In a widely expected move, Greece formally defaulted on a $1.7bn payment to the Washington-based International Monetary Fund. European stocks and bonds initially fell amid the uncertainty and the euro declined against the US dollar.
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Good news for Sirius Minerals (SXX); the North York Moors National Park Authority have resolved to grant permission for the York Potash project's mine and mineral transport system planning application.
Engineering services specialist Costain Group (COST) said it has reached an agreement with its joint venture partner in Spain, Santander, to split the assets equally in a reorganisation of the business. It is thought that Santander will now own the two largest pieces of development land currently held by the joint venture and will assume a portion of the outstanding borrowings.
Wincanton (WIN) has signed an agreement with Halfords to be the sole operator of its national transport contract. The deal will commence this and will involve more than 80 vehicles operating from its operational base in Coventry, as well as sites in Redditch, Bury, Mossend, Portbury and Greenford.
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In a trading statement FTSE 250 constituent Tullow Oil (TLW) revealed an increase its full-year production guidance from West Africa but reported an expected fall in revenue and profit in the first half of 2015, reflecting the fall in oil prices.
Support services group Serco (SRP) has reported better-than-expected trading and said it was on track to hit full year targets. It signed contracts worth about £1bn during the first half, although it said that activity was relatively subdued with few major bids finalised.
Mobile commerce company Proxama (PROX), through partner Exterion Media, has fitted 500 buses in London with beacon technology to deliver proximity marketing services, which will deliver marketing services to consumer's smartphones via a deployment on public transport.
Tethys Petroleum (TPL) signed an agreement for a $47.7m private placing of 318m new ordinary shares at a price of $0.19 per ordinary share with AGR Energy Holdings Limited.
Meridian Energy said on Wednesday that it would extend until August the deadline for when Rio Tinto's (RIO) New Zealand aluminium smelter must decide whether to extend its power supply contract with the utility company. Meanwhile, it has been reported that former Xstrata boss Mick Davis, who now operates mining investment group X2, is in "serious" talks with Rio about buying the mining giant’s Hunter portfolio. X2 has $5.6bn to spend on mining assets, and could borrow further to fund new deals.
Greene King (GNK) reported record annual sales but said attitudes towards drinking out in Scotland have changed following the introduction of tougher drink-drive limits. A dearth of drunken motorists north of the border has trimmed like-for-like sales growth in the early weeks of its new financial year.
Saga (SAGA) has completed the acquisition of motorbike insurer Bennetts from Peterborough-based financial services group BGL for £26.26m in cash. Bennetts has more than 200,000 current customers and is a prime insurer in the market.
OTHER COMPANY NEWS:
Primary Health Properties (PHP) said it has struck deals to acquire two purpose-built health care facilities for £8.7m.
Graphene NanoChem (GRPH) has won an order for its PlatDrill Series drilling fluid worth $28m – which represents the bulk of the AIM-traded group’s current market value. PlatDrill is marketed as a smart fluid that is environmentally friendly and biodegradable.
In a move that could have major implications for a number of listed companies, the Airports Commission has recommended that a third runway should be built at Heathrow, but only if it can meet stringent conditions on noise and air pollution. But the government said that it is not bound by the findings of the independent commission on the expansion of airport capacity in the south east of England.
President Obama said he is prepared to walk away from a nuclear deal unless Iran accepts a tight monitoring regime as negotiators extended talks for a week past Tuesday’s deadline to reach a comprehensive agreement. The result of the negotiations will obviously have major implications for global oil markets.
