THE DAILY BRIEFING
IRAQ DEAL
Oil major BP has signed a contract with Iraq to more than double production at its Kirkuk oil fields. BP will boost output capacity to 750,000 barrels per day.
ONLINE BOOST
A boom in online shopping has fuelled bumper sales at logistics firm
Eddie Stobart. Ecommerce sales more than doubled to £103m over the year and group revenues grew 12pc to £618m.
PRECIOUS HAUL
East Africafocused gold producer Shanta Gold produced 21,288 ounces of gold during the three months ending December 31, an increase of 17pc on the previous quarter.
SOLAR SWOOP
Oil major Shell has agreed to buy power from British Solar Renewables’s power plant in Bradenstoke, Wiltshire – Britain’s second-largest – to supply UK customers. It has 269,000 panels and generates around 65 gigawatt hours of solar energy per year.
PROFIT GROWTH
The underwriting and wealth management divisions of Morgan Stanley helped to deliver profits above expectations in the final three months of 2017 to reach £1.2bn.
RIVAL BOUGHT
Asset manager Franklin Templeton has bought rival Edinburgh Partners for £200m. Franklin looks after £542bn of savers’ money, while Scottish firm Edinburgh had £7.2bn of investments.
ROBO LAUNCH
Financial planner Symphony is launching a roboadvice business for less wealthy clients. It will automatically pick investments based on how much risk savers want to take on, without human involvement.
TAXI BACKING
US search giant Google has backed one of Uber’s taxi app rivals in China, by investing in Go- Jek.
EU DEMAND
European Union bosses have insisted the order that
Apple must pay £11.5bn in tax to Ireland will be unaffected by the firm’s plans to haul its £250bn cash pile back to the US.
The transfer comes after tax reforms introduced under US President Donald Trump. The EU said Apple gained an ‘illegal advantage’ in Ireland over several years.
STANDING FIRM
Services provider Franchise Brands expects its full-year performance to be ahead of expectations despite taking a knock from the collapse of Carillion.