The Aussie boss eyeing an M&A avalanche July 14, 2014 Progility boss Wayne Bos tells Michael Bow how he plans to take on the UK M&A market In the late 1990s Wayne Bos, the Australian executive chairman of training provider Progility, had just helped complete the management buyout of a division from London blue chip ICI when the telephone rang. It was a corporate adviser [...]
London Report: FTSE ends on a high on strong economic data July 2, 2014 Britain’s top share index hit a one-week high yesterday, with upbeat economic data from the US and China improving investor sentiment and boosting cyclical sectors such as banks and miners and carmakers. The FTSE 100 index closed 0.2 per cent firmer at 6,816.37 points, after climbing to a high of 6,829.49, the highest level since [...]
London Report: Miners lead way as second half kicks off with a jump July 1, 2014 LONDON’S leading shares yester-day kicked off the month and the second half of the year on a positive note, as investors looked to a mixed bag of global manufacturing surveys. The FTSE 100 ended up 0.87 per cent at 6,802.92. The FTSE 100 is still 1.3 percent off its 2014 peak of 6,894.88 in May, [...]
World’s most influential women at the Rosewood Hotel June 24, 2014 Some of the world’s most influential women descended on Holborn yesterday for the Fortune Most Powerful Women Conference in the Rosewood Hotel. Theresa May’s partially unexplained absence (due to a mystery scheduling conflict) did little to diminish the high level of inspiring chat. Facebook’s Europe Middle East and Asia vice-president Nicola Mendelsohn touched on the [...]
BHP Billiton to cut thousands of mining jobs June 24, 2014 MINING giant BHP Billiton is looking to cut up to 3,000 jobs in its mining operations in Western Australia as it seeks to reduce costs, following the significant drop in the iron ore spot price of over 30 per cent so far this year. The London-listed resources group, which was one of the largest in [...]
We take the Aston Martin Vanquish to Dartmoor June 23, 2014 It’s the tail-end of dusk in Devon and silence is broken. Thundering down the twisting A382 from Exeter to Chagford, an ancient tin-mining town set on the upper reaches of southern England’s most rugged terrain, Dartmoor, the Aston Martin darts into a private road. Its V12 echoes through a dark tunnel of trees, skimming the [...]
China manufacturing sector shows first growth since December June 23, 2014 The Chinese manufacturing sector grew in June for the first time in six months, according to a report from HSBC/Markit. The growth drove up the price of commodities, with iron ore and copper futures among the risers. A rise in commodity prices is boosting the Australian mining sector, with shares in Rio Tinto, Fortesque Metals [...]
London Report: Rolls rally lifts market closer to record high June 19, 2014 Arally by aircraft engine-maker Rolls-Royce and the US Federal Reserve’s reassurance over monetary policy yesterday pushed the FTSE 100 up to trade just below a record high. The London market ended the day 0.4 per cent higher at 6,808.11 points, not far from a record 6,950.60 set in 1999. Rolls-Royce surged 8.1 per cent to [...]
Why one bank is switching its allegiance from BHP Billiton to Rio Tinto June 5, 2014 As both are FTSE 100 listed Anglo-Australian miners, BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto often get compared rather than contrasted. But RBC Capital Markets today downgraded BHP – despite the stock outperforming Rio by around 10 per cent this year – and switched to a preference of Rio over BHP. “Since December 2013 we have preferred [...]
London Report: Chinese factory figures see FTSE shares edge up June 2, 2014 BRITAIN’S top share index inched higher yesterday as upbeat Chinese factory data lifted mining stocks and as homebuilders shrugged off worse-than-expected mortgage approval figures in the UK. The blue-chip FTSE 100 index closed up 0.3 per cent, or 19.59 points, at 6,864.10 points. Mining stocks across Europe, including London-listed Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton, rose [...]