POTASH MINE: Chinese investors for Highfield’s Pamplona project
Credit: Highfield Resources
Potassium project Chinese companies Yankuang Energy Group, Beijing Energy International Holding and Singapore Taizhong Global Development intend to invest €200 million in Spanish-Australian mining company, Highfield.
Based in Pamplona (Navarra) and listed on the Australian Stock Exchange, Highfield hopes to develop a potash mine located on land straddling an area between Navarra and Zaragoza (Aragon).
The mineral is essential for fertilisers which are in supply owing to the Ukraine war and deposits on the Highfield land are sufficient to cover production for at least 30 years, sources close to the transaction said.
The regional authorities in Navarra and Aragon have approved the deal, which still needs the consent from the central government.
Turning the corner The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) announced that the global economy “has turned the corner.”
After ranking Britain behind all other G7 countries – the US, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the UK – in May, the OECD’s latest report placed Britain joint second with France and Canada after the US.
Describing Britain’s economic growth as robust, the OECD increased its 2024 prediction from May’s 0.4 per cent to 1.1 per cent, although inflation is nevertheless expected to be the group’s highest.
All change Skoda Group remains interested in rolling stock manufacturer Talgo, chief operating officer Zdenek Svata told the Spanish media.
The Czech company, which builds trains and trams, is expanding its production capacity by up to 25 per cent and views Talgo as a complementary partner, since it currently has little presence in high-speed rail sector.
Talgo rebuffed an earlier approach from Skoda when the company was in the midst of a €619 million takeover bid by a Hungarian consortium, Ganz-Mavay.
This was later vetoed by the Spanish government on security grounds, prompting Skoda to announce that the situation “has now changed.”
A slice of the Pi Raspberry PI reported adjusted earnings of £15.6 million (€18.7 million) for the first six months of 2024.
The company which produces single-board computers and micro-controllers and floated on the London Stock Exchange in June, said it had sold “marginally fewer devices” than anticipated.
As sales were skewed towards higher profit margins ,this boosted profitability, the group said, while volumes were expected to increase during this second half of this year.
Moving out Banco Santander is negotiating the sale of two of its UK head offices as staff relocate to its Unity Place building in Milton Keynes.
The centres in Bletchley and the City, which have been empty for some years, are expected to fetch £13 million (€15.6 million) and the Spanish bank expects both sales to go through by the end of this year or in early 2025.
Insiders revealed that Santander has no plans to rent back the properties once sold, but will vacate them entirely.
Still a ‘no’ Rightmove has yet again turned down an improved takeover offer from Rupert Murdoch’s REA Group.
The online property website said the £6.1 billion (€7.3 billion) cash and share offer from its Australian counterpart “continued to be unattractive” and “undervalued the company and its prospects.”
Rightmove, which is the only company of its kind to be FTSE 100-listed, turned down Rea Group’s first approach of £5.6 billion (€6.7 billion), which was followed by a second offer whose value was not revealed.
