Rio Tinto ups iron ore output, Royal Mail revenue inches up
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The FTSE 100 is predicted to drop by around 21 points on Tuesday, following a positive finish at 6,695.42 as the week began.
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Mining giant Rio Tinto said second quarter iron ore production from its mines in Western Australia's Pilbara rose 8% to nearly 81m from the same time a year ago. Pilbara iron ore shipments rose 6% to 82.2m tonnes. Over the six month period, shipments of iron ore increased 8% to nearly 159m tonnes, while production rose 10% to almost 161m tonnes.
Royal Mail said trading for the three months ended 26 June was in line with its expectations, with group revenue up 1% and UK revenue down 1%. Chief executive Moya Greene said: “We continue to face the challenges caused by the current low inflationary environment and our highly competitive markets. We remain, however, very focussed on operational and financial efficiency and delivering a high quality service for all our customers."
Hammerson has has exchanged contracts for the sale of Manor Walks Shopping Centre, Cramlington in Northumberland to Arch Commercial Enterprise for £78m, plus a 4,000 square metre property in Folkestone for £7m. “These transactions represent further progress in our disposal programme with £200 million of our £300 million target now concluded,” said Hammerson CEO David Atkins.
Newspaper round-up
One of the country’s best-known entrepreneurs has raised fears that Britain’s largest technology company will be milked for its cash after it is sold to SoftBank, of Japan, for £24.3 billion. Hermann Hauser, founder of Acorn Computers, the parent of Arm Holdings, has declared that “Arm’s loss of independence is a loss to the UK” and dismissed the argument that the sale was necessary for Arm to fulfil its potential. - The Times
Britain has voted to renew its nuclear deterrent after a heated debate in the Commons in which new prime minister Theresa May firmly set out the case for Trident, while the motion was passed by 472 votes to 117. The vote was not on full approval for the new submarines as the government has opted to approve the investment in stages in an effort to control costs. - Financial Times
The North Sea oil industry is heading for its first strike action in a generation after 400 rig workers agreed to down tools during a 24-hour stoppage next week. Members of the Unite and RMT unions working for Wood Group, the engineering contractor, on eight Shell oil and gas platforms in the North Sea are angry over pay cuts of up to 30 per cent and changes to allowances. - The Times
US close
US stocks closed slightly higher on Monday as technology stocks were boosted on the back of SoftBank's bid for the UK's ARM Holdings and gains were made in the banking sector.
The Dow Jones and S&P 500 both finished at record highs, while the Nasdaq was also up.
Apple, which uses ARM's microchips in its iconic iPhone, gained on the back of the £24bn bid, gaining 1.06%. Microsoft came along for the ride as did Cisco Systems.