Member Info for MY21

At 0430GMT today, Brent crude oil one month futures contract is trading 1.17% or $0.78 lower at $66.06 per barrel, after an official of Iran’s oil ministry warned that oil prices could decline to around $40 per barrel if divisions emerged among OPEC nations. Yesterday, the contract climbed 0.98% or $0.65, to settle at $66.84 per barrel. Separately, The US Energy Information Administration slashed its oil price projections by $15 per barrel to average $68 per barrel next year. Meanwhile, the American Petroleum Institute announced that crude oil inventories rose 4.4 million barrels in the last week

Dec 9 (Reuters) - Standard Chartered will face another three years of scrutiny by U.S. prosecutors for compliance with government sanctions against certain countries, according to documents filed on Tuesday that also noted another probe of the bank is underway. The original deferred prosecution agreements, struck with the U.S. Justice Department and the Manhattan district attorney over the bank's violations related to U.S. sanctions on Iran and other countries, was due to expire on Wednesday. The agreement to extend the deals means that the bank will face enhanced oversight for a longer period of time and could be hit with harsher penalties. The deferred prosecutions could be pulled back in the next three years and criminal charges against the bank could be filed, said Joan Vollero, a spokeswoman for the Manhattan district attorney. In a statement, the bank said it agreed to the extension and would work with authorities to reach the standard required. The U.S. amendment said the bank had taken steps to improve its compliance program and had hired new leadership and staff in its legal and financial crime compliance offices. The Justice Department said it sought the extension in part because it had obtained information about "possible historical violations" of U.S. sanctions laws that took place after 2007. It said it needed more time to investigate whether the violations occurred and whether they were willful. Reuters reported in October that authorities were investigating potential violations connected to Standard Chartered's banking for Iran-controlled entities in Dubai. According to the amendments, the bank also agreed to retain an independent compliance monitor overseen by the prosecutors.

Dec 9 (Reuters) - British gas giant BG Group Plc said on Tuesday it sold its wholly owned QCLNG Pipeline Pty Ltd subsidiary in Australia to APA Group for US$5 billion. The company said the deal is expected to be completed in the first half of 2015 and is conditional on the start of commercial LNG deliveries from the QCLNG export facility at Gladstone and on partner consent. This is the biggest sale by BG since it earlier this year announced plans to look at asset sales across the globe to monetize some of its investments and return cash to shareholders. BG Group had earlier expected to finalise a roughly $4 billion sale of gas pipelines in Australia's Queensland state by Christmas. "The sale of the QCLNG pipeline is in line with our strategy to focus on BG Group's core areas of oil and gas exploration and production and LNG," Andrew Gould, interim Executive Chairman of BG Group, said in a statement. BG said the transaction is expected to result in a post-tax profit of approximately $2.7 billion. The company also said it expects sale proceeds will be used to reduce net debt and fund future growth.

LONDON, Dec 9 (Reuters) - New Scotland Yard, the headquarters of London's storied police force and one of the British capital's most famous landmarks, has been sold to an Abu Dhabi investor, paving the way for its macabre but private museum to open to the public elsewhere. The 20-storey block in central London is famous around the globe as the home of the Metropolitan Police Service and for the rotating triangular sign in front of it nicknamed "the revolving cheese" by local wits. The Met, as the service is often called, is as well-known for its role as Britain's leading police force as for its links with famous fictional sleuths such as Sherlock Holmes. The sale, for 370 million pounds ($580 million), is part of a trend that has seen well-known public buildings sold in recent years to tap soaring real estate prices. The building, which sold for 120 million pounds more than the suggested price, will be transformed into luxury flats. The transaction paves the way for a remarkable collection of artefacts -- from the ricin-filled pellet fired from an umbrella to kill Bulgarian dissident Georgi Markov on a London bridge in 1978 to cooking pots used by a serial killer to boil up his victims -- to go on public display. They had previously been housed in a private invitation-only "Black Museum" at New Scotland Yard but will now be moved to a new public museum in a location that has yet to be chosen. The London Mayor's Office said policing enthusiasts and fans of Scotland Yard-related detective stories such as Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes and novels by the likes of Agatha Christie and P.D. James would benefit.

Conoco slashes investment after oil slump Top three US producer cuts spending by a fifth

Hansteen snaps up property in deal with Segro: Property investment company Hansteen has snapped up seven German industrial estates and agreed to buy three more from developer Segro, as part of a £36 million deal, the companies announced.

esure takes full control of Gocompare in £95 million deal: After eight years of hard graft, long hours and putting up with moustachioed tenor Gio Compario, Gocompare Founder Hayley Parsons celebrated a £43.7 million windfall from the sale of the business she founded at her kitchen table with a McDonald’s breakfast on Monday.

Songbird: bird in the hand: Shares in the company (which owns 69% of Canary Wharf) were trading at 160p a year ago. Higher? In June the company said its net asset value was 319p. Lower? The Qatar Investment Authority and Brookfield offered 295p per share in November, which was rejected. Higher? A revised valuation last month, compiled independently, put NAV at 381p. Lower? Another estimate of NAV, which adjusts for tax and mark to market valuations of derivatives (so-called triple NAV), stands at 304p. As poor old Brucie pauses for breath, there is only one number that matters. The latest (and final) offer from QIA and Brookfield, a U.S. asset Manager, is 350p. Songbird has not yet given a full response but its initial reaction is sniffy, saying that it does not reflect the full value of the company. The offer is, after all, a discount to the latest 381p NAV, and that NAV does not include any potential profits from a string of developments that Canary Wharf is planning. But put those NAVs to one side. Balance sheet valuations are art as much as science, as the one-fifth jump between the June NAV and the November NAV figures shows. What is more certain is that the cash offer is a 119% premium to where the shares were a year ago. London property is a popular asset class as money pours in from around the world, but it has not doubled in a year. It is far easier to sell on the way up than it is to either time the top of the market, or sell on the way down. The QIA offer looks good.

Oil tumbles as Saudis stick to crude tactics: Oil prices tumbled by almost $3 a barrel to a five-year low after Kuwait forecast that they would remain at about $65 until next summer and said that the global glut of crude showed no signs of diminishing.

At 0430GMT today, Brent crude oil one month futures contract is trading 1.13% or $0.75 lower at $65.44 per barrel ahead of the American Petroleum Institute weekly oil stockpiles data to be released later today. Oil prices came under pressure after Iraq slashed the crude oil prices for sales to Asia. Yesterday, the contract declined 4.17% or $2.88, to settle at $66.19 per barrel as demand concerns were further highlighted following a downward revision of Japan’s third quarter GDP data and after Chinese imports unexpectedly fell in November

Buy shares of Whitbread, Danny Fortson advised in the Sunday Times. The company's shares have hit a record high and have nearly quadrupled in the past five years, the Inside the City tipster said. With the owner of Premier Inn and Costa expected to unveil strong trading on December 11th, now might seem a good time to take profits but Whitbread's success has further to go.

Opec and American shale keep the oil price spiraling downwards: Oil prices were back near five-year lows – below $70 per barrel – at the end of last week as commodity traders, analysts and governments struggled to come up with new forecasts for 2015.

Finally, the proof that Marks & Spencer is back on track - customer complaints are down: Marks & Spencer has finally found the evidence that proves its clothing business is back on track – complaints are down by 20%.

At 0430GMT today, Brent crude oil one month futures contract is trading 1.3% or $0.90 lower at $68.17 per barrel, extending their decline after a broker cut its Brent crude price projections. On Friday, the contract declined 0.82% or $0.57, to settle at $69.07 per barrel, shrugging off upbeat US nonfarm payrolls data in November and declining to a five year low after Saudi Arabia slashed the price of its oil exports to the US and Asia.

Mild weather causes Primark’ sales to falter: Discount Fashion chain Primark has seen its sales fall short of hopes because of the unusually mild weather, said parent firm Associated British Foods (ABF).

£96 billion of oil projects under threat: Global Energy projects worth more than $150 billion (£96 billion) are likely to be put on hold next year amid plunging oil prices, according to fresh analysis that presents a fresh warning shot for the North Sea sector.

Opec and American shale keep the oil price spiralling downwards: Oil prices were back near five-year lows below $70 per barrel at the end of last week as commodity traders, analysts and governments struggled to come up with new forecasts for 2015.

Betfair shares have soared 37% this year: This year has been the tale of two different gambling businesses. On the one hand there is the old establishment made up of Ladbrokes and William Hill, both of whom have seen their shares fall in 2014 by 35% and 11% respectively. The old guard has suffered from the higher costs of a large high street store estate and the government targeting fixed odds betting terminals, a main source of profits, which have been labelled the “crack cocaine” of gambling. On the other hand, online gambling platforms such as Betfair have seen their shares surge more than 36% higher this year. The business has a much lower cost base and benefits from volatile markets and big sporting events. The World Cup may have been fairly miserable for the England team, but for Betfair it was fantastic. Revenue was up 26% to £237.6 million in the six months to the end of October, and pretax profits more than doubled to £67.3 million, when compared with the same period last year. The company said that even excluding the World Cup effect, revenue was up 12%. Management increased their expected full year earnings to about £100 million. Betfair had £271.4 million on the balance sheet at the end of October, prompting an increase in the interim dividend by 50% to 9p per share, and a special cash return of another £200 million to shareholders. Betfair £14.86. Questor says “HOLD”.

Sage shares jump as profits soar: Sage, the FTSE 100 listed software company, may be boring but it remains a profitable cash machine for investors. The company last week reported annual pretax profits up 69% to £278 million and Stephen Kelly, the new Chief Executive who replaced Guy Burruyer last month, announced an increase to the dividend of 7.1% to 12.12p. Sage has been changing the way it does business. The company used to charge a big initial fee for its accounting software and then add-on charges for providing support to create recurring revenue. The company is now moving to an online subscription model of pricing instead of charging an upfront fee. The shift in business model reduces revenue today, but improves the long term prospects as clients tend to be sticky. The software company said that it enjoyed a 29% increase in revenue from software subscriptions to £220 million for the year, from £170 million last year. The company’s organic revenue growth, which excludes the one-off fees, was up 5% for the year, up from 4% last year, and at a slightly improved operating profit margin of 27.5%. In the year just ended, the company returned £217 million to investors by way of dividend, and share buybacks. Sage at 447.9p. Questor says “HOLD

Labour mansion tax worries fuel record luxury rents: Rents in central London have risen sharply over the past 12 months as wealthy individuals and families delay buying more expensive properties until after the general election because of fears over Labour’s mansion tax.