Top stock picks for 2011 January 3, 2011 TRADING individual equities is always a risky business for contracts for difference (CFD) traders. An ill-considered, poorly executed trade will leave your fingers severely burnt and your account balance in the red. But get it right and you’re on track to rake in the profits. Even though equity strategists are cautiously optimistic about the prospects [...]
2010: A rollercoaster year of sport December 20, 2010 JANUARY TENNIS: Andy Murray misses out on a maiden grand slam when he is beaten by Roger Federer in the Australian Open final; FOOTBALL: David Sullivan and David Gold take over at West Ham; terrorists attack the Togo team at the Africa Cup of Nations in Angola, killing three; CRICKET: England are denied series win [...]
Russia tycoon creates new potash giant December 20, 2010 A RUSSIAN billionaire moved yesterday to create the world’s second-largest potash miner by uniting Russia’s top two producers, Uralkali and Silvinit, in a $1.4bn (£900m) deal. Uralkali, which like Silvinit is effectively controlled by Russian mining-to-banking tycoon Suleiman Kerimov, offered to buy rival Silvinit for cash and shares. Uralkali’s offer for 20 per cent of [...]
Telenor blocks Vimpelcom’s Weather bid December 20, 2010 VIMPELCOM’S $6.6bn (£4.24bn) bid for telecoms assets owned by Weather Investments is hanging by a thread after Norwegian shareholder Telenor said yesterday it would not back the deal. Telenor’s opposition to the deal — which would see Vimpelcom taking a controlling stake in Egypt’s Orascom Telecom and all of Italy’s Wind — means that all [...]
Novartis to build first factory in St Petersburg December 20, 2010 NOVARTIS will invest $500m (£322m) in Russia over the next five years, strengthening its position in the country as it joins rivals looking to get around tough rules on imported medicines. The Swiss drugmaker plans to build a new pharmaceutical manufacturing plant in St Petersburg as part of a partnership, which will focus on local [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING December 19, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES APAX PLANS €11BN FUND Apax Partners aims to cement its position as Europe’s biggest private equity group next year by raising a new €11bn-plus ($14.5bn) fund – the biggest buy-out fundraising since the start of the credit crisis. Led by Martin Halusa, who replaced Sir Ronald Cohen as head of Apax six years [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING December 13, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES US REGULATOR WIDENS STANFORD PROBE TO BROKERS US securities regulators have broadened their investigation into the alleged $8bn Ponzi scheme run by Allen Stanford, the Texan billionaire, to include brokerage executives who invested their clients’ money in Stanford International Bank products. JPMORGAN CUTS BACK ON US SILVER FUTURES JPMorgan has quietly reduced a [...]
Reckitt in £460m deal for Paras December 13, 2010 Consumer goods firm Reckitt Benckiser has agreed to buy privately-held Indian company Paras Pharmaceuticals for about $726m (£460m), to boost its operations in a fast-growing healthcare market. Big global healthcare firms are fast driving into emerging markets as sales stall in developed countries and as they look to tap into the healthcare needs of billions [...]
L’Occitane majority shareholder cashes in £86m worth of its shares December 12, 2010 L’OCCITANE International said its controlling shareholder has sold $136m (£86m) worth of its shares at HK$21.14 (£1.72) each, or a 1.9 per cent discount to Friday’s closing price, in a share placement. The French skincare products retailer said the share sale allowed its controlling shareholder, the L’Occitane Groupe (LOG), to monetise a small portion of [...]
Journey into the mighty history of Samarkand December 12, 2010 AROUND Tashkent airport, giant hoardings proclaimed in English: “Uzbekistan Airways Wish You Good Luck”. It might have been more unsettling to read that message driving into Heathrow before our departure. In fact, we’d had an incident-free flight on Uzbekistan Airways to Uzbekistan’s capital. Tashkent sounds endlessly exotic but isn’t really. Much was destroyed by a [...]