Tullow Oil shares crash following Chief Executive departure

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Shareholders of Tullow Oil plc (LON: TLW) have seen their shares crash on Monday morning after the Chief Executive announced his departure within a hectic week of trading for the firm.

Tullow Oil have seen a very volatile few weeks of trading. In November, the firm saw their shares crash after a production warning was issued alerting shareholders.

Tullow had warned production was likely to be between 89,000 barrels and 93,000 barrels, lower than the 90,000 barrels to 98,000 barrels initially guided, which caused shares to sink.

One week ago, The FTSE250 listed firm saw their shares in green following a positive update on their Ugandan operations.

The Ugandan Government had been in lockdown with firms such as Total (EPA: FP) and CNOOC (HKG: 0883) over the taxes assed on Tullow’s plans to sell part of its stakes in Ugandan oil fields, however the governmental disputes seem to have progressed last week.

Today, the firm saw their chief executive and exploration director quit which caused shares to crash.

Shares in Tullow Oil crashed 58.05% to 59p following the announcement. 9/12/19 10:54BST.

Pat McDade, along with exploration director Angus McCoss, said they had quit the firm. The board said it was “disappointed by the performance of Tullow’s business”.

Tullow Oil saw more than £1.05 billion wiped off their market value at 9am this morning, which left the company only valued at £801.7 million.

The firm has suspended its dividend to shareholders, and “now needs time to complete its thorough review of operations”.

Dorothy Thompson, the company’s chair, said: “Despite today’s announcement, the board strongly believes that Tullow has good assets and excellent people capable of delivering value for shareholders.

“We are taking decisive action to restore performance, reduce our cost base and deliver sustainable free cash flow.”

Thompson has temporarily been installed as executive chair, as the firm kicks off its search for a new chief executive.

“The board has, however, been disappointed by the performance of Tullow’s business and now needs time to complete its thorough review of operations,” Executive Chairman Dorothy Thompson said.

The company said it expects full-year net production to average around 87,000 barrels of oil per day, reiterating its guidance from last month’s trading statement.

However, Tullow said that after a review of “production performance issues” this year, and the impact this could have on its fields’ performance in the coming years, it had changed its guidance.

Next year’s production is predicted to average between 70,000 and 80,000 barrels of oil per day (bopd), while over the next three years it expects an average of 70,000 bopd, which may leave a bitter sweet taste in the mouths of shareholders.

Tullow said it had picked out “a number of factors” that have caused the reduction in guidance.

“Whilst financial performance has been solid, production performance has been significantly below expectations from the group’s main producing assets, the TEN and Jubilee fields in Ghana,” it said.

Where competitors in the market such as Premier Oil saw their shares rally a few weeks back, the senior board at Tullow Oil have a massive job to turnaround a sinking ship. Certainly the firm will have to go way beyond a few positive trading updates to appease shareholders in what has been a disastrous Monday morning for the firm.

Tesco shares jump on potential Asian Supermarket sale

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Tesco PLC (LON: TSCO) have seen their shares jump on Monday morning after the firm was considering the sale of its Asian supermarket business.

Shares of Tesco jumped 4.61% to 243p. 9/12/19 10:28BST.

Tesco have seen a mixed trading year, as the firm saw slow sales growth in its first quarter as reported in June.

The FTSE100 listed firm said that like-for-like sales increased 0.4% year-on-year in three month period until 25 May.

At the end of October, Tesco additionally announced that they would be set to trial the ClubCard Plus in an attempt to stimulate business.

Tesco, in similar nature to rivals such as Sainsbury’s have seen their trading hampered by stiff competition from overseas competitors such as Lidl and Aldi, which led to the firm agreeing a wholesale deal with Australian firm Coles.

Also noteworthy, Marks and Spencer reported a slump in their quarterly profits in October, and this led to mass store closures and saw their shares in red.

Today, Tesco the largest UK supermarket chain has considered selling its Asian operations which was reported by the Times.

The Asian grocery business, comprised of operations in Thailand and Malaysia, could be worth up to $9 billion, the Times said.

In a statement, the retailer said it had had received “inbound interest”, but did not name the potential buyer or buyers. Tesco Lotus employs about 60,000 people.

The business boasted revenues of £4.9 million in the year ending in February – making a profit of £286m – about a fifth of Tesco’s total global profits.

Clive Black, an analyst at Shore Capital, said the Asian operation was a “trophy asset”, and was likely to achieve a knock-out price.

A valuation of £6.5 billion to £7.2 billion seemed “fair”, according to Bruno Monteyne, analyst at Bernstein.

If a sale does go ahead it would mean the company would be left with stores in the UK and Ireland, and an unprofitable division in central Europe. That unit covers the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia.

Tesco has been shifting its focus as part of a restructuring plan launched around five years ago.

This change was sparked by an accounting scandal and stiff overseas competition. The firm has lost several businesses across the world in recent times, and another may be heading that way.

It will be interesting to see how Tesco respond to this potential takeover, however shareholders will be pleased as reflected in this morning’s stock price movement.

The firm said in a statement: “Tesco confirms that, following inbound interest, it has commenced a review of the strategic options for its businesses in Thailand and Malaysia, including an evaluation of a possible sale of these businesses.”

It added: “The evaluation of strategic options is at an early stage, no decisions concerning the future of Tesco Thailand or Malaysia have been taken, and there can be no assurance that any transaction will be concluded.”

Berkeley shares stay in green despite timid update

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Berkeley Group Holdings PLC (LON: BKG) have seen their shares in green, despite a poor update to shareholders on Friday morning.

The Berkeley Group Holdings plc is a British property developer based in Cobham, Surrey.

Shares of Berkeley Group trade at 4,560p (+0.24%). 6/12/19 10:26BST.

In September, the housing market saw a bruising from external shocks including Brexit complications. This led to Berkeley having to reassure shareholders about their trading figures ahead of their AGM.

Berkeley announced a dividend of 20.08 pence per share, to be paid on 13 September 2019; the remainder of the £139.2 million return for the six months ending 30 September 2019 has been ‘satisfied’ through share buy-backs.

Today, the FTSE100 listed firm saw a slump in first half pretax profits, as Brexit continued to weigh upon the UK Housing market.

A survey from mortgage lender Nationwide showed last week that home prices rose more than expected in November, suggesting this month’s national election was not putting further pressure on the market which remains sluggish, according to Reuters.

Berkeley sources three quarters of its revenue from London, set a pretax profit aim of £3.3 billion over the six years to 2025.

The firm expected profits to be within the £500 million and £700 million guidance in any one year.

The company, which operates primarily in London, Birmingham and the South of England, said pretax profit fell 31% to 276.7 million pounds ($355.01 million) for the six months ended Oct. 31.

The company delivered 1,389 homes during the period, down from 2,027 last year, while average selling price decreased 13% to 644,000 pounds.

Brexit has continued to cast a gloomy shroud over the UK Housing market and UK business more generally.

Yesterday, MJ Gleeson saw their shares in red despite a confident outlook to shareholders.

The firm said it expects to deliver annual results in line with forecasts backed up by a strong performance by its Home unit, however this did not seem to be enough to spark appetite.

The struggling nature of the UK homebuilding industry is one that has been seen for many firms, however competitors do seem to be making ground.

FTSE250 listed Homeserve saw their shares rally in November. The firm saw a 2% rise in pretax from £19.3 million to £19.7 million, which caught shareholders attention.

More clarity will be provided once the outcome of the uncertain General Election is announced in the next week, and hopefully this will put the UK business sector in good step to recover from a slump which has been caused by exogenous economic and political affairs.

AB Foods shares jump on confident expectations

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Associated British Foods plc (LON: ABF) have seen their shares jump on Friday morning after the firm gave strong expectations in the update.

Associated British Foods plc is a British multinational food processing and retailing company whose headquarters are in London.

Its ingredients division is the world’s second-largest producer of both sugar and baker’s yeast and a major producer of other ingredients including emulsifiers, enzymes and lactose.

The firm has seen a positive few weeks of trading. At the start of November, shares were driven 5.62% by a confident owner outlook.

AB Foods also mentioned the performance of Primark as a main contributor to good results, as overall sales at Primark came in at £7.79 billion – a 4.2% year-on-year uptick at actual exchange rates.

Shares of AB Foods jumped 0.88% to 2,518p. 6/12/19 10:09BST.

Today, the firm updated shareholders by saying that the company will benefit “materially” from the increase in sugar prices and further cost reduction in its current financial year.

Speaking at the company’s annual general meeting, Chair Michael McLintok said the company expects another year of strong profit and margin growth in grocery, with Twinings Ovaltine drink in particular benefiting from a more efficient tea supply chain.

McLintock said fast fashion retailer Primark has a strong pipeline of new sites, with margin to be reduced by “only a small” amount year-on-year, hurt by a weaker pound for purchases being largely offset by lower costs in both the cost of goods and overheads.

“Our businesses have completed all practical preparations for Brexit and contingency plans are in place should our businesses experience some disruption at the time of exit,” McLintock said.

Shareholders will be pleased that the outlook reiterated in the company’s recent annual report has been sustained.

AB Foods will be pleased with the figures that they have generated over the last few weeks, considering the state of the current retail supermarket industry.

Sainsbury’s (LON: SBRY) saw their profits take a bruising at the start of November. said that, for the 28 weeks to 21 September,

The FTSE100 listed firm said underlying profit before tax declined by 15% to £238 million, compared to the £279 million figure recorded for the same period the year prior.

Additionally, rival Marks and Spencer saw their profits plunge last month, as the firm saw a 5.5% decline in clothing sales and the firm announces mass store closures.

AB Foods should remain optimistic, as the insurgence of rival brands such as Aldi and Lidl have put the big 4 up to a stern test.

Shareholders will be confident from the update given today, as spirits remain high entering the busy festive period.

Andrew Neil calls out Boris Johnson over avoiding election debates

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It is that time of year ladies and gentlemen, I wish I could reference the festive period but rather I am talking about the bleak outlook of the UK Political system as a General Election consumes the festive spirit. The antics are back out in the limelight again as we see soundbites, accusations, debates and alleged promises which neither party is seeming to be able to concretely confirm. As the respective party leaders get ready for December 12, they have been put through their paces by British Media, other party leaders and internal party officials testing them on every aspect of policy from Brexit to housing. This morning’s headlines across the British newspapers have mentioned PM Johnson’s lack of effort to arrange a public debate, and some even suggesting that Johnson is not up to the contest. Andrew Neil a classic name in the political boxing ring, renowned for his pestering nature and bullish personality has called out Johnson in a tweet as published by the BBC. The tweet, which is found below suggested that Johnson is scared to dance in the ring with him. Certainly this is another piece of bait, which Johnson will not be taking and is not seemingly falling for. BBC joined the party, and jointly challenged PM Johnson to a debate in an attempt to cash in on viewer numbers and put the the probable election winner to a rigorous test. “BBC challenges chicken PM” is the Daily Mirror’s take as it accuses the prime minister of “running scared”, which has caught the attention of many legislators in Westminster also. Many citizens rely on the TV debates as a way to be formally educated before they visit election polls in six days time, however Johnson has refused to take part in any form of debate and this has alerted voters on his untrustworthy and false nature. I think you have to hand it to Johnson – this has never been such a busy time for a British Prime Minister, with the ongoing election battles continuing to flood constituencies combined with this week’s NATO meetings which has seen Justin Trudeau have a dig at Donald Trump for being late, Johnson has had a busy time whilst assuming the Number 10 Office. It has been around a week since two young lives were fatally taken in a terrorist attack on London Bridge, and Johnson has had this to deal with also – as the election manifesto’s took a turn this week to Foreign Policy and domestic security. The pressure will continue to ramp up on Johnson, until he agrees to debate publicly with Andrew Neil. Even Nigel Farage had his expected few words saying “It’s not too late”. Johnson has stuck to his words in rejecting all forms of engagement and debate with any media platform, evidenced by the fact that only a few days ago he rejected the prospect of a sit-down interview with ITV’s (LON: ITV) Julie Etchingham. With the other party leaders engaging in streamed debates, it seems that Johnson will have to come out of hiding at some point – but I feel there are no expectations to fulfill this request as the Prime Minister has already seen a busy week with the commitments mentioned before. The battle for Number 10 continues to go on, as campaigning enters its final few days. It seems for now that neither party has done enough to win a 326 seat majority and the chances of a Hung Parliament are seeming like the winning bet. It will only be seen as to how voters cast their decisions on Thursday, however we do know that the British media have taken a dig at PM Johnson for not engaging in these debates, as the future of British Politics has never been so uncertain.

Tesla’s Cybertruck spotted on roads in California

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The new cyber truck developed by Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) was spotted driving on public roads for the first time. A Tesla Model 3 followed the cyber truck as both vehicles drove on a street near SpaceX’s headquarters in California.

Cyber Truck

Elon Musk decided to develop the cyber truck after realizing that there is a need for more environmentally friendly and energy efficient trucks in the market. Elon Musk believes that current trucks in the market are not fit for the 21st century as they do not use sustainable energy. The cyber truck includes advanced specs. It is able to increase its speed from 0mph to 60 mph in less than 3 seconds. Tesla believes the cyber truck offers more performance than an advanced sports car and better utility than a normal truck. The cyber truck is extremely resistant to external and internal damage. Tesla planned an experiment on the truck to test its damage resistance. As a part of the experiment, Tesla officials threw a metal ball at the truck. The metal ball damaged two windows of the truck. However, it did not completely break the windows, proving a high level of damage resistance.

High Demand

Tesla received more than 25,000 pre-orders for the cyber truck. The exact release date of the cyber truck remains uncertain. However, there is already a high demand for the product. Consumers need to pay $100 in order to be able to pre-order the cyber truck. Consequently, Tesla generated approximately $25 million in a week. The cyber truck has been extremely popular within the first week of its unveiling.

Competition

Tesla announced that the company intends to start the production of the cyber truck in 2021. Orders will be completed in late 2021. If the cyber truck becomes popular among truck users, it is likely to redefine the truck industry by creating competition in the manufacturing sector to make more sustainable trucks. Ford (NYSE: F) contested the damage resistance of Tesla’s new product by claiming that damage tests have not been conducted fairly.  

China says tariffs must be rolled back for a deal to be done

The turbulent start to December was led by the usual suspects of 2019 market uncertainty, and Thursday saw the US-China trade war saga take its next turn. After a frenzied start to the week, markets collected themselves as China’s ministry of commerce made an announcement – a ‘phase one’ of any potential deal would be contingent on tariffs being rolled back. Speaking on the latest development and market movements on Thursday, Spreadex Financial Analyst Connor Campbell stated,

“After a few big sessions, Thursday was more of a mixed bag, a breather from a frenzy of trade headlines.”

“While the markets avoided the kind of bloody plunges that opened December, the afternoon wasn’t without its losses. Especially since China failed to appear quite as trade deal-ready as yesterday’s Bloomberg report suggested, the country’s commerce ministry insisting that tariffs would need to be rolled back for a ‘phase one’ agreement to be reached.”

“The persistent uncertainty on the topic seemingly contributed to the Dow Jones’ 50 point dip as the bell rang on Wall Street, one that took the index back under 27600. The DAX was also down, shedding half a percent, but with the French CAC rising 0.3%.”

“With the pound holding onto its gains against the dollar and euro, leaving it at 7- and 31-month highs respectively, the FTSE fell 40 points. That left the UK index at 7140, causing it to once again strike a 6-week low.”

Elsewhere on Thursday, developments came from; Glencore PLC (LON: GLEN) being investigated by the SFO, AJ Bell PLC (LON: AJB) posting a strong full-year, AstraZeneca plc (LON: AZN) receiving Chinese authorisation and Bigblu Broadband plc (AIM: BBB.L) suffering due to its debt position.

National strike paralyzes France

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France faces the biggest wave of industrial action in modern history. Most flights, busses and trains across France will not be running for five days.

Why is there a national strike?

The main goal of the strike is to protest against President Macron’s plan to reform the pension system in France. President Macron hopes to revise the current pension system in France. According to President Macron, the current pension system is way too costly for the country to maintain. President Macron wants to transition to a points-based pension system.

How will the national strike impact France?

Starting today, travellers going to France or leaving France will experience chaos due to the national strike. The national strike causes significant disruptions to the French economy as well as British businesses who work with business partners in France. There will be no trains running from London to Paris until Tuesday. Eurostar has already cancelled more than 100 train services between today and Tuesday.

Flights

Furthermore, most flights to and from France will be cancelled. Airlines such as Easyjet (LON: EZJ) , British Airways (LON:BAY) and Ryanair (LON: RYA) cancelled most of their flights to and from France due to the national strike. Air France (EPA: AF) announced that more than a third of its domestic flights will be cancelled within the next five days. Most flights to and from Charles de Gaulle got cancelled this morning.

Transportation

Moreover, ferries in France reported that they expect disruptions starting this afternoon. The SNCF railway company reported that a minimum of 9 out of 10 of their domestic and international trains will be cancelled. The SNCF is France’s biggest and nationally owned railway company. Cancellations of their services will have a significant negative impact on the French economy as it will greatly disrupt business operations. The strike will impact many private businesses as most public transportation systems in French cities will be closed during the strike.

Paris

The subway system in Paris is mostly closed starting today. Most employees in Paris use the metro to get to work. Subway closures will disrupt local business operations in Paris as employees are likely to arrive late or not show up to work. Furthermore, police ordered all businesses, cafes and restaurants along the route of planned protests to close. The French government appointed an additional 6,000 police across Paris. Protests are likely to turn violent. The police warned Parisians of potential violence and damage.

Who is striking?

Many workers are taking industrial action against President Macron’s proposal. Teachers, medics, airport workers, truck drivers and railway workers are among those who are striking. The strike will paralyse France for days. Impacts of the strike are likely to exceed the length of the strike as France will need time and money to recover from the consequences of the chaos the strike creates.

Tourism

The national strike has a huge impact on tourism in France. Many tourists cancelled their hotel reservations due to the strike. Major tourist attractions such as the Eiffel Tower will be closed during the strike. The Louvre Museum also reported that its opening will be delayed and some of its rooms will be closed due to the strike.

England

France isn’t the only country in the region facing negative consequences of strikes. England is four days into its 27 day long South Western Railway strike.  

Apple purchase first batch of carbon-free aluminium

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Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) have said on Thursday that they have bought the first batch of carbon-free aluminum, in an attempt to expand its environmental strategy policies.

Shares in Apple currently trade at $263 (+0.57%). 5/12/19 15:50BST.

The metal has been provided by Elyis, a Montreal based firm composing of Alcoa Corp (NYSE: AA) and Rio Tinto (LON: RIO) who is a FTSE100 (INDEXFTSE: UKX) listed firm.

Rio Tinto hit news headlines yesterday after the firm saw its shares in green despite safety concerns at its Richard Bay operations.

Rio have been involved in the promotion of environmentally friendly policies, as the firm saw its shares spike in November after Rio Tinto made a pledge to the ERA to clean up a uranium mine.

Additionally, the firm, said they will take part and underwrite a fundraise by invest Energy Resources of Australia (ASX: ERA).

Today, Apple announced that the aluminum will be shipped this month from an an Alcoa research facility in Pittsburgh and used in Apple products, although the technology company did not say which ones.

“For more than 130 years, aluminium – a material common to so many products consumers use daily – has been produced the same way. That’s about to change,” Lisa Jackson, Apple’s vice president of environment, policy and social initiatives, said in a statement.

Apple uses aluminium housings for many of its electronics, including iPhones, Apple Watches and Mac computers. Apple last year introduced Mac models that use recycled aluminium.

The Alcoa-Rio partnership want to commercialize a technology that uses ceramic anode to make aluminum which only emits oxygen by 2024.

Alcoa has already produced test metal with the process and joined with Rio Tinto to bring it up to commercial scale. Elysis plans to licence the technology and says that existing smelting facilities can be retrofitted to use it.

All parties involved have not disclosed the size or the cost of the first purchase. They described it as a “commercial batch,” and Elysis said the process is expected to have lower operating costs than traditional aluminium smelting.

Many multinationals such as Coca Cola HBC AG (LON: CCH) have made an ensured effort to step up to address environmental issues at a time where it has never been so important.

The steps made by firms such as Apple in this partnership shows ones in the right direction and will certainly put the firms in good media spotlight.

Multinationals need to make sure that these efforts are sustained and global efforts are put together to combat climate change and global warming.

Glencore shares plummet after SFO commence bribery investigation

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Glencore PLC (LON: GLEN) shares have plummeted on Thursday afternoon following an investigation by the Serious Fraud Office on bribery allegations.

Glencore was founded in 1974 by commodities trader and financier Marc Rich. Under its billionaire chief executive, Ivan Glasenberg, the company has become the world’s biggest commodity trader, supplying the raw materials used in products from cars to smartphones.

Shares of Glencore PLC plummeted 8.5% to 218p. 5/12/19 15:21BST.

This afternoon, a statement was released to the stock market updating shareholders and investors that Glencore were set to come under investigation from the SFO.

In a statement to the stock market, the company said: “Glencore has been notified today that the Serious Fraud Office has opened an investigation into suspicions of bribery in the conduct of business of the Glencore group.”

“Glencore will co-operate with the SFO investigation.”

The SFO said: “The SFO confirms it is investigating suspicions of bribery in the conduct of business by the Glencore group of companies, its officials, employees, agents and associated persons.

“As this is a live investigation we cannot comment further.”

In May last year, Bloomberg reported that the SFO was preparing an investigation into Glencore to examine its dealings in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

That report sent Glencore’s shares down by as much as four per cent. It is not evident if the SFO’s announcement today is connected to Glencore’s DRC operations.

On Tuesday, Glencore Chief Executive Ivan Glasenberg alluded to a retirement next year, as he speculates about his future with the company.

“The old guys will be leaving. How soon? We’re reviewing it right now. I would imagine it would occur next year,” said 62-year-old Glasenberg, who has been chief executive since 2002.

“I’ve always said I don’t want to be an old guy running this company. As soon as those guys are ready to take over, I’ll be ready to step aside.”

“It’s more of the same, but now it’s getting attacked from a different angle,” said Hunter Hillcoat, a London-based analyst at Investec Securities Ltd. “Glencore was already trading at a discount because of the DoJ, but when this news comes out it gets whacked again.”