Marathon Oil denies early closure of key North Sea site April 6, 2016 A US oil major has rebutted claims that it wants to accelerate the closure of a strategically important oil field in the North Sea. It comes after media reports suggested Marathon Oil would shutdown the giant Brae Field earlier than planned after a serious gas leak in December last year. Sir Ian Wood, former chairman of [...]
Treasury Committee upset about being stood up by Vote Leave’s chief executive: “We’re all pretty grumpy” May 9, 2016 MPs on the Treasury Committee launched an attack on the chief executive of Vote Leave this afternoon. Andrew Tyrie accused Matthew Elliott, chief executive of Vote Leave, of “mucking around” the parliamentary committee. He revealed the committee was “forced to summon you under a parliamentary order”, saying this was the first time he had seen such [...]
North Sea oil industry calls for urgent rescue package ahead of Chancellor George Osborne’s Budget March 8, 2016 The North Sea oil industry today called on the chancellor to deliver an "urgent" rescue package in next week's Budget, a move which will safeguard its increasingly uncertain future in the face of tumbling crude prices. Trade body Oil & Gas UK warned some 14bn barrels of an estimated 20bn barrels of oil located around [...]
M Victoria review: The new restaurant serving up raw kangaroo March 30, 2016 M on Threadneedle Street is a City staple, a thrumming lunchtime emporium comprising two restaurants: the steaky M Grill and and fishy M Raw. Opened last November, M Victoria matches its older twin beat for beat in SW1, presenting with an eerie familiarity bordering on deja vu. This is unmistakably M: from the steak and [...]
High street restaurant dishes from Pizza Express and Barburrito have more salt than a McDonald’s Big Mac February 16, 2016 Popular dishes at some of Britain's best-known high street chains actually contain more salt than junk food favourites like a Big Mac and regular fries from McDonalds. That's according to research by Treated.com, which found some main course menu items on offer in high street chains such as Pizza Express and Barburrito "out-salt" what's generally seen as less [...]
Best of the Brokers for 17 December 2015 December 17, 2015 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com BWIN.PARTY Citi analysts have upgraded Bwin.party to “buy” from “sell”, arguing that GVC Holdings’ reverse take-over of the betting company should drive multiple upsides, including €125m (£91m) in cost savings and a broader spread of geographic, regulatory and product risk. It has also [...]
The death of Aim: Can equity crowdfunding eclipse the LSE’s junior market? April 28, 2016 The alternative finance market enjoyed near triple-digit growth last year, with the value of its loans, investments and donations hitting £3.2bn. Within this, the main sub-sectors of peer-to-peer lending and equity crowdfunding significantly increased awareness of the concept of lending directly to individuals – excluding those entities like the banks which have for too long dominated markets [...]
North Sea oil on the “edge of a chasm” as plunging oil prices mean half will operate at loss this year, Oil & Gas UK warns February 23, 2016 North Sea oil firms are operating on the brink of collapse, with nearly half of all oil fields on the continental shelf likely to operate at a loss this year, a new report has warned. Oil & Gas UK's annual survey of the sector found that while operating costs have been driven down, it is [...]
Domino’s Pizza share price soars after revealing record profit February 26, 2015 The figures Shares in Domino's Pizza soared by more than seven per cent in early morning trading after the fast food company announced a 15.1 per cent rise in underlying profit before tax to an extra-large £54.8m for the full year ended 28 December 2014. The record profit was delivered by record sales of £766.6m [...]
Big Tobacco firms Philip Morris, British American Tobacco and Imperial Tobacco take up arms against UK government’s plain packaging legislation December 9, 2015 Major tobacco firms are taking up arms against the UK government’s bid to remove all branding from cigarette packages in a landmark hearing opening in London tomorrow that’s set to have a domino effect across the world. Philip Morris, British American Tobacco, Imperial Tobacco and Japan Tobacco International are suing the British government for infringing their [...]