BP: From Russia with Love April 10, 2014 Many of the shareholder questions at BP’s annual meeting today were on the topic of Russia, Ukraine and the oil major’s stake in Rosneft. The FTSE 100 firm is particularly exposed to the ongoing tensions between Ukraine and Russia over the sovereignty of Crimea, due to its near 20 per cent stake in the Russian [...]
Evraz climbs as dividend plan offsets losses April 9, 2014 RUSSIAN steel-maker Evraz saw its share price soar over seven per cent in early trading yesterday, after a surprise promise of a dividend and cost cuts offset wider losses in its full-year results. The FTSE 250-quoted company reported losses of $572m (£342m), a 34.6 per cent increase from 2012, while revenue fell 2.1 per cent [...]
Flotations jump three-fold as Europe takes off April 8, 2014 FLOTATIONS on Europe’s stock markets in the first quarter of this year raised more money than floats in the same period of the last five years combined, PwC data showed today. Increasing confidence in the economic recovery is behind the boom, and the UK is in the lead – 32 of the 68 floats were [...]
Asian markets remain subdued as Bank of Japan holds firm April 8, 2014 Asian markets are holding steady after the Bank of Japan maintained its stance on monetary policy and disappointed some investors with a refusal to hike purchases of risk assets. Japan's current account balance showed a surplus for the first time in five months in February, this was attributed to strengthening exports and an increase in [...]
Letters to the Editor – 08/04 – Stamp duty reform, Crowdfunding rules, Best of Twitter April 7, 2014 Stamp duty reform [Re: Why it’s time to focus on the real cost of the housing crisis, yesterday] The government should switch payment of stamp duty to when someone sells a property, not when they buy. First-time buyers could use the money towards a deposit, and those in the middle of a chain would not [...]
How social trading levels the field April 7, 2014 The wisdom of crowds looks set to bridge the gap between retail and institutional investors TRADING is no longer a matter of just staying on top of major data prints and corporate releases. As this year’s emerging market crisis demonstrated, economic ripples in far-flung corners of the globe can quickly become market tsunamis. And when [...]
Russia faces off with Ukraine over gas prices April 7, 2014 TENSIONS between Ukraine and Russia escalated over the weekend, after talks over gas prices failed to reach a resolution. Russia nearly doubled the price Ukraine pays for its gas last week, using its supplies as a political pawn in the face of an ongoing dispute over the sovereignty of the Crimea region of Ukraine. Ukraine [...]
Lenta shares in push above the flotation price April 7, 2014 SHARES in the Russian hypermarket chain Lenta have risen above their issue price in London for the first time since they were issued at the end of February after the group’s stock market debut was clouded by political turmoil in Ukraine. Lenta’s share price rose above the $10 per GDR issue price to close at [...]
What the other papers say this morning – 04 April 2014 April 3, 2014 FINANCIAL TIMES Channel 5 bidders question valuation A war of words has broken out over the valuation of Channel 5, ahead of this month’s deadline for second-round bids for the broadcaster owned by entrepreneur Richard Desmond. In January, people close to the bidding process said Mr Desmond was seeking a price of more than £700m [...]
Letters to the Editor – 04/04 – Royal Mail IPO, Soccer geography, Best of Twitter April 3, 2014 Royal Mail IPO [Re: Pricing Royal Mail: Welcome to the free market, Wednesday] Simon Walker is entitled to his view that the Royal Mail pricing needed to be cautious, although there could have been few who looked at the valuation at the time and did not spot that money was being given away. In such [...]