THE DAILY BRIEFING
NUCLEAR STRIKE More than 700 workers at the Atomic Weapons Establishment will go on strike for 24 hours on May 10 and May 18 – adding to two strikes already announced. The May 10 strike will coincide with a planned disaster training day when workers run through what they would do in case of a nuclear incident. Unions say the closure of the defined benefits pension scheme earlier this year will cost workers thousands of pounds.
IRAQ CONTRACTS Oil and gas firm Petrofac has secured contracts worth £55m for engineering, operations and maintenance in Iraq. Its Engineering and Production Services East business secured the awards with two multinational oil companies and the state-owned South Oil Company. Shares rose 2.2pc, or 18p, to 846p.
ENGINE DEAL Engineer RollsRoyce has sold three more Trent 700 engines to Indonesia’s Lion Group for £234m. The engines will power three Airbus A330 planes and will also be serviced by Rolls. Shares rose 0.3pc, or 2.5p, to 812.5p.
DIAMOND DAYS Six prospecting licences have been awarded to AIMlisted Botswana Diamonds’ joint venture in Botswana. The licences awarded to Sunland Minerals, the company’s joint venture with Alrosa, cover more than 1,350 square miles and last until March 2020. Shares rose 11.7pc, or 0.18p, to 1.68p.
BETTING FINE Troubled spreadbetting firm Plus500 has reached a £467,000 settlement with the Belgian financial regulator. Last August, the watchdog banned firms like Plus500 from allowing non-professional customers to bet on financial markets without owning stocks. It said spread-betting products were ‘marketed aggressively and are extremely risky’. Plus500 said the settlement ‘does not amount to an admission of guilt of non-compliance’.
BREAKFAST BOOST Fast food giant McDonald’s beat expectations with its latest results. Sales at US restaurants open for more than a year rose 1.7pc in the three months ending March 31. Steve Easterbrook, chief executive, has cut overheads and introduced all day breakfasts. Shares reached an all-time high yesterday, ending at $141.70.
FRUITFUL FIBRE Revenues at broadband firm CityFibre soared by 140pc as it rolled out fibre optic cables across UK towns and cities. It installed 2,102 miles of fibre infrastructure, up from 461 miles in 2015.