Financial News

Daily Mail4 August 2008, 8:46am British Gas owner Centrica could resurrect plans for a £22.5bn all-share merger with nuclear generator British Energy if a £12bn-plus cash deal with French giant EDF fails. Rescue: Centrica would merge with BE if EDF bid fails WANT TO KNOW MORE? Anger at £1bn Centrica profit as bills soar Alarm at EDF grab of UK power giant Share data: Centrica OTHER STORIES HSBC reports 28% slide in profits Market report: Monday cl ...

Michael Lea, Daily Mail4 August 2008, 8:13am Reader comments (2) | Vote Alistair Darling is considering a £500m 'green tax' on Britain's energy giants which would be used to help pensioners and poor families pay soaring fuel bills. Green tax: Alistair Darling's plans could prove popular with voters WANT TO KNOW MORE? Cheaper ways to energy efficiency Share Data: Gas, Water & Utilities POLL: Do you think the energy price rises announced are justified? OTHER  ...

Evening Standard4 August 2008, 10:49am Data A £1.3bn bid battle between China and India is emerging for Imperial Energy, the London-based oil & gas company which is active in exploration in Russia. Bid battle: China and India are making offers for Imperial WANT TO KNOW MORE? Share Data: Oil & gas producers Latest oil price and historic charts How to profit from the oil price OTHER STORIES HSBC reports 28% slide in profits Market report: Monday close S ...

Nick Goodway, Evening Standard4 August 2008, 10:15am Data Sir Fred Goodwin, chief executive of NatWest owner Royal Bank of Scotland is set to come under renewed pressure from investors this week as the bank is forecast to report the biggest-ever loss in UK banking history. Pressure: Sir Fred Goodwin of RBS WANT TO KNOW MORE? Weekly market report: Bad news for banks A&L profit wiped out in £209m assets hit Share news: RBS OTHER STORIES HSBC reports 28% slide  ...

Nick Goodway, Evening Standard4 August 2008, 10:27am Reader comments (1) | Data Profits at Europe's largest bank HSBC fell 28%, in what chairman Stephen Green called the 'most difficult financial markets for several decades' and added that things could 'get worse before they get better'. Losses: HSBC shouldered sub-prime losses better than rivals WANT TO KNOW MORE? RBS set for £1.7bn UK record bank loss A&L profit wiped out in £209m assets hit HBOS profit falls  ...

OSLO, Aug 4 (Reuters) - Norwegian state-owned oil and gas group Petoro criticised the country's biggest energy group StatoilHydro <STL.OL> for low exploration activity which it said may lead to a sharper-than-expected decline in production. Petoro manages the Norwegian government's stakes in oil and gas fields off Norway, where it often partners StatoilHydro. Petoro said when issuing first ...

MADRID, Aug 2 (Reuters) - Spanish utility Gas Natural <GAS.MC> has bought 9.9 percent of Union Fenosa <UNF.MC>, the first stage in its planned 16.8 billion euro ($26.16 billion) takeover of the electricity firm, newspaper reports said on Saturday. Gas Natural had pledged to buy the initial stake within five working days of announcing its deal on Wednesday to eventually buy 45.3 percen ...

Philip Scott, This is Money Vote | Quiz | Calculate The past week has been all about the UK's High Street banks and their half-year profits. Bad results: Banks reported huge profit falls WANT TO KNOW MORE? Market report: Friday latest Market report: Thursday close Market report: Wednesday close Market report: Tuesday close Market report: Monday close QUIZ: Stock market crashes POLL: What will happen to the FTSE 100 in 2008? OTHER STORIES Market report: Friday ...

FRANKFURT (Thomson Financial) - German shares were lower in afternoon trade as Wall Street retreated from early gains and after BMW warned on its 2008 targets as it posted second-quarter numbers that traders and analysts said were worse than expected. At 4:06 p.m., the DAX was down 57.71 points or 0.89 percent at 6,421.85, having traded between 6,409.31 and 6,489.69. The MDAX slipped 91.51 point ...

Press Association1 August 2008, 8:17am Data British Airways today announced a big dip in first-quarter pre-tax profits, blaming the 'worst trading environment' the aviation industry had ever faced. Well prepared: BA say they are set up to deal with the 'worst ever' trading environment WANT TO KNOW MORE? Share Data: British Airways Focus: BA has the US in its sights OTHER STORIES Market report: Friday preview Yesterday's trading: Buyers hail taxi maker Shell racks u ...