Today's other stories in brief
Glencar hopeful over Mali gold base
Glencar Mining believes there may be up to 520,000 ounces of gold in one of its African exploration blocks.
The company is about to begin an intensive exploratory drilling programme at its Komana West base in Mali in west Africa.
Preliminary results from this area show that potentially 520,000 ounces of gold could be extracted from the area. However, Glencar said further exploration drilling could increase this by 200,000 ounces.
Gold was selling at more than $752 an ounce in New York yesterday, a 1 per cent drop on Monday.
However, the commodity's price has increased 17 per cent over the last two months.
Hiestand posts 50% revenue rise
Hiestand, the Swiss baker that is 32 per cent-owned by IAWS, said yesterday its nine-month revenues rose by 50 per cent after the acquisition of German baguette maker Fricopan Group. Sales increased to 542.5 million Swiss francs (€324.4 million).
Fricopan, acquired in November, was Hiestand's biggest ever deal. The Swiss firm said it will beat its sales target of 700 million francs for the full year.
The Fricopan acquisition accounted for 34 per cent of the increase in revenue in the first nine months.
Magnet Networks Msteps down
In an unexpected move, Vern Kennedy, managing director of broadband provider Magnet Networks, has stepped down from his role and is returning to the US to work on an internet start-up he co-founded called Screen PC, which is backed by Magnet owner Columbia Ventures.
He is being replaced by Magnet's chief financial officer Mark Kellett, who was formerly group finance director for Yahoo in Europe.
BP profit fall less than anticipated
BP reported a decline in profit in the third quarter that was less than many analysts had estimated, prompting some to say a turnround in the company's fortunes was under way.
Profits fell to $3.87 billion in the third quarter, down 45 per cent from $6.97 billion a year ago, with the nine-month figure down 22 per cent to $14.31 billion, squeezed by lower refinery earnings, production and gas prices.
Underlying profits adjusted for the impact of one-off charges came in at $4.21 billion, beating the consensus of analysts' figures of about $3.95 billion.
The results have been highly anticipated ever since Tony Hayward, chief executive, warned in a document leaked in September that its operational performance in the third quarter would be "dreadful".
The performance has swelled hopes the worst is now over. BP has been suffering from a slew of well-publicised problems such as a squeeze on refining margins and falling US natural gas prices. -(Financial Times service)
Steel sector ready for hike in prices
The steel industry is braced for an increase of up to 50 per cent in the contract price of iron ore next year as a result of strong demand from China and lagging supply, industry executives and analysts have warned.
Mining companies are struggling to increase iron ore output in Australia, the world's biggest exporter, while the quality of Chinese domestic iron ore production fails to improve.
In addition, India's government has imposed export tariffs to keep its local steel industry well supplied. -(Financial Times service)
