Pictures: City’s bigwigs flock to Chelsea Flower Show warm-up bash May 20, 2014 There was nearly more power than flower last night as City grandees and business heavies strolled up the lilac carpet of the Chelsea Flower Show for this year’s preview evening. Insurance heavies Tidjane Thiam of Prudential and Standard Life’s David Nish both rolled up, perhaps giving them a chance to talk risk over the rhododendrons. [...]
London Report: Home lending up but rise in UK prices is slowing July 27, 2014 MORTGAGE approvals figures appear likely to show the housing market is moving again, after tough new MMR loan tests slowed lending figures. However, house price data due on Thursday suggests prices may not be soaring as much as earlier this year. They are expected to have risen 0.5 per cent month-on-month in July – the [...]
Energy bosses under pressure as Centrica’s Laidlaw gives up bonus November 4, 2013 THE CHIEF executive of British Gas-owner Centrica yesterday vowed to forego his bonus if he is offered one this year, piling pressure onto his fellow big six bosses to follow suit in the wake of an ongoing row over fuel bills. Speaking at the CBI Conference, Sam Laidlaw said that he understood customers’ frustrations and [...]
Faroe Petroleum slides on dry well May 12, 2014 Shares in Faroe Petroleum fell over seven per cent yesterday, after the North Sea oil and gas explorer said it had plugged and abandoned the Centrica-operated Butch East exploration well, after failing to encounter oil. “While the results for the Butch East well are disappointing, Butch South West is structurally independent and a highly prospective [...]
Former head of Network Rail in line for Centrica chair October 4, 2013 The former head of Network Rail, Rick Haythornthwaite, has been scouted as the new chairman of British Gas, reports Mark Kleinman, City editor of Sky News. The owner of British Gas, Centrica, is in ongoing talks with Haythornthwaite, who looks set to take over form Sir Roger Carr. There are thought to be other candidates [...]
Centrica labels Labour plan as a recipe for ruin September 24, 2013 BRITAIN’S big six energy companies yesterday lambasted Labour leader Ed Miliband’s pledge to freeze energy bills until 2017, saying his planned reforms could financially ruin firms and discourage infrastructure investment. Sir Roger Carr, chairman of British Gas owner Centrica, said Labour’s plan to implement price controls could leave companies in a vulnerable position. “When costs [...]
Centrica issues £840m notes to finance recent acquisition costs October 14, 2013 FTSE 100-listed energy firm Centrica yesterday said it is issuing two bonds totalling $1.35bn (£840m), to pay for previously announced acquisitions and refinance existing debt. The new facility is made up of $750m in four per cent senior notes due 2023 and $600m-worth of 5.375 per cent senior notes due 2043. Centrica – which owns [...]
Centrica slides after shelving storage plans September 23, 2013 SHARES in Centrica tumbled yesterday after the British Gas owner said it would write off £240m in investment after it abandoned plans to build two new gas storage projects in the UK. The FTSE 100-listed energy company said that it had decided not to proceed with the facilities at Baird off the coast of Norfolk [...]
City MP Mark Field slams new tax grab July 8, 2014 George Osborne’s plan to grab millions of pounds of tax back from a host of high-profile City names was criticised yesterday as concerns grew over the impact of tough new tax rules. Mark Field, Conservative MP for the City of London, said: “To take a retroactive approach to schemes that have already been approved seems [...]
Cable & Wireless Comms plans $250m boost for investments May 21, 2014 CABLE & Wireless Communications, the Caribbean and Central American telecoms operator, will lift its capital investments plan by $250m (£148m) as it looks to boost the business which it admitted was “trading below its full potential”. The fixed and mobile operator reported a better-than-expected five per cent increase in full-year core profits to $608m and [...]