BHP Billiton in spending boost February 10, 2010 GLOBAL mining heavyweight BHP Billiton today announced plans to ramp up its spending despite its interim profits falling victim to the commodity downturn in 2009. The FTSE 100 group posted a 7 per cent drop in profit to $5.7bn (£3.6bn) in the final six months of 2009 as “significant volatility and continued uncertainty in the [...]
Fidelity unveils details of Bolton’s $1bn Chinese investment fund February 9, 2010 FIDELITY International yesterday revealed plans to raise £630m ($1bn) in an initial fundraising for Anthony Bolton’s new China equity fund. Shares in the close-ended fund – issued at £1 – will start trading on the London Stock Exchange in April. The fund is named Fidelity China Special Situations in a nod to the Fidelity Special [...]
Nissan confident as it returns to profit February 9, 2010 NISSAN, Japan’s third-largest automaker, returned to quarterly profit yesterday and lifted its outlook for the second time, as brisk global sales signal the worst may be over for the auto industry. Nissan joins Toyota and Honda in raising annual forecasts, underscoring the impact of government stimulus and the improvement in the global economy following the [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING February 8, 2010 FINANCE TIMES DE SHAW MOBILISES TEAM TO BUY DISTRESSED ASSETS OF FUND RIVALS DE Shaw, the third largest hedge fund, has established an in-house team to look at buying portfolios of distressed assets and is targeting the holdings of rival hedge funds. The DE Shaw Portfolio Acquisitions Unit, launched last year, aims to capitalise on [...]
Tullow set for a green light from Uganda February 8, 2010 HERITAGE Oil yesterday said it expects to receive approval from the Ugandan government for the $1.5bn (£960m) sale of its lucrative oil fields in the country to FTSE 100 oil explorer Tullow Oil. “Heritage and Tullow are working closely with the Ugandan government to obtain the formal approval of the sale, which is expected imminently,” [...]
IT’S STILL TOO EARLY TO STOP THE STIMULUS February 8, 2010 WE ARE two-thirds of the way through the US fourth-quarter earnings season and 74 per cent of S&P 500 firms that have already reported have beaten analysts’ estimates. A further 9 per cent were in line while 17 per cent of companies fell short. The earnings season has not been good enough so far to [...]
Tullow hangs on for Uganda oil approval February 7, 2010 TULLOW Oil is edging closer to gaining full approval from the Ugandan government to snap up $1.5bn (£959m) worth of oil fields in the country, as it remains locked in discussions with two separate oil majors over the structure of a future partnership to develop the assets. Tullow’s path to buying the fields from Heritage [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING February 4, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES UNION “NOT MILES APART” FROM BA The broad outlines of a settlement in the dispute between British Airways and its cabin crew are emerging in informal talks between the two sides, the Unite union said yesterday. “We’re not miles apart,” said Steve Turner, national officer for aviation at Unite, which represents BA’s 12,000-plus [...]
INVESTORS FLOCKING TO SAFE HAVENS February 3, 2010 SENTIMENT in the foreign exchange market has changed dramatically over the past week as investors increasingly question whether the strong performance of risk assets in 2009 can be sustained in 2010. Monetary policy tightening in both China and India have made investors much more wary. As Greece’s debt problems have come to the fore in [...]
JOBS ARE KEY TO AMERICAN 2010 GROWTH February 2, 2010 CHINA was the biggest market surprise in 2009 as the country’s GDP growth almost single handedly rescued the world from the worst economic recession since the war. The continuation of the recovery trade will be dependent on whether G20 economies can take the baton from China as its economic growth slows to a more natural [...]