Member Info for jange

Credit Agricole announced that it will implement a cost savings plan through 2016 valued at €650m. On the new business plan, Chifflet said: "There will be two main priorities governing the undertaking: the acceleration of improvements to our universal customer-focused bank and a deepening of changes that we've already begun on specialised financial services." The board has decided it will skip a dividend for a second year.

Credit Agricole has posted a record loss for 2012 after goodwill writedowns and a tax charge related to the sale of its Greek unit forced the French bank to use more red ink. The total loss for 2012 amounted to €6.47bn compared to a €1.47bn loss in the prior year. The bank reported a loss of €3.982bn for the fourth quarter alone, 29.8% more than in the year-ago period. Some €2.67bn in goodwill writedowns were taken in the fourth quarter to reflect stricter accounting rules and a worsening economy and included writedowns at its Italian and investment banking businesses. The bank also booked a €706m loss on the sale of its Greek unit Emporiki. "Leaving Greece cost us dearly but it was a necessary decision," said Chief Executive Jean-Paul Chifflet.

AIM-listed copper, gold and silver mining company Vane Minerals has posted a 74 per cent rise in its fourth quarter revenue, prompting the share price to rise by a third on Wednesday morning. The group said revenue for the three month period rose from $1.39m to $2.41m quarter-on-quarter. Direct production costs fell 14.2% in the period to $688 per ounces of gold equivalent and $13.2m per ounce of silver equivalent. Over the three months 1,154 ounces of gold and 17,830 ounces of silver were produced, compared to 979 ounce gold and 19,100 ounces of silver in the third quarter. The average recovery rate was 79.5% for gold and 77.7% for silver, against 76.8% and 76.5% respectively in the previous quarter. David Newton, the Chief Executive Officer of VANE said: "These results are very pleasing and demonstrate the consistency of production and revenues that are being generated. We look forward to 2013 with confidence and expect our Mexican business to continue to perform strongly as a result of the increase in processing capacity."

"We are progressing fast and I am convinced that we will deliver most of our 2012-2015 plan to generate 1.75bn additional EBITDA through cost reduction and innovation measures by the end of 2014, close to one year ahead of our initial objective. We target to deliver 650m additional EBITDA from these measures in 2013," he said in the earnings statement. Furthermore, bucking the trend on Wednesday seen by the likes of German airline Lufthansa or UK insurer RSA that suspended and cut their dividend, respectively, the French company upped its 2012 payout to 1. Lafarge was leading the risers on the Cac 40, trading up 5.94% to $49.495 in morning trade in Paris.

Lafarge saw shares rise strongly after reporting better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings on Wednesday morning and announcing that it will reach its cost-cutting goal a year earlier than originally announced. The world's largest cement maker reported that sales remained stable at 3.809bn, while current operating income grew 12% to 603m. EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) rose 7.0% to 865m, compared to the 821.6m consensus estimate. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Bruno Lafont said that the earnings were buoyed by growth in emerging markets.

Adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) - a frequently used measure of a company's operating performance- increased by 34% to £2.19m. Adjusted earnings per share rose 39% to 1.32p. Basic earnings per share jumped 44% to 0.92p. Henrik Bang, Chief Executive Officer of Netcall, commented: "Trading was comfortably in line with expectations during the first six months of the financial year. Netcall enjoys a growing pipeline, a high proportion of recurring revenues and an expanding product portfolio as a result of introducing new solutions and the acquisition of Serengeti. "In addition our financial strength provides us with the ability to continue investing in growth. Therefore, whilst the board is mindful of the prevailing economic climate it remains confident in achieving a successful outcome for the year."

Pre-tax profit rose 46.0 per cent to 1.34m pounds at AIM-listed customer engagement software provider Netcall for the six months ending December 31st. In its unaudited interim results, the group further reported that group revenue for the year had increased 12% to £8.16m, comprising 6% organic growth and an initial three month contribution from Serengeti Systems. Recurring revenue represented 65% of total revenue, marginally less than the 68% recorded in the preceding half of the year. Meanwhile, the gross profit margin improved from 87% to 90%, which the group said reflected the benefit of continuing cost saving programmes.

Analysts' comments: Investec viewThe Investec Global Natural Resources Research Team described the results as: "A reasonable result, given the strike issues in the fourth quarter. Like most companies in the sector now, AGD[Anglogold Ashanti] intends focusing on margins and returns, rather than production growth. "Outgoing Chief Executive Officer, Mark Cutifani, states AGD delivers the best returns on capital amongst the gold majors."

55,000 ounces was generated in Australasia, 13% lower than in the preceding year and 258,000 ounces were produced in the Americas, 10% more than in the previous year. The company posted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of $2.4bn, down from $3.01bn in the previous year. A full year dividend of 300 South African Cents per share was recorded while a quarterly dividend of 50 South african cents per share was given. Decisive action takenTony O'Neill, Joint Interim Executive Officer, commented: "We've moved decisively to ensure that we continue a strong recovery from a difficult end to last year." Srinivasan Venkatakrishnan, Joint Interim Chief Executive Officer, said: "We're creating a leaner business and placing an absolute focus on costs, capital efficiency and driving returns to shareholders". He added: "We have also been proactive and obtained a term facility to backstop, if required the convertible bond maturing in May 2014 to remove refinancing risk." Gold production in 2013 is estimated at between 4.1m ounces and 4.4m ounces, the company said

Shares in global gold producer AngloGold Ashanti fell slightly on Wednesday after the company published results showing a reduction in gold production for the year ending December 2012. The volume of gold produced in the full year was 3.99m ounces compared to 4.33m ounces in the preceding year. However, the price received for each ounce of gold rose to $1,664 compared to $1,574 per ounce in 2011. Geographical BreakdownA geographical breakdown of the countries where AngloGold produces gold showed that the company's operations in Continental Africa generated the highest proportion of the yellow metal - representing almost half of all gold production with 43.8%, while operations in Australasia produced the smallest proportion of overall gold production, representing 6.4%. A total of 376,000 ounces of gold was produced in Continental Africa, 10% less than the volume generated in the preceding year. Some 171,000 ounces was produced in South Africa, 57% less than the volume produced in the prededing year.

However, the Bakries warned they would withdraw the offer if shareholders vote for Rothschild's proposal. In another twist, Indonesian investor Rosan Roeslani has agreed to sell his 10% stake in Bumi. The move came after Roeslani landed himself in hot water when the UK's Takeover Panel ruled he was part of a 'concert party' with the Bakrie Group and Sami Tan, another Indonesian investor. The watchdog, which has been urged by investors to intervene in the Bumi dispute, found that together they owned nearly 58% of the voting power of the company. They were told to cut back to under 30%. Consequently, their voting power at Thursday's meeting has been capped at 29.9%. However, the parties which bought Roeslani's stake will apparently be able to vote, possibly upsetting those who thought Rothschild's position was unassailable.

Djojohadikusumo will also invest "between tens and hundreds of millions of dollars" in Bumi plc if Rothschild's proposal is successful. The businessman, whose wealth comes from oil and gas investments in Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and the US, said the dispute has unfairly "damaged the credibility and good name of many Indonesian public companies" that have been "tarred with the same brush". The Bakries have said Rothschild's hostile attitude is partly to blame for Bumi's problems. The family's Bakrie Group has put forth a deal to cancel its indirect 23.8% stake in exchange for Bumi plc's 10.3% holding in Asia's biggest thermal coal exporter Bumi Resources. Bumi Plc would also sell the remaining 18.9% interest it holds in Bumi Resources to the Bakrie Group for $278m.

Bumi was formed in 2010 when Indonesia's influential Bakrie family reversed their coal mining assets into Rothschild's London-listed cash shell, Vallar. However, Rothschild and the Bakrres had a falling out following an investigation into financial wrongdoing. "He was very indignant at how he had been treated and he wanted to size me up," Djojohadikusumo told the UK newspaper of their business relationship. "Nat's got a lot of emotional investment in this. But I don't. I'm having fun. And hopefully I can make money too." The tycoon's involvement adds an interesting turn, as he goes against the Bakries in both business and politics. His brother Prabowo Subianto will go head to head with Bakrie family patriarch Aburizal Bakrie in the initial stages of Indonesia's presidential election, which will go to the polls in 2014.

An Indonesian magnate is backing a proposal to oust board members of Bumi plc, in one of the dirtiest shareholder battles to hit the London market. Hashim Djojohadikusumo has voiced his support for the plan set forth by the company's co-founder Nat Rothschild to replace 12 of Bumi's 14 directors. Rothschild has called an extraordinary shareholders meeting for Thursday to vote on the proposal. While Bumi has urged shareholders against the vote, Rothschild has an ally in Djojohadikusumo who late last year agreed to join the financier in his efforts to take control of the troubled company. Djojohadikusumo told the Financial Times he believes a new board would improve governance following long-running company in-fighting. If the motion is passed, Djojohadikusumo will become a Non-Executive Director of Bumi and Chairman of subsidiary Berau Coal.

East West Resources' share price was unaffected by the sale. As of 10:58 on Wednesday, the share price was unchanged at 11.0p.

Since the new financial year commenced with improved market conditions, the group reported that the metals business was trading "in line with expectations" and the order book "was significantly ahead of that at the equivalent point last year". Commenting on the transaction, Charles Crick, Chairman of East West Resources, said: "The sale of AEG provides a timely opportunity for EWR [East West Resources] to apply its full resources to its metals trading business. "At the same time, we are pleased to have found a new home for the biofuels business with a larger player in the sector, giving AEG a stronger platform for its activities. We can now focus our attention on building our core business in the metals and minerals industry."

AIM-listed commodity trading services provider East West Resources has completed the sale of its wholly-owned subsidiary Ambrian Energy GmbH (AEG) to German wholesale oil trader HGM Energy GmbH for a cash consideration of 2.65m dollars. AEG was East West Resources's buiofuels trading business and the group stated that it expected AEG to continue its operations under its new ownership. AEG posted an unaudited pre-tax loss of £0.93m in the six months ending June 30th. This contrasted with a pre-tax profit of £0.95m for the year ending December 31st. The sale comes three months after the board decided to focus resources on its core business of metal trading. Based on unaudited management accounts for the year ending December 31st the group reported that it expected a loss on its continuing operations of around £1.0m. It said that this was largely as a result of the group's legacy overhead cost structure and a number of one-off costs.

Trade volumes decreased to $383bn from $544bn a year earlier in the group's institutional foreign exchange segment, while divisional revenue for this segment fell to £6.1m from £8.0m. Chairman: lower volatility resulted in less trading opportunities for LCG customersGiles Vardy, Chairman of London Capital Group, commented: "As anticipated, 2012 proved to be a difficult year for the group. Financial results were disappointing with a marked decline in customer trading activity, especially in the second half of the year. "Whilst it is often easy to blame market conditions, it remains true that lower levels of volatility in markets overall meant that there were less trading opportunities for LCG's customers to pursue. As a result revenues were 27% lower than 2011 and profits declined throughout the year leading to a £0.2m adjusted loss before tax for the year as a whole." Dividend policyHe added: "Given the results, and having paid a 1.3p dividend at the half year, the board does not consider it appropriate to pay a final dividend. The board's policy is to pay dividends from available profits whilst considering the current and future capital requirements of the business."

Shares in AIM-listed financial services company London Capital Group dropped after announcing that it fell into the red last year, for which reason it decided to slash its total dividend by two thirds. The company further reported that revenue decreased 27% to £28.6m. An adjusted loss before tax of £0.2m was recorded, in contrast to an adjusted profit of £7.1m in the previous year. Net cash and short-term receivables of £20.4m were recorded at the year-end compared to £25.1m in 2011. Divisional revenue was down 26% in the company' UK financial spread betting segment. Financial spread betting average trades per day decreased 24% to 25,029 compared to 33,042 in the previous year. New client acquisitions were also down, totalling 10,123, slightly less than the 10,398 recorded in 2011.

Anglo American Platinum, the subsidiary of FTSE 100-listed metal mining company Anglo American, has reported that 3,886 ounces of platinum production was lost as a result of a work stoppage. The company said that its workers had resumed work following an "illegal work stoppage" that was catalysed by an "incident" which left 15 Amplats employees injured at the company's Siphumelele mine in Rustenburg on February 18th. The firm said that it was engaged in discussions with the Department of Mineral Resources, the Chamber of Mines and organised labour to "ensure a safe environment for employees across the platinum industry".