London Report: FTSE rises as Ukraine-Russia fears subside August 18, 2014 THE FTSE 100 yesterday climbed on the back of investor relief that a feared escalation in the Ukraine crisis had failed to materialise. Tensions spiked on Friday when Ukraine said it had partially destroyed an armoured column that had crossed the border from Russia, triggering a sell-off in global shares. But Moscow made no threat [...]
Centamin announces first ever dividend as earnings decline August 14, 2014 EGYPT-FOCUSED gold miner Centamin yesterday announced its first dividend of 0.87 cents per share, as it unveiled weaker-than-expected second-quarter results. The FTSE 250 firm said earnings had halved to $32.6m (£19.5m) in the second quarter compared to the same period the previous year, as it mined lower grade ore at its flagship Sukari mine in [...]
Glencore share price slides after a mixed first-half output report August 13, 2014 Commodities powerhouse Glencore saw its share price slump over three per cent yesterday on a mixed half-year production report. The integrated miner trader said production of copper – the metal it makes almost half its profit from – rose 13 per cent to 741,000 tonnes. But the FTSE 100 company, which completed a $40bn (£23.9bn) merger [...]
Balfour Beatty rejects Carillion’s offer as profit dives August 11, 2014 Balfour Beatty yesterday posted a 53 per cent slump in underlying half-year profit to £22m, putting the infrastructure firm under pressure to prove that it can go it alone after rejecting a second takeover bid from rival Carillion. The flailing FTSE 250 company, which has issued four profit warnings in two years and is currently [...]
City Moves for 12 August 2014 | Who’s switching jobs August 11, 2014 Lombard Odier Investment Managers Nancy Everett has been appointed as senior advisor for the company’s US-based business. The position is a newly-created one for the institutional asset management arm of the Lombard Odier Group. Everett was most recently with BlackRock, where she was managing director, head of US fiduciary management. Prior to that, she was [...]
Analyst Views: What should investors look for next from the Bank of England? August 8, 2014 ROBERT WOOD | BERENBERG We expect the Bank to respond to the increasingly resilient outlook by hiking rates by 25 basis points in November.If there was a split vote this month, with perhaps one of the MPC calling for a hike, that could tell us a little more about the committee’s thinking. VICTORIA CLARKE | [...]
Cocos go yo-yo after no-no for retail investors August 8, 2014 THE PRICE of contingent convertible (coco) bonds has yo-yoed since the City watchdog banned banks from advertising the securities to retail investors. Transaction data from Tradeweb shows prices fell almost one per cent on the day of the Financial Conduct Authority’s announcement. Analysts believe demand from individual investors, rather than institutions, could make up £1bn [...]
Gemfields hails a momentous quarter as ruby auctions begin August 8, 2014 Precious stones miner Gemfields, which owns luxury brand Faberge, yesterday described its past quarter as “momentus” with the first auction of rubies from its Montepuez mine. “The auction represented a profound shift in the ruby industry and underscored the prospects of our model and vision for the coloured gemstone sector. We are excited by the [...]
Dixons Carphone share price falls on first day of trading after £3.6bn merger August 8, 2014 Shares in Dixons Carphone rose yesterday morning only to close down 1.8 per cent in their first formal day of trading since Carphone Warehouse and Dixons Retail merged to create a £3.6bn consumer electronics empire. The FTSE 250 company aims to exploit the ever-growing presence of consumer electronics in people’s lives and the so-called [...]
No change at the Bank as MPC split speculation mounts August 7, 2014 The Bank of England is still sitting on its hands, but many are speculating that the days of 0.5 per cent interest rates are increasingly numbered. The Bank's monetary policy committee (MPC) again voted not to touch interest rates, but there has been much speculation that a minority of the nine-person committee may have voted for a [...]