21st Mar 2014 11:27
LONDON (Alliance News) - The following is a summary of top news stories Friday.
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COMPANIES
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ITV Chief Executive Adam Crozier's pay for 2013 was almost three times as much as the previous year, as he received more from vested share awards. Crozier, who previously headed Royal Mail Group and the Football Association after an early career at advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi, received a total remuneration of GBP8.4 million for 2013, a rise of 189% from GBP2.9 million in 2012. The steep jump in remuneration was primarily due to the vesting of a larger portion of an award he was given when he joined ITV in 2010. He got GBP4.0 million from this award in 2013, up from GBP658,000 in 2012. He also got GBP2.0 million thanks to the first vesting of shares under ITV's share plan.
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BG Group PLC and Maersk Oil UK have announced that changes set out in the UK Budget have allowed them to develop two new high-pressure high-temperature projects in the North Sea. According to a report from the HM Treasury, the projects will lead to an investment of GBP6 billion across the new fields and both Maersk and BG estimate that the sites will create more than 700 jobs, with 8,000 more jobs being supported along the supply chain.
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Balfour Beatty PLC said its Dubai-based joint venture has won a GBP214 million contract in downtown Dubai for the expansion of the world's largest shopping centre, the Dubai Mall. The FTSE 250-listed infrastructure group said its subsidiary, Dutco Balfour Beatty has be awarded the contract for Emaar Properties PJSC.
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Eagle Eye Solutions Group PLC said it intends to raise up to GBP6 million in a share placing and list for trading on the AIM market, as it announced its conditional acquisition of AIM-listed 2ergo Group PLC's mobile coupon and loyalty business. Eagle Eye said it intends to float on AIM following a share placing raising approximately GBP6 million, with dealings expected to commence in April 2014. Following completion of the offer, it is expected that Eagle will have a free float of at least 30% of the issued share capital of the company.
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MARKETS
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UK stocks are narrowly mixed, shrugging off strong gains posted by Asian and US equities overnight, amid lack of UK macroeconomic data.
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FTSE 100: up 0.4% at 6568.73
FTSE 250: up 0.2% at 16241.45
AIM ALL-SHARE: down 0.4% at 858.73
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GBP-USD: down at USD1.6492
EUR-USD: up at USD1.3788
GOLD: up at USD1340.62 per ounce
OIL (Brent): up at USD106.80 a barrel
(changes since end of previous GMT day)
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ECONOMICS AND GENERAL
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UK budget deficit widened more than expected in February, official data showed. Public sector net borrowing excluding interventions increased to GBP9.3 billion in February from GBP6.5 billion in the same period of last year, the Office for National Statistics said. In January 2014, PSNB showed a negative balance of GBP4.99 billion. The budget deficit was forecast to rise to GBP8.6 billion. For the financial year to date 2013/14, public sector net borrowing excluding temporary effects of financial interventions was GBP87.2 billion. This was GBP17.9 billion higher than the same period in 2012/13, when it was GBP69.3 billion.
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Confidence among British households regarding the value of their homes rose sharply in March, and hit a record high, survey data published by Knight Frank and Markit Economics revealed. The seasonally adjusted house price sentiment index climbed to 61.5 in March from 60.7 in February, and reached the highest level since records started.
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Fitch Ratings on maintained the 'AAA' ratings of the US of America and the 'stable' outlook on the country's ratings, dismissing concerns over a possible downgrade in March. This action resolved the Rating Watch Negative on which the ratings were placed last October, in line with Fitch's previous guidance that this would take place by end-March. Fitch affirmed the top notch rating after the federal debt limit was suspended in February in a timely manner and in a way that avoided casting uncertainty over the full faith and credit of the US
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The signature by Ukraine and the EU of several chapters in a landmark association agreement shows how important the relationship between the two sides is, EU President Herman Van Rompuy says. "Signing political part (of) EU-Ukraine association agreement symbolizes importance of relations and will to take it further," he wrote on Twitter.
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Ukraine Interim Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk was set to sign parts of the highly symbolic deal on closer political ties with the EU, hours after Russia and Western states traded sanctions over actions in Ukraine. Former president Viktor Yanukovych's refusal to sign the text in November prompted the wave of protests that led to his ouster. At the time it included wide-ranging trade concessions which the EU plans to formally grant to Ukraine later this year. Meanwhile, the EU is paving the way to unilaterally lift import duties on Ukrainian goods, in an attempt to bolster the country's faltering economy. Brussels has also outlined economic aid measures that could total EUR11 billion.
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The EU added 12 Russians and Ukrainians Thursday to a list of people hit with travel bans and asset freezes over developments in Crimea, while Russia and the US traded sanctions on key individuals. "Sanctions are not a question of retaliation. They are a foreign policy tool," said EU President Van Rompuy after a meeting in Brussels of the bloc's 28 leaders. "Our goal is to stop Russia's actions against Ukraine." The 12 new names, due to be published Friday, include some "really high-ranking" individuals, Van Rompuy said. It will bring to 33 the total number of people on the EU's sanctions list, which overlaps with US targets, according to French President Francois Hollande. The EU also took steps towards implementing "economic, trade and financial restrictions regarding Crimea," said European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso. This would mean restricting "products from Crimea," said German Chancellor Angela Merkel. The bloc cancelled a planned June 3 summit with Russia, but stopped short of imposing economic sanctions. Such measures would come if Russia further escalates tension in Ukraine, the leaders warned.
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Fitch Ratings lowered its outlook on the Russia economy to 'Negative' from 'Stable', and confirmed the 'BBB' rating, citing the potential impact of the sanctions imposed by the US and the EU on the economy following the annexation of Crimea.
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Standard and Poor's Ratings Services downgraded Russia's rating outlook to 'Negative', citing the possible consequences of the EU and US sanctions on the country's creditworthiness following the incorporation of Crimea. The agency, however, confirmed its 'BBB/A-2' foreign currency and 'BBB+/A-2' local currency ratings on the economy.
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The US Thursday said Russia would only further isolate itself if it withdrew from the Iran nuclear talks because of US sanctions against Russia in the Ukraine crisis. "Were they to amend their posture, they would only further be isolating themselves," a senior administration official told reporters who asked about the issue. Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov Wednesday said he hoped that Washington's sanctions against Russia over its military intervention in Crimea would not affect relations among the five permanent UN Security Council members and Germany during their talks with Iran.
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Syrian government troops have retaken an ancient crusader castle from rebels in the centre of the war-torn country, ending a three-month siege, Syrian state media reported Thursday. President Bashar al-Assad's forces killed dozens of rebels after seizing the 12th-century crusader Fort Krak des Chevaliers - also known as al-Hosn Castle - near the central province of Homs, state television said. Rami Abdel-Rahman, head of the pro-opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said at least 60 people, including 15 rebels, were "killed or injured" as they tried to flee to the Lebanese border. The Krak des Chevaliers was built between 1142 and 1271. UNESCO listed it as a World Heritage site in 2013.
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Lebanon's new government headed by Prime Minister Tammam Salam won Thursday a parliamentary vote of confidence. The session was attended by 101 out of 128 lawmakers, and 96 voted in favour. The government was formed on February 15 after more than 330 days of deadlock between political parties divided over the civil war in neighbouring Syria.
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The Venezuelan opposition party Voluntad Popular (Popular Will) exhorted supporters Thursday to keep up protests against the government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in the face of the arrest of one of its leaders. San Cristobal Mayor Daniel Ceballos was arrested late Wednesday, along with Enzo Scarano, mayor of the city of San Diego, who belongs to a local party. Voluntad Popular leader Leopoldo Lopez was arrested last month after protests started.
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Thailand's Constitutional Court annulled the February 2 general election for failing to hold nationwide voting in every constituency on the same day, court officials said. The court's judges voted 6 to 3 to void the election, which was boycotted by the opposition Democrat Party and could not be held in 28 of 375 constituencies nationwide.
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Australian officials called for more aircraft to join an international posse of ships and planes scouring a 23,000-square-kilometre patch of the southern Indian Ocean for possible debris from a missing Malaysia Airlines plane. John Young from the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) said a switch from radar searching to visual searching meant he needed more than the current group of aircraft from Australia, New Zealand and the US already engaged in the hunt. New Zealand volunteered to send more maritime surveillance planes to augment the 5-strong fleet.
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Standard & Poor's Ratings Services affirmed the sovereign ratings of Greece as the economy is gradually rebalancing with improved services exports and notable budgetary consolidation. S&P maintained its long- and short-term foreign and local currency sovereign credit ratings on Greece at 'B-/B'. The outlook is stable.
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