolved soon. The platinum miner, along with its two larger peers, Amplats and Implats, have collectively lost 18.5bn rand (£1.1bn) in revenue, as [...]
Ovo Energy’s price hike shows hedging isn’t always bad for the customer May 15, 2014 Independent energy supplier Ovo Energy announced today that it would be increasing its prices by three per cent for new and renewing customers, bringing the average annual dual fuel bill up to £1,028. It blamed the price hike on an “upward move in wholesale commodity costs in April”, but bearing in mind SSE’s recent price [...]
MPs quiz Ofgem boss on energy competition and prices May 13, 2014 Ofgem’s chief executive Dermot Nolan faced a grilling from a committee of MPs earlier today, who questioned the timing of – and motivation behind – the regulator’s decision to refer competition in the retail energy market to the Competition and Markets Authority in March. Nolan – who joked that he was “a masochist” for taking [...]
JP Morgan gives miners much-needed upgrade May 12, 2014 Miners, usually the underdogs of the stock market these days, got a boost this morning from a JP Morgan note that upgraded its recommendation on the mining sector to overweight. The likes of Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton and Anglo American topped the FTSE 100, after the bank said that there are “signs of a rebound [...]
Randgold Resources chief calls for industry overhaul to focus on profits May 8, 2014 The chief executive of FTSE 100-listed mining giant Randgold Resources today said the industry is operating in an unsustainable way and called for a greater emphasis on profits. “We should all practice being real businessmen and focus on profits,” Mark Bristow told reporters. “This industry cannot continue the way businesses are structured and operated.” He [...]
How Europe can cope without the Ukraine gas pipeline this winter May 7, 2014 Amid growing fears that Ukraine is heading towards a civil war, concerns about the security of gas supplies have risen too. Russia supplies around 25 per cent of Europe’s gas, with around 40 per cent of this coming through Ukrainian pipelines. With Russia hiking the prices Ukraine pays for gas – and of course the [...]
Will Balfour Beatty’s UK construction head replace McNaughton as CEO? May 6, 2014 Amid the doom and gloom of infrastructure firm Balfour Beatty’s third profit warning in 18 months, chief executive Andrew McNaughton stepped down “with immediate effect” today. It is understood that McNaughton was pushed out, rather than bowed out, as the FTSE 250 firm looks to turn around its flailing balance sheet. Shares plunged over 17 [...]
