28th Apr 2014 10:21
LONDON (Alliance News) - The following is a summary of top news stories Monday.
----------
COMPANIES
----------
US drugs giant Pfizer Inc confirmed that it has now twice approached British peer AstraZeneca PLC with a takeover proposal, and is considering its options after being rebuffed both times. In a statement, Pfizer said it first approached AstraZeneca with a cash and shares offer that valued the British company's shares at GBP46.61, or USD76.62, each on January 5. It said discussions about the approach were limited and ended on January 14. The US company then contacted AstraZeneca again on Saturday in the hope the sides could come up with a takeover proposal that both companies would put to their shareholders, but AstraZeneca again declined to engage with Pfizer, the US company said.
----------
BG Group PLC said Chief Executive Chris Finalyson has resigned with immediate effect for personal reasons. Non-Executive Chairman Andrew Gould has appointed as interim executive chairman until a replacement has been found. In a separate note, ahead of its first quarter results on Thursday, the FTSE 100 oil and gas firm said it is making good progress in Australia, with the start-up of the Ruby Jo central processing plant. However, it said Egypt remains challenging with volumes in the first quarter declining 35% from from the fourth quarter of 2013 to 66 thousand barrels of oil equivalent per day (kboed).
----------
Premier Oil PLC said it has discovered oil offshore Indonesia and gas onshore Pakistan, while the company also rejected Ophir Energy's bid to merge the two businesses together. Ophir Energy confirmed that its proposals to merge businesses with Premier Oil was rejected and said that it is not longer considering making an offer for Premier Oil.
----------
Ultra Electronics Holdings PLC said it will acquire Forensic Technology WAI Inc for CAD94 million in cash, with an additional payment of up to CAD6 million depending on earnings growth of the business over the next two years. The defence, security, transport and energy company said it has agreed to acquire Forensic Technology from private investors and its management team, which includes the company's founder. Ultra said it plans to accelerate the development of Forensic Technology's document security and analytic products capability over the next nine to twelve months.
----------
Balfour Beatty PLC said it has reached financial close on the GBP196 million BC Children's & BC Women's Redevelopment Project, Phase 2, in British Columbia, Canada. The construction giant said it will invest up to GBP8.9 million into the project, which is around 70% of the equity required, while Canadian residential construction services business Ledcor Developments will invest the remaining equity.
----------
Iofina PLC said Chief Executive George Lantz and Chief Finance Officer Gary Gatchell have resigned from their posts with immediate effect following an organisational review. The iodine exploration and production company said Jeffrey Ploen, co-founder and non-executive director, has been appointed interim chief executive officer and president. In addition, Mike Coddington, chief finance director of Iofina's subsidiary Iofina Chemical and the former finance director of the company between 2010 and 2013, has been appointed as finance director.
----------
MARKETS
----------
UK stocks indices are mixed, with standout gainer AstraZeneca bolstering the FTSE 100.
----------
FTSE 100: up 0.3% at 6707.85
FTSE 250: up 0.1% at 15896.15
AIM ALL-SHARE: down 0.4% at 816.19
----------
The pound is at a fresh high against the dollar, while the euro has reached a two-week high boosted in part by rising Italian consumer confidence.
----------
GBP-USD: up at USD1.6847
EUR-USD: up at USD1.3869
GOLD: down at USD1302.07 per ounce
OIL (Brent): up at USD109.93 a barrel
(changes since end of previous GMT day)
----------
ECONOMICS AND GENERAL
----------
UK economic growth continued to gather pace in April, alongside predictions of even stronger growth in the next quarter, the growth indicator from the Confederation of British Industry showed. According to the survey conducted among 675 firms, growth strengthened across the retail and service sectors, while manufacturing output growth remained solid. The balance rose to +25% from +19%. Firms are optimistic that growth will pick up again over the next quarter, with growth expectations rising to a record +42%.
----------
Russian President Vladimir Putin's inner circle will be targeted in the next round of sanctions the US imposes over the Ukraine crisis, a White House security adviser said Sunday. Deputy national security adviser Tony Blinken said in an interview with the NBC television network that he would not rule out that Putin himself might one day become a target while acknowledging that penalizing a country's leader personally is rare. The sanctions could be decided as early as Monday. Among those expected to be on the sanctions list are the head of the state-run oil company Rosneft and the world's largest extractor of natural gas, Gazprom, The New York Times reported, citing unnamed US officials. On Sunday, one of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) observers being held captive by the separatists was released.
----------
German import prices fell the most since August 2013 driven by a sharp decline in energy prices, data from Destatis showed. Import prices fell 3.3% year-on-year in March, the sharpest fall in seven months and exceeded the 2.8% decrease forecast by economists. Prices were down 2.7% in February.
----------
Italian consumer confidence strengthened unexpectedly in April, survey data from the statistical office Istat showed. Consumer sentiment rose unexpectedly to 105.4 in April from revised 101.9 in March. The index was forecast to fall to 100.8 from March's original estimate of 101.7
----------
Retail sales in Japan spiked 11.0% on year in March, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said on Monday, coming in at JPY13.731 trillion. The headline figure was in line with forecasts following the 3.6% gain in February.
----------
The International Monetary Fund said pushing ahead with structural reforms will be critical to reduce vulnerabilities and sustain Asia's growth momentum. In the Regional Economic Outlook for Asia and Pacific, the IMF said the reform agenda varies considerably across economies in the region, but in all cases vigorous implementation will be important.
----------
The air search for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 has been called off because there is no hope of finding wreckage on the ocean surface, officials in Australia said. The hunt for MH370, which vanished March 8 an hour into a night flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people on board, will move underwater. The underwater search is expected to take more than six months.
----------
An Egyptian court sentenced to death 683 supporters of toppled president Mohammed Morsi, including Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohammed Badie, a lawyer said. They were convicted for storming a police station in al-Idwa city, in southern Minya province, and killing a police officer. Only 70 of the accused are in custody, according to lawyers.
----------
Violent thunderstorms packing tornadoes and hail roared through several states in the US Midwest, killing 12 people, officials said
----------
Copyright 2014 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Related Shares:
Balfour BeattyAstrazenecaULE.LIofinaPMO.LBG..L