Astrazeneca buys drug fast-track voucher for $95m August 22, 2019 Astrazeneca splashed out $95m today to get one of its drugs fast-tracked through the approval process in the US. The drugs giant said it had bought a so-called priority review voucher (PRV) from a subsidiary of Orphan Biovitrum, a Swedish pharmaceutical company. Read more: Astrazeneca faces setback in lung cancer trials The voucher gives Astra [...]
Shell boosts power business with £344m Aussie takeover August 22, 2019 Shell took another step to boost its electricity supply business as it bought Australia’s second-largest power company in a AU$617m (£344m) deal. The board of ERM recommended today that its shareholders vote for the deal, which represents a 43 per cent premium to its last closing price. Read more: Shell Energy to pay £390,000 after [...]
NMC Health share price soars 42 per cent on stake sale report August 22, 2019 Shares in FTSE 100 listed NMC looked healthy this morning as they rose by as much as 42 per cent after reports that two companies were looking to buy a major stake in the firm. The the 40 per cent stake is owned by two Emirati businessmen and could sell for $1.9bn (£1.6bn) to two [...]
Firefighters put out blaze at another Ocado warehouse August 22, 2019 Firefighters were called to put out a small fire at an Ocado warehouse last night, just months after a fire at one of its flagship sites caused nearly £100m in damage. A waste packaging container caught fire, the company said in a statement this morning. Read more: Losses deepen as Ocado reveals cost of Andover [...]
Fracking halts after earthquake at Cuadrilla site August 22, 2019 Cuadrilla yesterday stopped work at the UK’s only active fracking site after it triggered an earthquake almost ten times stronger than allowed under government rules. The company said last night that it had detected a seismic tremor measuring 1.55 on the Richter scale. The small quake forced fracking to stop, and the site will be [...]
Laura Ashley drops into the red amid tough retail conditions August 22, 2019 Furniture and fashion-seller Laura Ashley was hit by a rough retail sector, its chief executive said this morning, as the company fell into the red. Loss before tax and exceptional items hit £9.8m at in the full year to 30 June. Last year the company made a £5.6m profit. Read more: Laura Ashley shares hit [...]
Antofagasta on track for record copper production August 22, 2019 Despite lower prices, a jump in copper sales boosted Antofagasta’s top and bottom lines and set it on track for a record year of production. Revenue jumped 19.1 per cent at the miner to more than $2.5bn (£2bn), while earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation rose 44 per cent to $1.3bn. Read more: BHP [...]
Nostrum share price takes hit from analyst note August 21, 2019 Nostrum Oil and Gas struggled on the markets today after taking a hit from an analyst downgrade. Shares took a battering, falling by 19 per cent to 28.35p. It came as analysts at Berenberg downgraded the shares from “buy” to “sell”, setting a new target price of 25p from 200p. Read more: BP and Glencore [...]
BP and Glencore struggling to offload contaminated Russian oil August 21, 2019 BP and Glencore are still trying to offload huge reserves of tainted Russian crude oil several months after problems were discovered. The UK-listed giants have around 600,000 tonnes of the oil which they are struggling to sell off, several traders told Reuters. Read more: Opec agrees to extend oil supply cuts by nine months A [...]
ONS may have underestimated EU migration to the UK August 21, 2019 More people may have entered the UK between 2000 and 2016 than previously thought, it was revealed today, as the Office for National Statistics admitted its net migration figures were flawed. Net EU migration in the year ending March 2016 would be 16 per cent higher under new measurements, announced today, the ONS said. However, [...]