Coke bottler hit by exposures in foreign markets February 18, 2015 BEVERAGE bottler Coca-Cola HBC faces tough challenges in 2015, analysts have warned, after the firm reported a 5.3 per cent drop in sales revenue for 2014, from €1.57bn (£1.16bn) to €1.51bn. Volumes of unit cases sold also fell, by 2.8 per cent from 2.06bn in 2013 to 2bn, while net profit plunged by 11.4 per cent, [...]
Troubled gold miner Petropavlovsk rocked by debt plan rebel Sapinda February 17, 2015 Russia-focused gold miner Petropavlovsk last night saw its proposed debt restructuring come under fire after one of its major stakeholders blasted the plan for allegedly favouring bondholders over shareholders. The proposed plan is due to be voted on this month but requires the approval of both bondholders and 75 per cent of shareholders to go [...]
BP’s four key predictions for how the world’s energy sector will change over the next 20 years February 17, 2015 While the falling price of oil continues to cause problems for the world's energy companies, worldwide energy demand will have picked up by 2035. Energy consumption is expected to rise by 37 per cent between 2013 and 2035, with an average annual increase of 1.4 per cent. This is one of the predictions [...]
Rolls-Royce dragged into Petrobras bribery scandal February 16, 2015 Shares in embattled engineering giant Rolls-Royce opened 0.8 per cent lower this morning, after it was revealed it has been dragged into a multi-billion dollar bribery scandal by Brazillian state oil producer Petrobras. The company has been accused of paying out bribes in exchange for contracts to build gas turbines for oil platforms. The accusations [...]
Putin has an upper hand – it is high time the West said enough is enough February 15, 2015 Vladimir Putin once said “There is no such thing as a former KGB man.” The problem in dealing with the present Russian Tsar is that he knows far more about our weaknesses than we do about his. Coming to maturity as a KGB officer in eastern Germany, the young Vladimir Putin’s tradecraft involved incessantly analysing [...]
Ukraine crisis: Ceasefire violated within an hour, but is largely holding February 15, 2015 The Ukrainian ceasefire agreement lasted all of 50 minutes. Both sides accused the other of having broken the accord, with the telling shots fired near the town of Debaltseve, where 6,000 government troops are being besieged by separatist forces. Both sides allege that within an hour of the midnight cease in hostilities, artillery shells were [...]
S&P 500 hits record high as Germany’s Dax passes 11,000 mark February 13, 2015 It looks like equities markets across the world will end the week on a high, after the S&P 500 hit a new high, while Germany's Dax smashed through its previous record. The S&P 500 nudged up to 2,093.57 points shortly after its opening bell this morning, slightly higher than the 2,093.55 it reached in December. [...]
Ukraine ceasefire boost for Coca Cola bottler helps FTSE – London Report February 12, 2015 COCA-COLA bottler HBC led the UK’s top share index higher yesterday, after news of a general ceasefire from Sunday in Ukraine’s east. The world’s second-largest bottler of Coca-Cola drinks, which counts Russia as its biggest market, surged 6.23 per cent after Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko announced the ceasefire agreement following peace talks in Minsk with [...]
Tech rally lifts Wall St stocks – New York Report February 12, 2015 US STOCKS ended sharply higher yesterday, with a rally in technology stocks leading the Nasdaq to a 15-year high, while a ceasefire agreement between Russia and Ukraine also eased tensions. Cisco Systems climbed 9.4 per cent, after earnings and revenue beat expectations. TripAdvisor soared 22.5 per cent after revenue topped forecasts. Fellow online travel company [...]
Ukraine crisis: Vladimir Putin announces ceasefire after Minsk talks February 12, 2015 Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced that a ceasefire for eastern Ukraine will begin on 15 February. The announcement comes after marathon talks in Minsk, which swayed between reports a deal could be imminent and claims that Russia's terms were unacceptable. With the news comes an announcement from the IMF, which reported it would replace [...]