Oil majors curb the FTSE 100 despite solid corporate news February 3, 2011 BRITAIN’S top share index fell yesterday, hurt by Royal Dutch Shell as the oil major’s results were met with disappointment, while drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline rose after it decided to push ahead with a buyback programme. The FTSE 100 shed 16.73 points, or 0.3 per cent, to 5,983.34, after closing 0.7 per cent higher on Wednesday. The [...]
Imperial sees shares jump after growth February 2, 2011 IMPERIAL Tobacco surprised investors yesterday by announcing a return to volume growth in the last quarter of 2010 and pledged to pay half its profits in dividends. Imperial, with cigarette brands including Lambert & Butler, West and Gauloises, said cigarette volumes rose 0.5 per cent in its October to December 2010 first-quarter. Fine-cut loose tobacco [...]
Fortum disappoints on Russia February 2, 2011 Finnish utility Fortum reported a surprise fall in fourth-quarter profit yesterday, hurt by a weaker than expected performance by its main power generation unit and in Russia. October to December comparable operating profit fell five per cent to €541m (£461m), missing the average forecast of €613m. Fortum also proposed a 2010 dividend of €1.00 per [...]
FTSE shrugs off Egypt drama and rises on upbeat US data February 1, 2011 COMMODITY stocks and banks helped drive Britain’s top share index to a higher close yesterday, as investors shifted their focus from political unrest in Egypt to upbeat US economic data. The FTSE 100 index closed up 94.88 points, or 1.6 per cent, at 5,957.82, recouping nearly all the 1.7 per cent lost over the previous [...]
BP’s Russian partners plot to block dividends January 31, 2011 BP’s RUSSIAN partners are attempting to derail the payment of the firm’s final dividend payment of last year in a row over exploration contracts. AAR, a vehicle for the billionaires who own half of Russian venture TNK-BP, said at an extraordinary board meeting yesterday that it plans to block TNK-BP interim dividends amounting to $1.8bn [...]
Telenor seeks to block deal by Vimpelcom January 31, 2011 NORWEIGAN communications group Telenor is taking mobile group Vimpelcom to arbitration over its planned $6bn (£3.8bn) purchase of telecoms groups Wind and Orascom, a move likely to mire the deal in a lengthy legal tussle. Telenor, which owns nearly 40 per cent of Russia’s Vimpelcom, said yesterday it had requested an arbitration tribunal over a [...]
TNK-BP moves to block $1.8bn share payout January 30, 2011 RUSSIAN shareholders in TNK-BP have called an extraordinary board meeting to discuss cancelling a $1.8bn (£1.1bn) dividend payment, half of which would have gone to British partner BP. The latest twist in the feud between BP and the Russian shareholders in the joint venture comes after BP said it had offered its partners in TNK-BP an [...]
BP faces legal action over Rosneft deal January 27, 2011 RUSSIAN billionaires involved in BP’s Russian venture TNK-BP yesterday took legal action to block BP’s $16bn (£10bn) share-swap with Russia’s state-owned oil group Rosneft. The four partners in TNK-BP, who operate through a group named Alfa-Access-Renova, claim that BP’s deal with Rosneft might breach earlier agreements that give TNK first refusal on any BP activity [...]
Nord Gold plans to raise £1bn in IPO January 27, 2011 RUSSIAN mining group Severstal’s gold unit Nord Gold is seeking up to £933m from a London float, that would see the firm valued at up to £2bn. The conglomerate announced it would spin out its mining arm, a gold producer focussed on emerging markets, earlier this month. Nord Gold is expected to begin trading in [...]
What the other papers say this morning January 26, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES TALKTALK CUTS WORKFORCE BY 13 PER CENT Broadband provider TalkTalk is cutting its workforce by almost 13 per cent as part of efforts to improve profitability. Dido Harding, chief executive, announced yesterday that the company was cutting 580 jobs from its 4,500-strong UK workforce. The staff cuts, which are likely to be achieved [...]