Gem Diamonds share price sparkles as earnings push stock to two-year high August 20, 2014 Shares in Gem Diamonds soared yesterday to their highest level in two years after the mining company announced a huge increase in first-half earnings. The diamond mining company, which has major operations in Botswana and Lesotho, saw underlying earnings rise 87 per cent to $62.2m (£37.4m). Shares in the firm rose 6.29 per cent yesterday, [...]
Balfour Beatty share price jumps as Carillion raises merger bid August 19, 2014 Carillion, the construction services group, yesterday sweetened its takeover offer for Balfour Beatty in the hope it would break through the wall of resistance from its rival and convince an intransigent chairman and his team of advisers to return to the negotiating table. The raised bid, which values Balfour Beatty at £2.1bn, comes as the [...]
Huge demerger as BHP Billiton spins off assets to create new mining company August 19, 2014 Global mining giant BHP Billiton yesterday confirmed it was spinning off a range of assets across five countries to create a new mining company. The major demerger will see the as-yet-unnamed NewCo take on aluminium, coal, manganese, nickel and silver assets, and will have current BHP Billiton chief financial officer Graham Kerr as its [...]
Balfour Beatty looks to sell US arm Parsons Brinckerhoff in latest Carillion merger battle twist August 18, 2014 The long battle over a possible £3bn mega-merger between Carillion and Balfour Beatty took another turn last night, as Balfour was believed to be in advanced negotiations to sell its US business Parsons Brinckerhoff (PB) to a Canadian bidder, adding to the pressure facing Carillion as it has been considering its options for another offer [...]
Ineos moves into UK shale gas exploration as it joins firms seeking to frack August 18, 2014 Ineos has joined the dash to frack with the acquisition of a 51 per cent share of the Petroleum Exploration and Development Licence (PEDL), as the company looks to take part in the nascent shale gas industry in the UK. The petrochemical company, the fourth largest in the world, announced its move into shale gas [...]
Ineos acquires license to join fracking drive August 18, 2014 INEOS has joined the dash to frack with the acquisition of a 51 per cent share of the Petroleum Exploration and Development Licence (PEDL), as the company looks to take part in the nascent shale gas industry being promoted in the UK. The petrochemical company, which is the fourth largest in the world, announced its [...]
Rio Tinto looks to review stake in closed mine August 18, 2014 A MINE in Papua New Guinea owned by Rio Tinto that has been closed for a quarter of a century following a violent uprising in the country is under review, as the massive mining company considers its options for the site with the possibility of a sale. The review into Bougainville Copper Limited (BCL), the [...]
Mercedes-Benz found guilty of price fixing by Chinese regulator August 18, 2014 Mercedes-Benz has taken a hit to its activities in China after anti-monopoly authorities in the country judged the luxury car maker to be guilty of overcharging Chinese consumers for spare parts. The Jiangsu province price bureau found evidence of anti-competitive practices after raiding Mercedes-Benz dealerships in the eastern coastal province and an office in neighbouring [...]
Apache makes major oil find August 18, 2014 A MAJOR find of up to 300m barrels of oil off the coast of Australia was announced yesterday by US based oil company Apache Corporation, representing potentially one of the biggest oil discoveries there in around 30 years. The positive drilling results announced came from the Phoenix South-1 well in Western Australia’s offshore Canning Basin, [...]
WS Atkins share price rises on sale of Polish business to Multiconsult August 18, 2014 The share price of WS Atkins was boosted yesterday after the engineering, design and project management company announced it would sell its Polish business to Norwegian consultancy and design business Multiconsult AS. The deal will see WS Atkins’ Polish business sold for a cash consideration of €3.5m (£2.8m), with the deal expected to be completed [...]