Vimpelcom net income drops September 7, 2011 RUSSIAN telecoms operator Vimpelcom posted a 29 per cent fall in its second-quarter net profit yesterday, blaming higher interest and depreciation costs following its acquisition of Wind Telecom. The company, which bought a controlling stake in Italy’s Wind Telecom in April, said its net profit fell to $239m (£150m), including the results of the newly [...]
Gazprom fills Nord Stream gas pipeline September 6, 2011 GAZPROM yesterday started pumping the first gas through its controversial subsea pipeline from Russia to Germany, bypassing Ukraine, where disputes have halted energy supplies to European countries twice since 2006. The 1,220-kilometre Nord Stream pipeline is the first direct link between western Europe and Russia, which provides for around quarter of the EU’s gas supplies. [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS September 5, 2011 INTEGRA GROUP Morgan Stanley rates the Russian oilfield services provider as “equal-weight” and lowers its target price of $2.80, implying an 18 per cent upside. The broker says the company’s first-half results were in line with expectations, reporting adjusted Ebitda of $56m and revenues of $444m. Integra’s acquisition of Siam Company for $76m, should complement [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS September 4, 2011 Troika Dialog The Russian investment bank has appointed Chris Weafer as chief strategist to develop Troika’s strategy for clients’ investments in Russia and the CIS. Weafer was formerly chief strategist for UralSib Bank in Moscow and chief strategist at Alfa Bank in Moscow. Weafer has additionally been appointed as a non-executive director of Niche, the [...]
Hannover Leasing buys £139m City landmark September 1, 2011 FUND manager Hannover Leasing has bought a trophy City office building for £139m. The German firm has bought 30 Crown Place, a 19-storey building near Liverpool Street station, from the Greycoat Central London Office Fund, in a move that underscores a trend for foreign investors flocking to London as a safe haven market. The 198,000 [...]
New blow for BP as Russian office raided August 31, 2011 BAILIFFS and armed special forces stormed BP’s Moscow’s offices yesterday, just a day after the Kremlin rubbed salt into the oil giant’s wounds by signing a coveted Arctic exploration deal with US rival ExxonMobil. BP was ordered to let bailiffs search through all documents by a court in Siberia, where Andrei Prokhorov, a minority shareholder [...]
Shell poised to sign $800m deal for Ukrainian shale gas August 31, 2011 ROYAL DUTCH Shell, the world’s largest oil producer, is poised to sign an $800m (£492m) deal to explore and develop shale gas fields in the Ukraine, a presidential official told journalists yesterday. President Viktor Yanukovich’s chief of staff said Shell and Naftogaz, the Ukrainian state-run gas and oil company, intend to sign a deal today [...]
Bailiffs raid Moscow office of BP unit August 31, 2011 Bailiffs raided BP’s Moscow offices on Wednesday, causing new problems for the oil company a day after ExxonMobil signed a deal that ended BP’s hopes of developing Arctic offshore oil fields with Russia. The morning raid, in which about 15 black-clad special force officers entered the central Moscow headquarters of BP Trading and sealed it [...]
BP out in the cold as Exxon inks deal with Rosneft August 30, 2011 EXXONMOBIL has won a highly coveted contract with Russia’s Rosneft to develop offshore oil fields in the Arctic. The $3.2bn (£1.96bn) deal comes as a major blow for British rival BP, who just seven months ago announced “a groundbreaking strategic global alliance” with Russia’s state-owned oil company that was later abandoned after objections from shareholders [...]
£10bn profits top forecasts for Gazprom August 30, 2011 RUSSIAN gas export monopoly Gazprom’s quarterly profits beat analysts’ expectations yesterday as European buyers rushed to secure contracts at prices 21 per cent higher than a year ago. The company posted a 42 per cent increase in first-quarter earnings to 478.5bn roubles (£10.2bn), exceeding market expectations of a 29 per cent gain. The country’s largest [...]