Chinese Yuan news boosts the FTSE 100 but BP and defence stocks decline June 21, 2010 BRITAIN’S top shares rose yesterday, boosted by China’s move to allow a flexible yuan which lifted investors’ risk appetite and bolstered the demand outlook for commodities, underpinning gains in miners and banks. The FTSE 100 ended 48.27 points higher, or 0.9 per cent, at 5,299.11, after it closed 0.1 per cent lower on Friday to [...]
Miners agree rise in royalty payout… June 21, 2010 RIO Tinto and BHP Billiton hiked their royalty payments to the Western Australian government yesterday, in an important step towards merging their operations in the region. The companies have agreed to pay 5.625 per cent of sales revenue in royalties, up from 3.75 per cent, starting on 1 July. The companies will also make a [...]
…as Australia gives date for merger probe June 21, 2010 THE Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) yesterday extended the deadline for its probe into Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton’s proposed joint venture in Western Australia to 22 July. The ACCC published the “proposed date” on its website after repeatedly delaying a report on its findings into the US$116bn (£78bn) deal, which would see Rio [...]
Bookies take bets on CEO successor June 20, 2010 BOOKMAKERS are taking bids on who is likely to replace BP chief executive Tony Hayward, as uncertainty mounts over who will take the helm. Iain Conn, Bob Dudley and Doug Suttles are among some of the BP executives tipped on Irish book maker Paddy Power’s website, with odds favouring Conn, who is chief executive for [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS June 17, 2010 BHP BILLITON Citigroup maintains a “buy” recommendation on BHP Billiton saying the group’s share price has been overly impacted by issues such as the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, Chinese slow down and OECD debt issues. According to Citi, the market has already discounted $55bn in value destruction for BHP, which it believes is overdone. [...]
Australian PM stands firm on mining tax June 16, 2010 MINING giants Rio Tinto, Xstrata and BHP Billiton met with the Australian government yesterday to discuss a proposed mining super-tax, but complained that their concerns “had not been addressed”. The battle over the 40 per cent “resource super profits tax” showed little sign of resolution following the meeting, as the government held firm on introducing [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS June 15, 2010 RIO TINTO Citigroup maintains a “buy” recommendation on Rio Tinto and a price target of £42 but said that its preference among the large diversified miners remains for BHP Billiton and Xstrata. Iron ore remains the most important division for Rio Tinto and Citi expects it to deliver around 58 per cent of the company’s [...]
Vroom vroom: say hi to the real deal June 15, 2010 THE first car I owned was a Mini, a 1973 Mini Mk II with an 850cc engine. Even though it was pretty much the only car I had ever driven, I knew it was unusual. If you wound it up it would do 80mph and make a proper car noise getting there. At speed, it [...]
FTSE sunk by BP’s oil slick woes June 8, 2010 Britain’s FTSE 100 share index fell yesterday, led down by energy shares as BP dropped again on fresh Gulf of Mexico oil slick worries and banks which were hit by Eurozone debt concerns and the threat of punitive taxes. By the close the FTSE 100 was off 40.91 points, or 0.8 per cent at 5,028.15 [...]
The car that delicately sips its fuel June 8, 2010 IF YOU’RE the kind of driver that gets their kicks out of economy and efficiency and can’t wait for the advancing wave of super economical electric vehicles to get here, then Volvo’s C30 1.6D DRIVe could be the car for you. The coolest thing about Volvo’s C30 DRIVe Start/Stop model is undoubtedly reading the LED [...]