Aggreko said events such as the Vancouver Winter Olympics and the soccer World Cup, for which it provided generators and chillers, brought its Local Business unit £48m ($74m) in revenues in the first half. “We believe that we will make further good progress in the second half and the outcome for the year as a whole will be slightly better than our previous expectations,” Chairman Philip Rogerson said in a statement. “What’s led us to nudge our views forward is that our local business seems to be over the worst and rates, which took a hammering last year, are coming back up”, CEO Soames told reporters. A Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S poll...
Chilean miner Antofagasta has posted a near doubling in first-half earnings per share on higher production and a rebound in prices, but trimmed its annual production target “Group copper production from the three operating mines is expected to be approximately 530,000 tonnes, slightly below the forecast of 543,000 tonnes announced in March, reflecting updated forecasts at Los Pelambres and El Tesoro,” a statement said. The London-listed group said earnings per share for the first six months rose 92 percent to 46 cents from 24 cents last year on a 50 percent rise in turnover to $1.76bn. Earnings were largely in line with an average forecas...
South African President Jacob Zuma has called for greater investment in his country from China, as South Africa seeks to narrow its trade deficit with Beijing and bring growth to its sluggish economy. South Africa is looking for expanded trade that will help it meet its development needs, especially by improving infrastructure and livelihoods, Zuma told a forum of business executives from China and South Africa. “China is indeed a key strategic partner for South Africa, and South Africa is open for business in a big way,” he said, on the first full day of a trip to China. For Beijing, Zuma’s visit is an opportunity to consolidate ties...
The International Monetary Fund is to review Pakistan’s budget and macroeconomic prospects following catastrophic flooding during talks with senior Pakistani officials in Washington. The meetings are set to focus on the future of Pakistan’s $10.66bn IMF programme agreed upon in 2008, which faced hiccups over meeting the fiscal deficit target even before the floods hit. The disaster is set to compound Pakistan’s economic problems as the government is forced to deal with more than four million homeless and widespread damage to crops and infrastructure. Here are some scenarios that could emerge from the meetings:The IMF agrees to ease targ...
HSBC will buy up to 70 percent of South Africa’s Nedbank, in a potential $6.8bn deal that would give Europe’s largest lender a bigger presence in Africa’s top economy and a gateway to the fast-growing continent. HSBC and Anglo-South African insurer Old Mutual, which owns a controlling stake in Nedbank, said in separate statements that they were in exclusive talks about the deal. Old Mutual said HSBC could acquire up to 70 percent of South Africa’s fourth-largest bank, a deal that could be worth about 49.9 billion rand ($6.8bn), given Nedbank’s current market value. It was not immediately clear whether HSBC would get the necessary cl...
For a company originally founded in 1837, the National Commercial Bank Jamaica still has the nimbleness to outpace its rivals: not just Best Banking Group, Jamaica and Most Innovative Bank, Jamaica in the 2010 World Finance awards, but the current recipient from the Jamaica Employer’s Federation of the titles Employer of Choice and company with the highest employee satisfaction. The Employer of Choice survey, says Patrick Hylton, Group Managing Director at National Commercial Bank Jamaica, focuses on areas that include opportunities for training and development, communication, compensation, treatment of workers by management, health, safety...
Chile’s Global Services industry has grown over 86 percent in the last 3 years putting Chile as the regional leader in this industry. More than 60 world-class companies have chosen the country because of the outstanding pro business environment, talent pool and government support. Given the growing dynamism of this industry and the success stories of countries such as India and Ireland, in 2000 Chile began promoting foreign investment in high technology, highlighting the political and economic stability of the country, its modern telecommunication infrastructure, and the skills of its human resource. As a result, the global services industr...
Global miners BHP and Rio expect the iron ore joint venture in Western Australia will fail to get regulatory approval, the Sydney Morning Herald reports. The joint venture would generate $5bn in cost savings annually for BHP and comes as the world’s largest diversified miner launches a $39bn hostile bid for Potash Corp. Albanese, speaking to reporters on the sidelines of an industry conference in Shanghai, said the technical arguments for the iron ore joint venture remained strong. “The synergies are worth striving for, we’re going to continue to strive to attain those synergies,” Albanese said. “We’re going to do everything we ca...
Over the last 30 years, the BVI has established itself as a leading offshore financial centre, offering one of the most sophisticated and convenient frameworks for international businesses. The business environment is supported by a sound legal system, efficient and efective regulatory environment, stable government and quality infrastructure. Over the last two decades the BVI has worked to diversify its financial service products and has seen strong growth in the areas of trust and estate planning, mutual funds and captive insurance. By recent estimates, 50 percent of all currency transactions processed internationally involve offshore finan...
After more than a century of relentlessly meeting and satisfying customers’ needs, FirstBank of Nigeria Plc (FirstBank) has continued to adapt and innovate to meet the different challenges and opportunities presented by different generations of customers, competitors and other stakeholders, thus assuring not only its longevity but also sustaining its market leadership. With over 5 million customers, ten financial subsidiaries, 581 locations in Nigeria, and presence in the UK, France, South Africa and China, the bank is arguably the country’s most diversified full-suite financial services group. The aspiration of its holistic brand transfo...