Archive for May 11th, 2010

More nervousness after Greece taps its facility. The Euro has tumbled and the Gold price has soared, while equity traders lick their whiplash wounds. Andrew Joannou of Afena Capital Cape Town casts an expert (Greek) eye over proceedings and looks at results from Famous Brands and the prospects for the JSE gold… »

Con-Dem-nation, Lib-Lab pact, or minority Tory government? The political editor of the Financial Times, George Parker, sums up the astonishing shenanigans of the past few days…. »

Johannesburg, May 11 (I-Net Bridge) - Discovery Holdings (DSY) on Tuesday announced that it has agreed to acquire the entire share capital of Standard Life Healthcare, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Standard Life Group, for 1.56 billion rand (about GBP138 million).
Standard Life Healthcare is the UK’s fourth-largest private medical insurer, with a
market share of about… »

Sterling was under pressure on Tuesday morning as investors reacted to the news that Labour and the Liberal Democrats are now engaged in official talks over a possible coalition…. »

Britain’s third party is looking forward to “crunch time” as it is poised to decide the make-up of the next Government.

However, while senior Conservatives described Mr Clegg’s behaviour as “sordid”, former Labour home secretary David Blunkett compared him with a “harlot”…. »

Britain’s government became the subject of an extraordinary bidding war last night after Gordon Brown announced his intention to resign in an audacious attempt to keep Labour in power.

In a three-sided poker game being played out across Westminster, Mr Brown threw his last card, dramatically opening the possibility of a deal with the Liberal Democrats… »

(Reuters) - A massive relief rally in financial markets on news of a $1 trillion deal to resolve Europe’s debt crisis fizzled on Tuesday on nagging doubts about how Greece and other debt-laden euro zone countries will reduce their budget… »

The euro lost all of yesterday’s gains on concern the almost $1 trillion lending plan to bail out indebted nations in Europe will fail to avert a slowdown in the region. Asian stocks, copper, and U.S. index futures fell after China’s inflation rate hit an 18-month high…. »

Johannesburg, May 11 (I-Net Bridge) - Pretoria Portland Cement (PPC) on Tuesday reported diluted headline earnings per share of 114.3 cents for the six months ended march 2010 from 20.3 cents a year ago. Excluding BBBRR IFRS2 chares, diluted HEPS were 115.3 cents from 105 cents previously.
HEPS excluding the IFRS 2 charges… »

Johannesburg, May 11 (I-Net Bridge) - Quick Service Restaurant (QSR) and Casual Dining franchisor Famous Brands (FBR) on Tuesday reported a 27% rise in diluted headline earnings per share to 202 cents for the year ended February 2010 from 159 cents a year ago. Headline earnings per share were up 29% to… »