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EDF To Raise Gas And Electricity Prices

Written By Unknown on Sabtu, 27 Oktober 2012 | 12.06

Energy giant EDF is to increase prices for householders by an average of 10.8%.

The rise, gas and electricity, around four times the rate of inflation, is set to be implemented on December 7.

EDF, which has 3.1 million customers and 5.5 million accounts overall, said its annual dual fuel bill was the lowest of the suppliers to have announced price rises so far.

Companies have blamed the changes on rising wholesale prices and increased running costs - especially for transporting gas and electricity to customers' homes - and the cost of energy efficiency programmes.

Martin Lawrence, EDF managing director of energy sourcing and customer supply, said: "We know that customers will not welcome this news and do not want to see prices going up.

"Our new prices will, however, be cheaper on average than those of all the other major suppliers which have announced standard price rises so far this autumn.

"We've taken extra measures to make sure the most vulnerable benefit from the best deals and we continue to help customers reduce their bills with energy efficiency measures."

Earlier this month Npower became the third of the so-called Big Six energy firms to confirm steep rises in its gas and electricity bills ahead of winter.

It said bills would increase by an average 8.8% for gas and 9.1% for electricity from November 26.

Just hours beforehand British Gas confirmed that its average dual fuel tariff would rise by 6% - or £80 annually - from November 16.

The Big Six - British Gas, EDF, E.On, NPower, Scottish Power and SSE - control 99% of the UK's domestic energy supplies.

E.ON is the only big supplier yet to announce price rises after it made a promise not to raise tariffs this year.

Last week the energy regulator Ofgem said it would make the market "simpler, clearer and fairer" for consumers.

The promise follows a call by the Prime Minister to energy giants to overhaul confusing tariff systems.


12.06 | 0 komentar | Read More

Tearful 'Rogue Trader' Tells Of UBS Losses

A trader accused of Britain's biggest fraud was allegedly trying to cover millions of pounds worth of losses incurred during the financial crisis for the bank he called his "family", a court has heard.

Kweku Adoboli, 32, is accused of gambling away £1.4bn while working as a trader for Swiss bank UBS.

At one point, he was at risk of causing the bank losses of $12bn (£7.5bn), jurors at Southwark Crown Court were told.

Adoboli wept as he gave evidence for the first time at his trial, in which he claimed his off-book trades were to cover $40m (£24.9m) annual losses of his portfolio of companies from 2008.

The court heard that by 2007 Adoboli, aged just 27, and more senior trader John Hughes, 25, were in charge of a portfolio of companies with assets of $50bn (£31.1bn).

"Our book was massive. A tiny mistake led to huge losses. We were these two kids trying to make it work," he said.

Mr Adoboli, wearing a dark suit and red tie, denied he was a "gambler" and said his knowledge of UBS's systems did not result in "fraudulent behaviour".

Fighting back tears, he said: "It's hard to find the words to describe the relationship I had with UBS as an organisation. It isn't about a bank. It was about what I thought was my family, considering how much (I) neglected my real friends and family.

"Every single bit of effort I put into that organisation was for the benefit of the bank, the people around me and the book I worked on.

"If I was not so proud to work for UBS, I would never put so much effort trying to convince them that we could achieve something at this bank."

He added: "To find yourself in Wandsworth Prison for nine months because all you did was work so hard for this bank..." before stopping as he broke down in tears.

Mr Adoboli is facing two counts of fraud and four counts of false accounting between October 2008 and September 2011, allegedly gambling away the money on high-risk illegal trades aimed at boosting his annual bonuses and job prospects.

The former public schoolboy worked for UBS's global synthetic equities division, buying and selling exchange traded funds (ETFs), which track different types of stocks, bonds or commodities such as metals.

Ghanaian-born Mr Adoboli enjoyed a rapid rise at UBS after completing an internship while a student at Nottingham University in 2002, the court heard.

Mr Adoboli told the court he feared UBS would not survive $52bn (£32.3bn) losses incurred in 2007-08 as the banking crisis took hold.

He said: "The effect on the organisation was incredible. There were times we thought there was no way the organisation would survive. I grew up with UBS. I felt very loyal to UBS.

"What could we do to help this organisation survive this incredible crisis?"

The trial continues.


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Ford Confirms 1,400 Job Losses In The UK

Written By Unknown on Jumat, 26 Oktober 2012 | 12.06

Ford confirms it will make 1,400 employees redundant in the UK following the closure of two British factories.

The US company's Southampton plant in Swaythling, which has made Transit vans since 1972, will close next summer with a loss of more than 500 jobs.

Its stamping plant in Dagenham, which presses sheets of metal used to make the vans in Southampton, will be shut down at the same time.

It marks the end of more than a century of vehicle production in the UK by Ford, which will make only engines and other car parts in Britain from mid-2013.

The president and chief executive of Ford, Alan Mulally, was due to hold a conference call later.

"Using the same One Ford plan that led to strong profitability in North America, we will address the crisis in Europe with a laser focus on new products, a stronger brand and increased cost efficiency," he said in a statement.

"We recognise the impact our actions will have on many employees and their families in Europe, and we will work together with all stakeholders during this necessary transformation of our business." 

The move, revealed by Sky News on Wednesday, has been met with anger by unions representing the workers affected.

The Chairman of Ford of Britain, Joe Greenwell, told Jeff Randall Live

"All redundancies are voluntary. We are putting in place teams at our plants in order to work with individual employees on the best course of action for each of them."

Joe Greenwell also said:

"We have since 2007 had a 20 percent decline in sales in Europe. That's exacerbated an excess of cars. Our capacity utilisation is too low. The reality is against this background of demand we can't sustain two transit plants in the Ford portfolio."

Unite's general secretary Len McCluskey accused Ford of betraying its workforce. 

"Only a few months ago Ford was promising staff a new Transit model for Southampton in 2014," he said.

"The planned closures will really hurt the local economies and the supply chain will be badly hit - up to 10,000 jobs could be at risk."

The national officer of the GMB union, Justin Bowden, added: "This is devastating news for the workers in Southampton and Dagenham and is very bad news for UK manufacturing.

"Ford's track record in Britain is one of broken promises and factory closures. There will be a feeling of shock and anger, and Ford's commitment on investment will cut little ice."

Caroline Nokes, Conservative MP for Romsey and Southampton, described the news as a "bitter blow".

"It is critically important that we do everything we can to help those affected," she said.

"The closure will have a significant impact on employment.

"These 500 employees have broadly similar skills and it is very important that they are given the maximum support possible."

But Ford, which employs 11,400 people at sites across the UK, had some good news for its British workforce.

It confirmed the next generation of diesel engines would be built in the UK, safeguarding thousands of jobs.

The carmaker is in the process of restructuring its European operations following a slump in demand, and on Wednesday announced that it would shut down its "under-utilised" factory in Genk, Belgium, resulting in 4,300 job losses.

It hopes the three plant closures - which represent 18% of Ford's production capacity in Europe - will save between $450m (£279m) and $500m (£309m) in annual costs.

The company warned its European operations would lose in excess of $1.5bn (£0.9bn) this year.


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Apple And Amazon Earnings Disappoint

US technology and retail giants Apple and Amazon have posted quarterly earnings that were below Wall Street expectations.

Apple missed analysts' forecasts for the second straight quarter after sales of iPads disappointed.

This was blamed on the weak economy and consumers waiting for the highly anticipated launch of the new smaller and cheaper iPad Mini, announced earlier this week.

Net income over the last three months was $8.2bn (£5bn), or $8.67 per share, up from $6.6bn a year ago. Analysts were expecting earnings of $8.84 per share.

Revenue at the California firm was $36bn (£22bn), up 27% from a year ago. This was broadly in line with forecasts of $35.8bn.

Apple revealed it sold 26.9 million iPhones in the quarter, at the high end of expectations, and 14 million iPads.

Chief Financial Officer Peter Oppenheimer said they were "happy" with iPad sales, but added "as the summer went on, the rumours were pretty rampant about the iPhone (5) and iPad (Mini)".

He said the results were, in part, due to the introduction of so many new products at once, which would have more costly production lines and components initially.

As well as unveiling the iPad Mini this week, Apple announced an upgraded full-size iPad, plus a new MacBook laptop and two desktop Macs. It also launched the iPhone 5 a month ago.

Meanwhile, Amazon reported weak results in its third quarter after spending heavily and suffering from the economic slowdown in the eurozone.

The world's largest online retailer posted a loss of $274m (£170m) in the July to September period, down from earnings of $63m (£39m) a year earlier.

Part of the loss related to an impairment charge from Amazon's stake in daily deal company LivingSocial. It was also due to investment in its Kindle and distribution centres in an attempt to grow its business.

Revenue grew 27% to $13.81bn (£11.7bn), from $10.88bn (£6.75bn), falling short of analysts' expectations.

Amazon said its Kindle Fire HD tablet is its best-selling product worldwide, but as usual, it did not give specific sales figures. It has a larger version of the device out next month.

"Our approach is to work hard to charge less. Sell devices near breakeven and you can pack a lot of sophisticated hardware into a very low price point," founder and CEO Jeff Bezos said in a statement.

In its results announcement Amazon included a list trumpeting its high-definition Kindle Fires as cheaper than the iPad Mini and with more features.

But commentators pointed out that Apple's iPad has a much wider selection of third-party apps.

:: In South Korea, there was better news for Samsung Electronics which posted record third quarter profits of $5.97bn (£3.7bn), driven by strong sales of its Galaxy phones, extending its lead over rivals in the smartphone market.


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Petrol Prices Cut By Up To 2p By Supermarkets

Written By Unknown on Kamis, 25 Oktober 2012 | 12.06

Supermarkets across the UK have lowered their petrol prices following a fall in the wholesale cost of fuel.

Asda was the first to announce it would cut up to 2p off a litre of petrol, saying customers would pay no more than 133.7p.

Rivals Sainsbury's and Tesco followed with similar pledges of up-to-2p price reductions.

The AA broadly welcomed the move, but urged other retailers to do the same.

"Unless the rest of the market reflects the lower cost, it's a case of the same old story - prices up like a rocket, falling like a feather," the AA's head of public affairs, Paul Watters, said.

The roadside recovery group is in the process of providing information to the Office of Fair Trading, which is investigating whether a fall in oil prices is being passed on to motorists.

"Last week, our fuel-price report pointed to a 4p drop in petrol wholesale prices working its way through the system," Mr Watters said.

"UK average petrol pump prices reached a late summer high of around 140p a litre in mid-September and sat there for more than a fortnight.

"More than a month on, the average petrol price yesterday was down to only 138.70p a litre."

Asda cut its petrol prices by 3p a litre at the end of September and other retailers said they would follow suit.

Meanwhile, average diesel prices have fallen by 1p a litre - almost exactly reflecting the late summer fall in diesel wholesale costs, according to the AA.


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GDP Boosted By Olympics But Outlook Gloomy

How GDP Is Compiled Really Matters

Updated: 11:12pm UK, Wednesday 24 October 2012

By Ed Conway, Economics Editor

I've covered economics for a decade or so, but I confess that until very recently I didn't really know what GDP really is.

I mean, like most of you I knew it was the broadest and most widely-used measure of our economy's health; that it determines whether we're officially in recession or not (two or more quarters of shrinking GDP equals a recession).

I knew it was the sum of everything spent, earned or made in Britain.

What I didn't know was how it's actually put together.

I guess I vaguely assumed - and I don't think I'm entirely alone - that the Office for National Statistics had some kind of electronic hotline into British business, some privileged access to their numbers, which in turn became the Gross Domestic Product number.

Turns out I was monumentally wrong.

For it transpires that GDP - that big number we're all so focused on, the figure that tells us whether we're in a recession or booming, that can end a political career and swing an election - is actually a big, big survey.

I know this because earlier this month I spent some time in the ONS headquarters in Newport with the team who put together this most significant of all numbers.

For the first time, they allowed cameras into their offices to show how GDP really comes into being - and the genesis might well surprise you.

At this point it might be worth explaining why this matters so much: there is arguably no other number out there that can swing the financial markets quite so much, that can influence Britain's feelgood factor, that dominates the headlines and strikes fear into politicians.

And yet there are many people who question whether we can really rely on the numbers.

Some economists argue that the GDP figures in recent months have painted a far more negative picture of the UK economy than is actually the case.

Some argue that Britain never really experienced a double-dip recession - but that this reality will only ever be confirmed many years into the future when the ONS revises those initial estimates.

So how GDP is put together really matters. And it all starts with the pounds in your pockets.

For the first estimate of GDP - the one today - is created from data collected in surveys of tens of thousands of surveys from businesses around the country - whether they're manufacturers, construction firms, retailers or others.

Each month a large sample of them is asked by the ONS to tell them their turnover (how much money is going through the till), along with a few other industry-specific questions which form part of the retail sales, manufacturing output and other releases.

The turnover number is what matters from the perspective of GDP. They fill the relevant questionnaire in and post it to the ONS (they can also submit the data through an automated telephone system).

When those envelopes arrive there the questionnaires are scanned and the numbers go into the ONS' systems.

The problem is that by the time that first estimate needs to be produced, the ONS only has 44% of the relevant data (the rest arrives in dribs and drabs over the following months, hence the revisions). In particular, the ONS only has early responses for the final month of the quarter.

So there are some pretty big gaps to be filled, and the ONS has to make some estimates about what the other data will eventually say when it comes in.

It relies for this on computer models, backed up by assumptions and calculations from the ONS staff themselves. After they make these calls they meet and discuss them in so-called "balancing meetings": the statisticians ask each other whether the data are reliable and their assumptions have foundation.

During this entire period, those GDP assumptions and the ultimate figure are kept locked up (quite literally - there are safes into which they are put) such that only a dozen or so statisticians actually know the number before it comes out.

So far as anyone knows, there has never been a leak of a number as sensitive as this from the ONS. But 24 hours before the figures are published, selected ministers and officials also get a look.

The figures are revised again a month after that initial release, and then again a month later. During that period, more information has come in from quarterly surveys which measure families' and businesses' incomes, and other spending data.

As I said, GDP can be measured in terms of what we spend, what we earn and what we make - they should all add up to the same number, since what one person buys another person sells. And the extra data furnishes that initial estimate and, occasionally, contradicts it.

The ONS maintains that its record of revisions is acceptable by international standards. It points out that its surveys have far more respondents than those put together by independent competitors.

But some, most notably Kevin Daly of Goldman Sachs, argue that it has a tendency to revise the more distant history so substantially that often periods we thought at the time were slumps were actually booms.

A case in point is the early 1990s: at the time, the ONS said the UK was suffering a double-dip recession.

But by the end of the millennium it had revised its assessment: far from slumping, the UK was actually bouncing back forcefully at that point. When Norman Lamont referred to "green shoots", it turns out he was absolutely right.

Today, the GDP figures have been telling an altogether different story to the unemployment figures, which seem to suggest there never was a double-dip. Based on precedent, we are unlikely to know the definitive story for years to come.

Which implies that the ONS, and the way it puts together this most important of all numbers, will remain in the spotlight for the foreseeable future.


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Facebook Revenue Grows By A Third To £790m

Written By Unknown on Rabu, 24 Oktober 2012 | 12.06

Facebook's revenue has grown by almost a third over the last three months to £790m ($1.26bn), according to its latest results.

The 32% increase during its third-quarter came as the company reignited advertising growth with the help of larger-than-expected gains in mobile.

The company's shares leapt 9% to £13.31 ($21.22) in after-hours trading on Tuesday.

Facebook saw advertising revenue increase 36% year-on-year to £684m ($1.09bn), but revenue from its payments and other businesses increased just 13% to £110m ($176m).

Mobile revenue made up 14% of total advertising sales, which analysts said came in above their expectations.

Social media expert Caroline Baxter said: "With mobile usage growing exponentially, Facebook has to find a way to monetise more effectively without crowding the limited space there is.

Mark Zuckerberg Mark Zuckerberg highlighted the increase in revenue from mobile phones

"The fact that (Facebook chief executive) Mark Zuckerberg led with mobile in his statement shows how important it is.

"Despite signing up its one billionth user earlier this month, Facebook has experienced a phenomenal fall from grace since its IPO.

"But these stronger than expected numbers suggest that Facebook has maybe started to find its way. But it still faces a major challenge.

"One billion users is both Facebook's biggest asset and its biggest liability.

"A seventh of the world's population is a lot of people to get on the wrong side of as Facebook seeks to maximise the amount it makes through paid advertising to satisfy its increasingly vocal investors."

The world's most popular online social network company posted a net loss of £37m ($59m), in the three months up to September 30. It reported a profit of £142m ($227m) a year earlier.


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Equal Pay Ruling Could Benefit Thousands

By Adele Robinson, Sky Reporter

The Supreme Court is due to make a decision on unequal pay claims that could pave the way for thousands more women across the country to get compensation.

Birmingham City Council has appealed against a ruling by the Court of Appeal to allow claims to go through civil courts instead of only through employment tribunals.

At the moment people are only allowed to make claims through tribunals within six months of employment. Through civil courts people would be able to claim within six years.

It would mean more women like Vera Box, a former care assistant for Birmingham City Council, could make a claim for unequal pay despite having sought legal advice more than six months after retirement.

"If that case is won it would be a gateway for many more people to put in a claim. And I really hope that we do win this claim," she said.

Vera retired in 2005 after 11 years. She says when she found out she may have been paid thousands of pounds less than a man on the same pay grade she was angry. She is one woman out of many who say they were excluded from bonuses.

"I still feel quite bitter about it really because when you're on the same pay grade as someone and they are getting paid a lot more it just doesn't seem fair," she said.

"It was alot of money it could have made a hell of a difference to our lives in retirement."

Several thousand Birmingham City Council staff won their case for equal pay at a tribunal in 2010.

The council said the ruling related to its old bonus structure which had been removed.

Chris Benson, a partner at Leigh Day & Co, who is representing hundreds of ex-workers in Birmingham as well as thousands of others in many other local authorities including Wolverhampton, Blackpool and the London Borough of Croydon said: "We look forward to the verdict and hope that, if we are successful, Birmingham City Council will settle these equal pay claims."


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Insurance Report: AA Says It's Good And Bad News

Written By Unknown on Selasa, 23 Oktober 2012 | 12.06

Car insurance costs are going down but home insurance premiums are rising, it has been revealed.

Taking an average of the cheapest five premiums, the average fully-comprehensive car insurance policy fell 2.9% to £844 in the period July-September 2012 compared with the previous three months, according to AA Insurance.

But after a summer of storms and floods, a similar survey of home buildings insurance revealed an average rise of 2.4% to £181, while home contents insurance rose 1% to £242.

Over the late-summer period, young male drivers saw their premiums fall 0.7% to £1,603 on average, while those for young women fell 2.2% to £1,127.

All regions of the UK saw average car insurance premiums fall except Anglia, where they rose 1.4%.

Scotland remains the cheapest region in which to buy car insurance (averaging £438) while Greater Manchester and Liverpool are the most expensive areas (£1,059).

On home buildings insurance, the AA reported a rise in every region in the UK this late-summer period.

The biggest regional increase, of 3.5% to £177, was in Yorkshire and East Anglia, while London and south east England were the regions with the highest average premiums (up 2.9% to £200).

Wales and the West Country had the cheapest home building premiums - up 1.1% to £157.

AA Insurance director Simon Douglas said: "I am very concerned that no agreement has yet been reached in finding an affordable option to the 'statement of principles' between the insurance industry and the Government, which ensures that families in flood-prone properties can continue to obtain flood cover.

"This expires in June next year and if no agreement is reached soon, could lead to the most vulnerable homes becoming uninsurable."


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Gardeners Blamed For Spreading Potato Blight

Written By Unknown on Senin, 22 Oktober 2012 | 12.06

By Emma Birchley, East of England Correspondent

Allotment holders who fail to deal with blight-ridden potato plants have been blamed for spreading the fungal infection to farmers' fields.

If it is not detected, blight can destroy crops and the spores can quickly spread 30 miles or more in the wind.

Tackle it the right way and it can be controlled, but the Potato Council says some home and allotment growers are failing to spot the signs in time.

"If someone on an allotment has a blighted plant, a single leaf on that plant can produce 120,000 spores," said the organisation's director Rob Clayton.

"They can blow around in the wind and in warm, wet conditions they can infect neighbouring plants, neighbouring allotments and the whole neighbourhood."

Rob Clayton. Rob Clayton says some gardeners are not spotting the signs

The muggy, damp conditions of this summer have been the perfect breeding ground for the fungal infection.

Susanna Colaco has had an allotment in Cambridge since 1986. She has never known a year like it for blight. But she is angry that the finger is being pointed at growers like her.

"I think allotment holders are very responsible.

"On this site we purchase certified seed stock from our allotment trading hut and we are very careful that at the first sign of blight we inform all the members on site and ask them to remove foliage and to be vigilant."

That foliage must then be burnt, deeply buried or binned. It can even go in the council's compost bin as the contents are heated to a high temperature.

But infected leaves or rotten potatoes must never be put on the compost heap.

Susanna Colaco. Gardener Susanna Colaco says allotment holders are very responsible

"If somebody throws a rotten potato on a compost heap at this time of year it can sprout ... and it can kick off a whole cycle of infection from next year on," said Mr Clayton.

Late blight, as it is known, or phytophthora infestans, is the type which destroyed vital potato crops in Ireland in the mid-19th century causing the Great Famine. A million people died.

Farmers expect to lose around 7% of their crop to blight, but this year the loss is predicted to be more like 10%.

And the usual £55m cost of coping with the fungal infection is likely to increase to around £80m.

Potatoes are already 11% more expensive than they were this time last year and the price is expected to rise significantly higher as the impact of the increased farming costs filter through to the shops and markets.


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Anglo American To Discuss Future Of Boss

By Mark Kleinman, City editor

The board of Anglo American, the FTSE 100 mining group, will this week discuss demands to replace its chief executive amid growing shareholder concern over her leadership.

I have learned that Anglo American directors will consider issues including investor feedback about Cynthia Carroll at a board meeting in Brazil which begins on Tuesday.

The company has been under pressure in recent months to accelerate succession planning amid growing unrest over the performance of Ms Carroll, who has served as its chief executive since 2007.

This weekend, a number of senior City sources said that plans for Ms Carroll to step down could be announced within a matter of weeks. A person close to Anglo insisted that the board meeting was routine and that a wide range of issues would be on the agenda.

Ms Carroll is being targeted by institutions unhappy with the company's strategy, falling profitability and share price, and repeated delays to production from Minas Rio, an iron ore project that is among the company's most important growth prospects but which is now years behind schedule.

Some investors are also annoyed about the handling of a settlement in August with the Chilean government over a copper asset, although it was broadly seen as a decent compromise deal.

Sir John Parker, the respected industrialist who has chaired Anglo since being brought in to defend it against a hostile takeover bid from Xstrata in 2009, has had extensive discussions with shareholders in recent months.

"He appears to have got the message," one institutional investor told me this weekend. "There have been signals from the company that there will be change at the top – and soon."

Some investors have floated the idea of parachuting in Alex Vanselow, the former chief financial officer of BHP Billiton, the world's biggest mining group, to replace Ms Carroll. A person close to Anglo said such an idea was "not currently being considered".

Like other miners with a presence in the country, Anglo has been hit hard by recent industrial unrest in South Africa. Last month, Anglo Platinum, which is majority-owned by Anglo American, suspended its operations there in an attempt to protect the safety of tens of thousands of staff.

Ms Carroll, who regularly features in lists of the world's most influential businesswomen, joined Anglo at the beginning of 2007, and in March will mark her sixth anniversary in the job.

She is also a non-executive director of BP, the oil company which is this weekend finalising details of a deal to sell its Russian joint venture stake to the state-backed energy group Rosneft.

A former executive at Alcan, an aluminium producer that was bought by Rio Tinto, one of Anglo's main rivals, Ms Carroll also chairs Anglo Platinum and De Beers, two Anglo subsidiaries.

Since her arrival as the first woman and the first non-South African to run Anglo, she has overseen a sweeping shake-up of Anglo's operations, improving its safety record and tidying up a string of minority shareholdings owned by the company.

The company's share price performance has been poor, however, lagging behind that of several rivals.

Ms Carroll's supporters point to the spate of recent announcements from large mining companies announcing decisions to rein in capital spending amid soaring costs.

A source close to Anglo also said that recent engagement with shareholders in South Africa and the US had provided "some encouraging feedback about [Cynthia's] strategy and stewardship".

If Ms Carroll does step down in the near future, it would have broader implications given Government and European efforts to promote female corporate leadership.

Ms Carroll is one of just four women running companies in the UK's blue-chip index, while another, Dame Marjorie Scardino of Pearson, recently announced her intention to retire in the coming months.

People close to Anglo concede that there is little chance of Ms Carroll's successor being appointed from within the company, regardless of the timing.

Anglo declined to comment.


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BP Hones Tie-Up With Russia's Rosneft

Written By Unknown on Minggu, 21 Oktober 2012 | 12.06

By Mark Kleinman, City Editor

BP is in talks to secure an indemnity against legal claims from a group of Russian oligarchs as part of a £16bn deal that would cement a partnership between two of the world's biggest oil companies.

BP and Rosneft, the Kremlin-backed oil giant, are this weekend locked in talks aimed at finalising what will become one of the most significant alliances ever struck in the energy industry.

I understand that part of the discussions is focused on securing an indemnity for BP against ongoing litigation from the oligarchs who own AAR, BP's existing Russian partner.

The oligarchs, who include some of Russia's most powerful businessmen, own the remaining 50% of TNK-BP. As Sky News revealed this week, they have struck a preliminary agreement to sell their shares to Rosneft.

It is unlikely that Rosneft would fully cover future legal claims against BP made by the oligarchs, but analysts believe AAR would be unlikely to pursue any action if BP strikes a formal deal with Rosneft that has the backing of Vladimir Putin, the Russian president.

People close to the talks between BP and Rosneft cautioned that there "remain a lot of moving parts", and that an announcement as early as Monday looked possible, but unlikely.

The broad thrust of the partnership currently being discussed would see BP selling its 50% stake in TNK-BP to Rosneft for $27bn (£16.8bn).

The Russian company would pay between $11bn (£6.8bn) and $13bn (£8.1bn)  in cash, with BP taking a stake of between 16% and 20% in Rosneft.

BP executives are leaning towards taking a larger shareholding in Rosneft because they believe it would signal an irrevocable commitment to the British company's presence in Russia.

BP would also gain either one or two seats on Rosneft's board.

An indemnity against legal action from the oligarchs is seen as an important, but not pivotal, issue by BP.

BP declined to comment.


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Gardeners Blamed For Spreading Potato Blight

By Emma Birchley, East of England Correspondent

Allotment holders who fail to deal with blight-ridden potato plants have been blamed for spreading the fungal infection to farmers' fields.

If it is not detected, blight can destroy crops and the spores can quickly spread 30 miles or more in the wind.

Tackle it the right way and it can be controlled, but the Potato Council says some home and allotment growers are failing to spot the signs in time.

"If someone on an allotment has a blighted plant, a single leaf on that plant can produce 120,000 spores," said the organisation's director Rob Clayton.

"They can blow around in the wind and in warm, wet conditions they can infect neighbouring plants, neighbouring allotments and the whole neighbourhood."

Rob Clayton. Rob Clayton says some gardeners are not spotting the signs

The muggy, damp conditions of this summer have been the perfect breeding ground for the fungal infection.

Susanna Colaco has had an allotment in Cambridge since 1986. She has never known a year like it for blight. But she is angry that the finger is being pointed at growers like her.

"I think allotment holders are very responsible.

"On this site we purchase certified seed stock from our allotment trading hut and we are very careful that at the first sign of blight we inform all the members on site and ask them to remove foliage and to be vigilant."

That foliage must then be burnt, deeply buried or binned. It can even go in the council's compost bin as the contents are heated to a high temperature.

But infected leaves or rotten potatoes must never be put on the compost heap.

Susanna Colaco. Gardener Susanna Colaco says allotment holders are very responsible

"If somebody throws a rotten potato on a compost heap at this time of year it can sprout ... and it can kick off a whole cycle of infection from next year on," said Mr Clayton.

Late blight, as it is known, or phytophthora infestans, is the type which destroyed vital potato crops in Ireland in the mid-19th century causing the Great Famine. A million people died.

Farmers expect to lose around 7% of their crop to blight, but this year the loss is predicted to be more like 10%.

And the usual £55m cost of coping with the fungal infection is likely to increase to around £80m.

Potatoes are already 11% more expensive than they were this time last year and the price is expected to rise significantly higher as the impact of the increased farming costs filter through to the shops and markets.


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