BEST of the BROKERS April 10, 2012 PETROFAC Liberum has cut its rating on the engineering group from “buy” to “hold” but leaves its target price on the stock unchanged at 1822p. As the shares are now within five per cent of the target, and ahead of new contract awards, the broker says Petrofac looks fair value. PETROPAVLOVSK Nomura remains positive on [...]
Miners and banks dent FTSE April 4, 2012 The FTSE 100 was dragged back by weaker mining stocks after minutes from the US Federal Reserve’s March meeting revealed that it is not planning any more monetary stimulus. Federal Reserve policymakers have backed away from the need to pump more money into the system as the US economy gradually improves, minutes of the central [...]
London 2012 poster boy Smith’s secret weapon in gold mission April 2, 2012 TAKING risks comes as second nature to Louis Smith, a sportsman who aligns natural athleticism with brute strength to perform gravity defying routines in pursuit of glory, but the London 2012 poster boy is willing to gamble on four years’ worth of gruelling preparation to complete his medal collection this summer. At the last Olympic [...]
Jefferies Hoare Govett wins Sirius Minerals April 2, 2012 HOARE Govett, the former RBS broker sold to US investment bank Jefferies, has won a new mandate with Sirius Minerals, the firm looking for potash in Yorkshire. The renamed Jefferies Hoare Govett has been picked as joint broker alongside Macquarie and Liberum. Chris Fraser, managing director and chief executive of Sirius, said: “With its US [...]
Petroplus gets first offers for German plant April 2, 2012 SEVERAL interested parties have submitted offers for insolvent refiner Petroplus’ Ingolstadt plant in Germany, a spokesman for the refinery’s administrator said yesterday. “We’ve received non-binding offers and are now organising plant visits,” said the spokesman for administrator Jaffe Rechtsanwaelte Insolvenzverwalter. “We hope to be able to conclude negotiations in the second quarter,” he added. The [...]
Honeymooning for one in the Maldives April 1, 2012 GOING on holiday alone is one thing. Going on holiday alone to the world’s foremost couples’ destination is rather another. I wasn’t off to backpack around the villages of the Himalayas or go down and out in Bangkok and Hanoi, bumping into new people and places every five minutes. No: I set off on a [...]
Miner Polyus prepares for premium London listing March 30, 2012 Russian miner Polyus Gold is likely go ahead with a share sale worth $700m (£436m) to $1bn in late April, paving the way for a premium listing on the London Stock Exchange, according to Reuters sources. The company had originally planned to redomicile from its Jersey home to London in early March but has instead [...]
Petropavlovsk looks to hike its gold production target for year March 28, 2012 RUSSIAN gold miner Petropavlovsk is likely to increase its 2012 production target to reflect an increase in capacity at its flagship mines, chairman Peter Hambro has said. The company, which operates open-pit mines in the Russian far east, is forecasting a 680,000 ounce production figure in 2012 – around eight per cent higher than last [...]
Deripaska poised to snap up Rusal’s Norilsk Nickel stake March 26, 2012 RUSSIAN tycoon Oleg Deripaska is ready to buy Rusal’s 25 per cent blocking stake in Norilsk Nickel to resolve a shareholder dispute at the world’s largest aluminium producer, a source close to the Rusal board said. Deripaska’s gambit seeks a way out of a row with minority shareholder Viktor Vekselberg, who quit as Rusal’s chairman [...]
Political risk is a global threat to recovery March 25, 2012 IN a tentative recovery, everyone always looks for the next nasty shock that could spring up and derail growth. The answer this time is political risk – all over the world. We all know about the geo-political tensions in the Middle East that sent Brent over $126 earlier this month. But in a year heavy [...]