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Xstrata year profit up 86%, outlook positive

Xstrata year profit up 86%, outlook positive

Miner Xstrata reported a better-than-expected 86 percent jump in annual profit on stronger commodity prices and gave a positive outlook for 2011. The Anglo-Swiss miner said it was still assessing the impact on this year’s results from the recent flooding and cyclones in Queensland – where it has coal, copper and zinc operations – after […]
McBride warns of second wave of material cost rises

McBride warns of second wave of material cost rises

A second wave of commodity price increases and a deteriorating British grocery market will hit profits at cleaning products maker McBride, it said on February 7, sending its shares to a 24-week low. McBride, Europe’s biggest maker of own-brand household cleaning products for retailers, said a surge in the price of plastics and vegetable oils […]
Obama tries to woo business, slams ‘burdensome’ tax

Obama tries to woo business, slams ‘burdensome’ tax

President Barack Obama stepped up efforts to woo the US business community on February 7, seeking its help to tackle “burdensome” corporate taxes in a speech to a business group that has long been a fierce critic. Obama, on a drive to win over business and independent voters before the 2012 presidential election, also repeated […]
Rein: EU should follow Germany’s lead on reforms

Rein: EU should follow Germany’s lead on reforms

European countries must implement the structural reforms that Germany has already carried out over the last couple of decades to ramp up competitiveness, the European Union’s top economic official said recently. Economics and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn said Germany’s economy entered the crisis on a stronger footing than others within the EU because it […]
Egypt has limited war chest to avert financial crisis

Egypt has limited war chest to avert financial crisis

Egypt has substantial reserves to avoid an external payments crisis but these could be seriously depleted within weeks if political protests continue, while its banks may struggle to cope with a rush of withdrawals. In the days after the protests erupted, Egyptians and foreign investors transferred hundreds of millions of dollars out of Egypt, currency […]