London open: UK stocks rebound from four-month low
11th Aug 2014 09:03
- FTSE 100 gains after hitting lowest since 15 April - Israel, Hamas agree to 72-hour ceasefire - Chinese inflation unchanged in July - Centrica falls on EDF outage, Balfour rejects Carillion techMARK 2,712.26 +0.67% FTSE 100 6,607.04 +0.60% FTSE 250 15,355.95 +0.74% UK stocks rebounded on Monday
Read moreCentrica profits hit by outage at EDF Energy power stations
11th Aug 2014 08:52
Centrica has said that earnings this year will be affected by a reduction in output from EDF Energy's nuclear power stations. Inspections of so-called 'boiler spines' at EDF Energy's Heysham power plants on the north-west coast of England near Lancaster found an unexpected "defect" in one of the ei
Read moreSunday newspaper round-up: Barclays, Carillion-Balfour, Ofgem
10th Aug 2014 18:30
Rona Fairhead, the former boss of the Financial Times, and Howard Davies, the ex-chief City regulator, are the two leading candidates to chair Barclays, the Sunday Times reported. Fairhead ran the FT for seven years and is a non-executive director at HSBC. Davies is the Government's favourite troubl
Read moreFTSE 100 movers: Pharma stocks drop as regulation looks to derail M&A
6th Aug 2014 14:26
Shire, the pharmaceutical group which has agreed to a £32bn takeover by Abbvie, saw its shares decline sharply on Wednesday on concerns that stricter rules on so-called 'tax inversion' in the States could scupper the deal. Sector peer Astrazeneca, which had recently been the target of a failed £69b
Read moreFriday newspaper round-up: Argentina, Gaza, Shell...
1st Aug 2014 06:37
Argentina's government was in a defiant mood on Thursday after defaulting on its debt for the second time in 13 years. Economy minister Axel Kicillof, speaking after 11th hour talks with bondholders in New York failed to avert a default, played down the impact it would have on the country's citizens
Read moreCentrica profits sink after "challenging" H1, guidance trimmed
31st Jul 2014 08:08
- Adjusted EPS down 29% - Full-year EPS to be 21-22p, below earlier guidance - Interim dividend raised 4% Energy group and British Gas owner Centrica reported a sharp drop in interim profits on the back of "challenging market conditions" as it lowered its earnings guidance for the full year. Adju
Read moreThursday newspaper round-up: Argentina, Centrica, Ukraine...
31st Jul 2014 07:11
Standard & Poor's last night downgraded Argentina's foreign currency rating to selective default as efforts to agree a last-minute deal to avert the country's second default in 12 years appeared close to failure. Argentine officials, led by Axel Kicillof, the economy minister, were in negotiations w
Read moreWednesday newspaper round-up: Sanctions, Centrica, Microsoft...
30th Jul 2014 07:12
EU governments have agreed to impose sweeping sanctions on Russia, targeting state-owned banks, imposing an arms embargo and restricting sales of sensitive technology and the export of equipment for the country's oil industry, in response to Moscow's continued backing for separatists in eastern Ukra
Read moreCentrica confirms BP's Iain Conn as new Chief Executive
29th Jul 2014 16:11
British Gas owner Centrica confirmed on Tuesday the appoitment of BP executive Iain Conn as its new Chief Executive. Conn will join Centrica at the start of January next year, replacing Sam Laidlaw who will retire from the group at the end of this year. He joins from BP, where he has been Chief E
Read moreCentrica moves into US home solar energy market
29th Jul 2014 14:42
Centrica's North American subsidiary, Direct Energy, has moved into the US home solar energy market by buying US business Astrum Solar for £32m. Astrum Solar designs, fits and maintains solar power generating equipment for home use. It has about 4,000 customers, mainly in the north-eastern US and
Read moreSunday newspaper round-up: Home Retail, strong pound, Lloyds Banking Group
27th Jul 2014 18:00
Home Retail Group is considering a sale of its £1.5bn Homebase DIY chain, the Mail on Sunday said. Home Retail wants to concentrate on its core Argos business under new group Chief Executive John Walden, who turned around Argos in the previous two years. Stronger sales and profitability at Homebase
Read moreCentrica subsidiary sells Ontario home services business
25th Jul 2014 07:18
Direct Energy, the North American subsidiary of Centrica, has agreed to sell its Ontario home services business to EnerCare for £300m. The group said the deal offered "an attractive opportunity" to realise value from the Canadian home services business. "With our activities in Ontario no longer
Read moreThursday newspaper round-up: StanChart, Big Six, Centrica...
24th Jul 2014 07:16
The directors of Standard Chartered rushed out a statement last night, giving emphatic support to the chairman Sir John Peace and chief executive Peter Sands amid growing shareholder pressure for heads to roll at the embattled blue-chip bank. Institutional shareholders contacted by The Times said th
Read moreSunday newspaper round-up: Shire, Mothercare, Blinkx, Barclays
6th Jul 2014 17:18
AbbVie is expected to make an improved offer for Shire in the next few days after its Chief Executive Rick Gonzalez visited Shire's biggest investors in London, The Sunday Times said. Gonzalez is back in the US mulling his options after having three bid approaches turned down with the most recent va
Read moreWatchdog fines Centrica's British Gas £1m for mis-selling
4th Jul 2014 10:12
The UK energy regulator has fined Centrica's retail arm British Gas £1m for mis-selling power and gas deals. Ofgem said British Gas had agreed the compensation package after it mis-sold products to customers in Sainsbury's stores nationwide and in the Westfield shopping centre in Shepherds Bush, we
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