BHP Billiton urges caution as market outlook turns bleaker November 17, 2011 THE HEAD of mining giant BHP Billiton, Marius Kloppers, sounded a warning yesterday that trading conditions for commodities firms were worsening as the climate became tougher. Kloppers reassured investors at BHP’s annual meeting in Melbourne, Australia, that the environment was not as bad as during the financial crisis in 2008, but said the group was [...]
FTSE falls as debt turmoil intensifies November 17, 2011 BRITAIN’S top share index retreated yesterday, with nervous investors ditching riskier assets such as banks and retailers, as corporates showed signs of stress in the face of the intensifying debt contagion in Europe. London’s blue chip index shed 85.88 points, or 1.6 per cent to 5,423.14, with the FTSE volatility index, up 10.2 per cent [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS November 15, 2011 AVIVA Morgan Stanley rates the insurance group as “equal weight” with a target price of 445p, after the company’s third quarter metrics for 2011 showed continued progress, particularly in its non-life operations. However, the broker says Aviva’s IGD coverage was surprisingly weak, especially after the recent hybrid bond call. While it sees Aviva’s capital position [...]
BHP Billiton to spend $4.5bn on shale gas November 14, 2011 BHP Billiton plans to spend around $4.5bn (£2.8bn) on developing shale gas in 2012 following two acquisitions this year, the head of the global miner’s petroleum business said yesterday. The miner spent nearly $17bn buying shale gas producer Petrohawk Energy and shale gas assets from Chesapeake Energy earlier this year. It is targeting US shale [...]
BHP in $4bn shale gas expansion November 14, 2011 BHP Billiton plans to spend over $4bn (£2bn) on developing shale gas in 2012 following two shale gas acquisitions this year, the head of the top global miner’s petroleum business said on Monday. BHP Billiton spent nearly $17bn buying shale gas producer Petrohawk Energy and shale gas assets from Chesapeake Energy earlier this year. “In [...]
BHP and Rio in royalties hit November 10, 2011 RIO Tinto and BHP Billiton, the world’s No.2 and 3 iron ore miners, sealed an agreement to pay Western Australia state a higher royalty on iron ore fines to match the royalty on lump ore, as agreed in May. In return, the state has agreed to treat the two global miners’ iron ore expansion plans [...]
BHP and Mitsubishi to put $4.2bn into Australian coal mining sector November 1, 2011 BHP Billiton and Mitsubishi Corp will invest a total of $4.2bn (£2.6bn) to expand coal mining in Australia and are looking at further investments, BHP said yesterday. The project initially will add 8m tonnes per year capacity in exports of metallurgical coal used in making steel, with an expectation of a rapid, low-cost expansion to [...]
The Q3: Audi’s likeable compact SUV November 1, 2011 INTERNALLY, Audi calls it “the product firework”. With 12 new models introduced in the last five years and seven more planned for introduction by 2015, it seems the Four Rings can do no wrong. The Ingolstadt manufacturer seems to have an almost alchemic ability to find success in whatever niche it enters. But it is [...]
CAR TALK November 1, 2011 FORD’S YOUNG-DRIVER PROTECTION TECHNOLOGY Ford has introduced technology which helps parents to prevent young drivers from receiving calls while driving. The feature, which is part of Ford’s MyKey technology, is called “Do Not Disturb” and blocks incoming phone calls or text messages from a Bluetooth-paired mobile phone. Calls are diverted to voicemail and text messages [...]
Miners peg back markets October 31, 2011 European shares fell early in the session with miners hurt by falling metals prices while the afterglow of last week’s Eurozone debt deal began to fade. Miners were dented by Japan wading into the currency markets to rein in the value of the soaring yen, which sent the dollar up. A stronger dollar makes dollar-priced [...]