BP cuts 2015 budget after swinging to Q4 loss, but underlying profits beat forecasts
3rd Feb 2015 07:07
BP has slashed its investment budget for 2015 by $4bn-6bn after swinging to a non-adjusted loss in the fourth quarter after taking billions of dollars of impairment charges on the back of a lower oil price. The oil major reported a replacement cost (RC) loss of just under $1bn for the three months t
Read moreLondon open: CRH and oil stocks lift FTSE 100 ahead of PMI data
2nd Feb 2015 09:13
Strong gains from CRH and a host of oil stocks pushed UK markets higher on Monday, as investors awaited a host of manufacturing data from across the globe. London's FTSE 100 was up 0.4% at 6,777 early on. CRH was on the rise after agreeing a deal to buy assets from Holcim and Lafarge, while energy
Read moreSunday newspaper round-up: Lloyds, BT, Standard Chartered
1st Feb 2015 13:33
Lloyds Banking Group is preparing to pay a dividend for the first time since it was bailed out by taxpayers, the Sunday Telegraph reported. The board will sign off the group's annual results and then ask the Bank of England permission to pay a dividend before announcing results on February 27th. Llo
Read moreSector movers: Shell dampens energy stocks, gold miners track bullion lower
29th Jan 2015 16:01
Worse-than-expected results from one of the biggest oil companies in the world hit stocks in the energy sector on Thursday. Royal Dutch Shell delivered a 12% year-on-year increase in adjusted profits in the fourth quarter to $3.3bn, well below the consensus forecast of $4.2bn. The company also anno
Read moreSector movers: Energy stocks and airlines lead advance
26th Jan 2015 18:45
Energy stocks finished the session higher after the secretary general of the Organisation for Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) warned that the price of crude could rebound as high as $200, if circumstances forced the hand of producers, way higher than the record-high of $147 a barrel it hit in 2
Read moreUK dividend payouts to increase in 2015, boosted by surging dollar
26th Jan 2015 15:26
Companies in the UK are set to pay out more on dividends this year, according to Capita's January dividend monitor, with Big Oil remaining a sector where the dividend is sacrosanct. Firms will boost their regular dividends by 5.7% to reach £83.6bn and may even top 7%, were it not for Vodafone, whic
Read moreWednesday newspaper round-up: BP challenged, UK wine industry, Eversholt...
21st Jan 2015 06:25
Oil giant BP is being challenged to confront the risk that climate change may pose to its future in a shareholder resolution published on Wednesday, The Guardian wrote. Pension funds controlling hundreds of billions of pounds are among the 150 investors demanding the company tests whether its busine
Read moreFTSE 100 movers: Miners lower on funding fears, Dixons boosted by Christmas trading optimism
19th Jan 2015 14:00
Dixons Carphone topped the risers after analysts expressed optimism about the upcoming Christmas trading results on Wednesday. Estimates sit at a 5% increase in like-for-like sales, as published in Sunday papers including the Sunday Express and the Mail on Sunday. Travis Perkins was also trading
Read moreSunday newspaper round-up: Enquest, Britain's economy, Bank of England
18th Jan 2015 19:00
EnQuest is cutting spending, jobs and pay in an effort to avoid breaking the terms of its bank loans, the Sunday Times reported. The biggest independent UK North Sea oil producer's shares have fallen 80% since last summer as the price of crude oil collapsed. Investors took fright because of the comp
Read moreSunday share tips: Mitie, UK Mail, Vodafone
18th Jan 2015 18:44
Mitie's shares have fallen but not as fast as those of outsourcing rivals such as Serco and Balfour Beatty, Danny Fortson pointed out in the Sunday Times. Matthew Earl, a former City analyst who writes a blog, criticised Mitie for buying companies to compensate for its own slow progress and for the
Read moreLondon close: Oil and mining stocks lift FTSE as commodity prices rise
16th Jan 2015 16:40
After a weak start, UK stocks rose to their highest in a week as a decent performance from the resource sectors and upbeat US data gave markets a boost. London's FTSE 100 finished the session up 0.8% at 6,550.27, its best close since 8 January when it settled at 6,569.96. Oil and gas stocks were ri
Read moreFTSE 100 movers: BP boosted by lower-than-expected fine, ARM hit by Intel competition
16th Jan 2015 12:53
Oil giant BP was among the risers after the company revealed it faces a maximum penalty of $13.7bn under the Clean Water Act. This follows the District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana ruling on the Deepwater Horizon case, which found that 3.19m barrels of oil were discharged in the Gulf
Read moreLondon midday: BP leads oil stocks higher as crude recovers, FTSE flat
16th Jan 2015 11:41
Decent gains from BP and the wider oil sector helped UK stocks to pare losses by Friday lunchtime, though the mood was still cautious ahead of some key economic figures from the States. BP was on the rise after being handed a smaller-than-expected civil penalty over the Gulf of Mexico oil spill in 2
Read moreLondon open: Stocks open lower ahead of economic data, but BP rises
16th Jan 2015 08:20
Weakness on Wall Street and nervousness ahead of some key US data resulted in a negative start for UK stocks on Friday, though gains from oil major BP limited the decline. BP was on the rise early on after being handed a smaller-than-expected civil penalty over the Gulf of Mexico oil spill in 2010.
Read moreLondon pre-open: Declines expected ahead of key US data
16th Jan 2015 07:36
UK stocks are expected to fall early on after a decent jump, albeit in choppy trading, the previous session as investors await key economic data Stateside. City sources predict the FTSE 100 will open about 35 points lower than yesterday's close of 6,498.78. A surprise decision by the Swiss National
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