FTSE 100 flat despite Lonmin losses August 20, 2012 Britain’s leading share index opened flat this morning, despite widening losses in mining shares, tracking a decline in the price of copper. Beleaguered platinum producer Lonmin continued another day of losses, with the shares down more than 3.5 per cent. The mining company today issued an ultimatum to the striking workers. Defence group Chemring was [...]
Assange berates US from Ecuador Embassy August 20, 2012 WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange berated the US last night from the balcony of the Ecuadorean Embassy where he has sought refuge from arrest, demanding President Barack Obama end what he called a witch-hunt against his whistle-blowing website. Speaking from within the London mission to avoid being detained by British police who want to extradite him [...]
Latvian police closer to solving riddle of City A.M. shareholder August 19, 2012 LATVIAN police are reported to have found a dead body they believe to be that of Leonid Rozhetskin, a shareholder and board member of City A.M., who has been missing since April 2008. Rozhetskin, a Russian-born lawyer living in the US, was a prominent investor in telecoms group MegaFon and served as executive vice chairman [...]
Facebook sinks to record low as early investor shares unlocked August 16, 2012 FACEBOOK shares plunged to a new low yesterday as early investors were able to sell their stock for the first time after the lock-up period in force since May’s initial public offering (IPO) came to an end. The stock fell as much as seven per cent to a low of $19.69 – less than half [...]
E.ON first-half profits triple August 13, 2012 E.ON, Germany’s biggest energy company, has seen its profits triple in the first half of 2012. Net income for the six months to the end of June was €3.3bn (£2.1bn), up from €900m a year ago. E.ON cited Germany’s accelerated phase-out of nuclear energy, which benefited first-half earnings to the tune of €1.5bn, and a [...]
A taste of Mother Russia in a Knightsbridge salon August 13, 2012 RESTAURANT MARI VANNA 116 Knightsbridge, SW1X 7PJ el: 020 7225 3122 FOOD ** SERVICE **** ATMOSPHERE **** Cost per person without wine: £55 There are two facts you need to know about Mari Vanna. One: it’s done up like a Russian babushka’s dining room – albeit one with a more than a dollop of Tsarist [...]
E.ON profit rise shows worst could be over August 7, 2012 Cheaper gas supplies helped boost first-half profit at E.ON signalling the worst could be over for Germany’s biggest power company whose earnings were ravaged last year by the government’s decision to exit nuclear power. E.ON said on today first-half earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) would be around €6.7bn up from £5.3bn a [...]
Telecity bets on Russian growth as shares jump to record value August 6, 2012 DATA services firm Telecity beat expectations yesterday and announced an investment in Finland, a stepping stone to the growing Russian internet market. The company, which provides carrier-neutral internet connections, said revenues in the first half of the year jumped 22.4 per cent due to a rise in data-intensive cloud computing systems. Shares leapt by seven [...]
CITY MOVES WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS August 5, 2012 AXA Wealth Andrew Smith has been appointed chief operating officer of the wealth management firm’s Elevate investment platform. He joins from Nucleus, where he was responsible for its platform design and build. Smith has also held senior roles at Logica and Thomson Reuters. Mazars The advisory firm has appointed Phil Verity to the position of [...]
Shakes-Drayton and Grabarz are my Brit track and field tips August 2, 2012 TODAY marks the start of the athletics and I can’t wait. This week has highlighted that Team GB are under real pressure to perform and achieve. Before these Olympics there was a lot of hype about winning medals here and there, but maybe the bar was set a bit too high. It’s going to take [...]