BHP Billiton aims for half of workforce to be women by 2025 October 19, 2016 The world's largest mining company has set an ambitious new target for gender parity and will aim for women to comprise half of its workforce for 2025. BHP Billiton (BHP) will announce the new goal at its annual general meeting in London today. At present, 17 per cent of the FTSE 100 miner's 65,000 employees are women. Read [...]
BHP laments South Australia blackouts but insists group production is in line with forecasts October 19, 2016 Mining giant BHP Billiton (BHP) has warned that production at its Olympic Dam copper mine was under review after the South Australia project was hit by power blackouts. Reporting on its third quarter operational performance, BHP said that despite this hiccup, group production and unit cost guidance remained unchanged for the 2017 financial year. Read more: SolGold shares jump as [...]
Price of Asian benchmark Australian thermal coal heats up to $100 for first time since 2012 October 18, 2016 The price of Australian thermal coal, which is mostly used in power generation, reached $100 today for the first time in four years. A cargo was ordered on trading platform GlobalCoal for $100 per tonne from Australia's Newcastle port in November. Shares in Glencore, one of Australia's largest coal producers, were up 2.7 per cent in [...]
Marmite peace settlement sends Tesco to the top of the FTSE 100 October 14, 2016 Good news about the black stuff has sent the FTSE 100 climbing higher in this morning's trading. Or, to be more precise, good news about the black stuffs. Because while the price of a barrel of Brent Crude oil rose 0.8 per cent to $52.42 this morning, and metals also headed north – good news for [...]
Oil price gush lifts FTSE close to a record high October 11, 2016 Oil prices hit a 14-month high and the FTSE 100 recorded its second-highest close on record yesterday after Vladimir Putin suggested Russia would take part in a production cut alongside the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec). The Russian President told the World Energy Congress in Istanbul he supported the agreement reached by Opec [...]
SolGold shares jump 13 per cent as it knocks back BHP Billiton offer October 10, 2016 Aim-listed miner SolGold said today it is recommending shareholders vote against an offer from BHP Billiton – causing its share price to rocket 12.6 per cent. The group revealed BHP offered $30m (£24m) for a 10 per cent stake in SolGold, implying a value of $0.22 per share. The stock is currently at $0.1869. BHP [...]
As the UK prepares to leave the EU, is it time for investors to get out of the UK? October 5, 2016 With the FTSE 100 reaching 7,120 yesterday, just undershooting its all-time high, this might seem like a strange time to ask whether investors should be ditching UK assets altogether. However, as the blue-chip index surged, DeVere Group founder Nigel Green warned that Brexit-related risk means that such a “precautionary measure” is increasingly likely from UK investors [...]
The new topless Range Rover Evoque is a glorious blown-up Barbie car and we kind of love it October 4, 2016 As controversial as the EU referendum, the world’s foremost luxury 4×4 maker has lopped the top off its compact model in a bid to create a new lifestyle niche; the Cabrio SUV. To some, this is the best of all words. To others, it is a motorised selfie stick. Soft-top off-roaders aren’t a new concept. [...]
Before the bell: What you need to know before the US market open September 29, 2016 Oil has given up some of its gains after the first Opec deal to curb supply in eight years sent it higher last night and it's not just Deutsche Bank that's in trouble as Commerzbank announces nearly 10,000 jobs are set to go. Here's what you need to know before the US market open at 2:30pm [...]
Fed interest rate decision adds sheen to London-listed miners September 22, 2016 The US Federal Reserve's decision to hold interest rates proved to be a boon for London-listed miners which raced to the top of the FTSE today. While Fed chair Janet Yellen suggested US borrowing costs could rise this year, policymakers cut the number of rate increases they expect this year to one from two and projected a [...]