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Royal Dutch Shell has asked Washington for permission to drill in the Arctic, off the coast of Alaska. The move keeps open the possibility that the oil group could resume its exploration campaign there next summer. The company said it had not made a definite decision to drill in the Arctic next year, and needed permit awards and a court decision to go in its favour, but wanted to keep the option open. (Financial Times)

Chipmaker CSR rejects Microchip offer UK company’s shares surge almost 36% after approach by Arizona-based group as it becomes the latest target for possible tax inversion deal

Specialist healthcare company BTG and its partner SciClone Pharmaceuticals have received approval from the China Food and Drug Administration for the registration of DC Bead for the embolisation of a type of malignant liver tumour.

Markets go bananas for Fyffes and Chiquita’s shipping savings: Shares in London-listed fruit giant Fyffes jumped, after a joint announcement with banana colossus Chiquita that the firms identified another $20 million (£12.06 million) in synergy savings to be made by their merger.

Balfour Beatty increases value of its portfolio of public sector work to £1 billion days after rebuffing bid from rival Carillion: Infrastructure giant Balfour Beatty increased the value of its portfolio of public sector work to £1 billion days after it rebuffed a bid from rival Carillion.

Global insurance industry covers $21 billion losses from natural disasters this year: The global insurance industry covered $21 billion (£12.7 billion) of losses from disasters in the first half of 2014 as fewer natural catastrophes kept claims below their long-term average.

Hold Bunzl despite pounding: The strength of the pound has hammered revenue and profits at Bunzl during the first half of the year. However, maintaining a long-term investment in the company is wise if you dig a little deeper into interim results. The FTSE 100-listed distribution group has carved out a successful and sizeable niche by supplying the food retail industry with bags, stationery and plastic display items. The company also provides workers as diverse as cleaners and surgeons with products such as latex gloves, safety goggles, aprons, and face masks. The one common factor being that these items tend to be thrown away after use. Because the products are consumable and provided to industries such as food retail and health care the revenue is recurring and stable. Bunzl’s business model is one of centralised bulk-buying of these disposal products to reduce costs and the products are then distributed to customers. Bunzl continued this strategy by snapping up four U.K. companies to add to those it purchased during the first six months. The company spent £119 million in the first half on acquisitions, down from £150 million at the same stage last year. The first half results were hit by the strong pound. In the six months ended June, revenue was down 1% to £2.9 billion, with pretax profits up 2% to £132.3 million. However, adjusting for the impact of currency movements, revenue would have increased by 7% and pretax profits would be up 14%. Bunzl growth has certainly slowed in the first half of this year due to the strong pound fewer acquisitions to boost growth. Questor thinks that with growth in the single digits it is hard to justify the price earnings ratio of 20 times on the shares, falling to 19 times next year. That said, Bunzl is still cash generative and remains a class defensive share due to its dividend track record. Bunzl at £16.39+9p Questor Says ‘Hold’.

Specially vulnerable: British American Tobacco has validated the thesis that an Executive given the title “head of special projects” has been transferred to the departures lounge. Superfluous Bosses are usually parked in this role with at least a pretence that the job may be permanent. However Jean-Marc Levy, who is stepping down unexpectedly as marketing Director, will occupy the post for just four months before leaving the tobacco giant. The special projects brief can be a useful airlock through which to bundle time-served Managers for two reasons. First, it makes the incumbent sound important. Second it bears no critical responsibilities. A special projects unit may be opened or closed at whim. You cannot do that with a division. The head of special projects may thus have the uncanny feeling that the red dot of a laser sight is trained on the back of his head. Nor are his projects likely to be truly special. The best innovations are likely to be generated within divisions, who will guard them jealously.

Frank Foxtons: Foxtons has a habit of marking inflection points. The London estate agent went private just before the noughties property boom ended, rejoining the stock market last autumn as prices surged ahead Now it has predicted growth in house sales will slow, which means rises in house prices and in its own profits will too. Gratifyingly for Mark Carney, Foxtons’ newbie Chief Executive Nic Budden cited Bank of England restrictions on high loan-to-value mortgages as well as predicted interest rate rises. The low-key Mr Budden saw Foxtons’ shares fall 10.3% even as he heralded a special dividend. The group guarantees to pay out 35-40% of post-tax profits. This time investors will get 70%, triple what rivals Savills and Countrywide pay, according to the S&P Capital IQ database. Foxtons’ focus on London underpins a premium earnings ratio of about 19 times. But the resilience of local house prices may prove overstated if the U.K. quits the EU and a chunk of the City decamps to Frankfurt. That would put a bigger damper on dinner party conversations than anything Mr Budden can manage.

Shareholder value: controlling interests: Shareholders seem to be getting the best of things just now. Pretax margins in the S&P 500, at more than 10%, are at the highest level in more than 20 years. Profits are at a high relative to U.S. GDP, too. But Owners, suppliers, staff and customers all have their hooks in companies and shareholders do not always win. Look at investment banks, where the staff take most of the value. Or at the U.K.’s supermarket price war, which benefits customers at the expense of everyone else. Neither is it true that alternative forms of control will necessarily produce better companies, however that is measured. The near collapse of the U.K.’s Co-operative Group shows what can happen when well-meaning alternatives go awry. The only certainty is that taking control away from equity holders will increase the cost of equity for the companies concerned – making riskier debt funding more attractive. Here one thinks of banks’ mortgage trading before the crisis. But there are more examples of how managing companies with shareholder value in mind has been beneficial to Owners, suppliers and customers alike. By all means, experiment with new forms of control. But they may cause as many problems as they solve.

Royal Dutch Shell has agreed to sell some of its Nigerian oil fields in order to reduce costs and boost profits, it said on Wednesday. The deal, for the group's 30% share of four licences in Nigeria, is expected to be completed in the next few weeks, in a move to reduce its presence in the country as it continue to be plagued by theft and sabotage of natural resources. "We have signed sales and purchase agreements for some of the oil mining leases, but not all that we are seeking to divest," a Shell spokesperson wrote in an email on Wednesday. The sale could reach $5.2bn, the Financial Times reported, contributing to its $15bn asset-sales plan through 2015. So far the group has completed close to $8bn of asset sales in 2014.

“The stock is trading at a small discount to the sector, which we view as harsh given its now strong balance sheet and in line debt leverage. We find ourselves above consensus and… expect the group to be at the upper end of its medium-term targets,” Bank of America Merrill Lynch analyst William Hardcastle hails Stephen Hester's turnaround at RSA.

Letting agents raise rents to get around ban on fees: Scottish estate agents are blaming the country’s ban on tenancy fees for a recent rise in rents, indicating that the Labour party may face a similar challenge if it brings in the same rule for the U.K. after 2015.

Wood in deals with Petrobras: Wood Group Kenny has won two contracts with Brazilian energy company Petrobras worth a total of $2 million (£1.2 million).

French hotel giant Accor checks into U.K. property as rivals check out: French hotel giant Accor has bought 13 U.K. properties for €89 million (£71 million) as it breaks ranks with the popular “asset light strategy” pursued by most of its major rivals and seeks to buy up hotels it currently leases.

A tamer Telecity: When a Boss with a penchant for using ex-KGB agents to “kidnap” senior staff and for getting Managers to go swimming with sharks leaves a company board abruptly, an absence of fireworks can leave observers feeling cheated. The talk from Mr Tobin and John Hughes, Chairman of the data centre operator, is all mutual agreement. It is, apparently, “the right time for a new leadership team to take over”. The brevity of Mr Tobin’s handover also sits oddly with the rhetoric of a natural change of leadership after more than a decade. The board’s preference for his swift exit – at the expense of a 6.5% share price dip – suggests a strategic difference over the group’s future. While Mr Tobin this year published a management book called Forget Strategy. Get Results, investors have had a change of strategy at the front of their minds. Analysts have warned that Telecity’s margins are unsustainable and that it is slipping away from being a growth stock.

WPP: buying in bulk: WPP would remain the world’s largest advertising agency by revenues, and his two biggest rivals had been distracted for almost a year by a now-defunct tie-up. And over the 10 months that Publicis and Omnicom fiddled around trying to close the deal, WPP shares outperformed them both. Revenues at Omnicom and Publicis – on the same basis – rose at less than half that rate. WPP won work off both. Organic growth at Publicis was particularly weak. (Of course, just how much of this was down to merger distractions is hard to know). With net debt down to 1.5 times earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation, WPP also has financial capacity – it even managed to increase its first half dividend by a tenth. But the WPP acquisition machine is fine-tuned for smaller deals. The group has taken control of 126 companies since 2009, and those that still report their own results are likely to make a decent return on capital of 12% this year. Sir Martin is better off watching the glitzier deals from the sidelines.

Shale oil and gas producers’ finances lift growth hopes: The independent oil and gas companies at the forefront of the U.S. shale revolution have substantially improved their financial position – boosting confidence that the rapid growth in production can continue. North Sea glut pressures Brent crude: The price of Brent crude crept lower on Tuesday as a supply glut in the North Sea and Atlantic Basin remained in focus.

Far from slowing down, after opening its 200th office centre in the first half of the year the provider of temporary office accommodation Regus is set to accelerate its expansion. A full 450 new centres are due to open this year and as many next year. The company does have its doubters however, given its ambitious growth plans. The fact that 85% of its sales hail from overseas means that it is exposed to currency fluctuations - hence the flat profits before tax seen in the first six months. Operating margins at its mature offices however rose to 14.4% during the last reporting period, from 10.6%, showing just how profitable its business model can be. At 26 times earnings the shares trade on a "hefty" multiple, but that is distorted by a heavy investment programme. "The business is growing fast, with strong potential in developing markets. It may take a while for the benefits of that investment to show," but the stock is a "long-term buy" says The Times's Tempus.

Gas explorer and producer BG Group has taken a step forward in developing a new liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in Tanzania. BG said results from tests on its Mzia find off the coast of the southern African country further bolstered the case for a new onshore LNG scheme in the area.