9th Feb 2015 11:12
LONDON (Alliance News) - The following is a summary of top news stories Monday.
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COMPANIES
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Randgold Resources said pretax profit fell in 2014 on weaker gold prices but it raised its final dividend by 20% and said it is going to continue to commit to "significant expenditure" in 2015. Gold production in the fourth quarter ended December 31 totalled 287,048 ounces compared to 299,320 ounces in the third quarter. Production fell at the Loulo-Gounkoto complex in Mali and Tongon in the Ivory Coast, offset by an increase in production at both Kibali in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Morila in Mali.
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Rolls-Royce Holdings said it has signed three contracts worth up to USD442 million to produce and support LiftSystems for the US's F-35B Lightning II aircraft. The contracts cover low-rate initial production of 17 LiftSystems for the aircraft, along with support services, for two contract periods. It is a deal between Rolls-Royce and Pratt & Whitney, the propulsion provider for the F-35 programme.
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Land Securities Group said its Westgate Oxford Alliance joint venture has confirmed plans to proceed with the GBP440 million development. Land Securities said the joint venture, on which it is working with the Crown Estate, will start preparatory works imminently, with construction set to start in spring this year. The 800,000 square foot retail and leisure scheme in Oxford city centre is due to be completed in autumn 2017, Land Securities said.
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ARM Holdings said it has acquired Dutch security software company Offspark for an undisclosed amount. Offspark focuses on internet-of-things communication security, and its PolarSSL technology is already being used in a number of devices, including sensor modules, communication modules and smartphones, ARM said.
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BG Group said Helge Lund has joined the company as chief executive with immediate effect, which is earlier than originally planned, after he reached an agreement with his former employer. Previously, the company said Lund would join the company on March 2, but following an agreement between Lund and Norwegian state-owned energy company Statoil ASA, he has now joined the company earlier than expected.
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The roll-out of superfast broadband, meaning a connection with speeds of more than 24 megabits per second, is on track to cover 95% of the UK by 2017, with four out of five UK properties current having access, according to figures published by the UK government. Around 80% of the UK already has access to superfast broadband, according to the figures. The government is currently undertaking a GBP1.7 billion investment in rolling out superfast broadband with BT Group.
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MARKETS
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UK shares trade broadly lower as a defiant speech by Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras to the country's Parliament unnerves investors, while FTSE-100 gold miners are rebounding from losses on Friday despite a poor set of Chinese trade data.
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FTSE 100: down 0.7% at 6,809.69
FTSE 250: down 0.8% at 16,561.73
AIM ALL-SHARE: down 0.1% at 699.99
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GBP-USD: down at USD1.5221
EUR-USD: down at USD1.1323
GOLD: up at USD1241.47 per ounce
OIL (Brent): down at USD57.64 a barrel
(changes since end of previous GMT day)
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ECONOMICS AND GENERAL
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China's trade surplus rose to a record high in January as imports plunged at the fastest rate in more than five years and exports also unexpectedly declined, figures from the customs office showed. The trade surplus came in at USD60 billion in January, more than the USD48.20 billion expected by economists. In December, the surplus was at USD49.61 billion. Exports fell 3.3% year-over-year in January, in contrast to the 5.8% rise expected by economists. Imports plunged 20%, much faster than the 3.2% drop forecast by economists. The decline in imports was the fastest since May 2009.
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Germany's trade surplus, exports and imports reached record highs in 2014, provisional data from Destatis revealed. Exports increased 3.7% to EUR1.134 trillion in 2014 and imports climbed 2% to EUR916.5 billion. In 2014, export and import levels were higher than the previous all-time highs recorded in 2012. The foreign trade balance showed a surplus of EUR217.0 billion in 2014, which was the highest value ever recorded. In December, exports recovered from November, while imports slid unexpectedly. Exports were up 3.4%, reversing a 2.2% drop in November. Meanwhile, imports dropped 0.8% after rising 1.2% a month ago. Economists had forecast exports to grow 1% and imports to rise 0.2% in December. As a result, the trade surplus increased to a seasonally adjusted EUR21.8 billion from EUR17.9 billion in the prior month.
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Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said he still considers an agreement with EU countries on Greece's debt crisis possible despite reservations within the EU. Tsipras also told Parliament in Athens Sunday that Greece would propose a bridge deal to its EU partners to secure government funding until June. Greece risks running out of cash by the middle of the year unless a review of the country's progress in meeting the terms of its current bailout is completed by the end of February.
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Finance ministers from the euro area will hold an extraordinary meeting on Wednesday to discuss the situation in Greece, Dutch Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem said on Twitter late Friday. Ministers will exchange their views on the future course of action on the Greek bailout, which is set to expire on February 28. On the following day, EU leaders including Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras will meet in Brussels.
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Australia's conservative leader got to keep his job and earned a new nickname: Tick Tock Tony. Prime Minister Tony Abbott survived a confidence vote brought by backbenchers of his Liberal Party who are disillusioned with his performance. Political commentators and insiders warned that the most recent round of party infighting was unlikely to be the last. Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said the clock was ticking for "Tick Tock Tony."
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EU foreign ministers disagree on the need to supply weapons to Ukrainian government forces, with many expressing hope Monday that fresh talks between Kiev and Russia will deliver peace. The rift on whether to send Kiev weapons was also expected to be a focus of talks between German Chancellor Angela Merkel and US President Barack Obama at the White House later Monday, as a growing chorus in Washington calls for the deliveries. "Sending arms to one party inevitably pushes the other party to get more arms from other suppliers," Slovak Foreign Minister Miroslav Lajcak said ahead of talks in Brussels with his EU counterparts. "Let's give a chance to political negotiations."
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Chinese President Xi Jinping plans to pay his first state visit to the US later this year, state media quoted a top diplomat as saying. The date has yet to be released but arrangements are now being made between Beijing and Washington for Xi's expected trip, Cui Tiankai, China's ambassador to the US, told Chinese reporters.
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Coalition forces fighting the Islamic State have recaptured 22% of the populated areas that the extremist group once held in the region, US Secretary of State John Kerry said in an interview. Kerry said the territory was recaptured without the launch of a major offensive. The coalition also has "taken out a significant proportion" of top leadership of Islamic State and hit its command and control facilities, he added. Speaking on NBC, Kerry said progress made thus far showed the US-led coalition was "on the road" to defeating the group.
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The Niger army repelled a new attack by the Islamist group Boko Haram near the Nigerian border, a military source said on Sunday, one day after Nigeria postponed elections citing security concerns. Sunday's fighting in Diffa lasted for more than four hours, said the source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. Nigeria on Saturday postponed its presidential and parliamentary elections from February 14 to March 28, citing security concerns in north-eastern areas where Boko Haram could prevent people from voting.
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