Former BP (LON:BP.) boss and current chief executive of Genel Energy (LON:GENL) Tony Hayward again made headlines today after becoming one of three directors who will share an almost £160 million payout after exercising a right to a 6.67 percent stake in the Iraqi Kurdistan operating group.
The others are financier Nat Rothschild and former banker Julian Metherell. They did so by exercising their B-shares, for which they paid a reported £15 million.
The three are the founders of London-listed Vallares, which merged with Turkey’s Genel to create a London listed oil explorer focused on Kurdistan.
They initially invested £85 million in Vallares, which was set up to acquire undervalued assets in emerging oil regions.
When the merger was unveiled last year, Hayward described Kurdistan as the last great oil frontier.
In the meantime, the retail sector was back in the spotlight with HMV Group (LON:HMV) becoming one of the top risers in London markets. Shares in the entertainment retailer more than doubled in price as it revealed new banking arrangements which aim to alleviate the pressure on its finances.
The firm told investors that its banking syndicate has agreed to waive an imminent test on its banking covenants, and it will re-set tests for the 12 months to April and July 2012 with significantly enhanced headroom.
The decision by the banks follows an agreement between HMV and key suppliers, which see HMV assign a 2.5 per cent stake in the business to the suppliers.
HMV says the new arrangement will be materially positive for the firm’s profitability and cash flow.
Furthermore it believes that it can repay half its outstanding debt in the next three years, should current trading patterns continue.
Other notable risers included energy procurement business Inspired Energy (LON:INSE), which jumped 7.5 percent after reporting that client wins and contract extensions helped it to a 30 percent jump in revenues in the second half.
Following the strong second half performance, the group expects its 2011 performance to be in line with expectations.
Trading performance in the last two months of the year was particularly strong with order book sales reaching a record level in the fourth quarter, to take the total for the year to £3.8 million.
Since its admission to the AIM market in November, Inspired Energy has won several new high volume accounts, while retention rates on existing customers were high.
Another article by Proactive Investors covered today’s announcement from Canadian listed rare-earth explorer Mkango Resources (CVE:MKA), which has started a second stage of drilling at the Songwe Hill project in Malawi.
This diamond drilling, which started on January 10, will complement the first stage of drilling completed last year, which showed that mineralised zones could extend to at least 260m vertical depth.
This diamond drilling, which started on January 10, will complement the first stage of drilling completed last year, which showed that mineralised zones could extend to at least 260m vertical depth.
Today's statement also updated investors on activities.
The drilling will mainly concentrate on an area measuring around 350 metres by 100 metres consisting of rare earth lithologies, largely exposed at surface and open to depth, the company said.
The programme will feature infill drilling and testing mineralisation at depth, which was encountered in the first stage.
Mkango also said today that around five east-west bearing lines of surface channel sampling have been completed at Songwe and around 400 samples are being sent for assay.
Proactive also dedicated a story to Medgenics (LON:MEDG, AMEX:MDGN), which has received more positive patent news today, in the form of an ‘intention to grant' notice from the European Patent Office.
This is in relation to a patent application entitled ‘USE OF DERMAL MICRO ORGANS’. This allows patent claims covering a core element of the firm’s Biopump protein therapy technology.
"We will be delighted to add this European patent to our growing intellectual property portfolio,” said chief executive Andrew Pearlman.
“This patent is important as it protects key elements of our protein production technology. These claims provide significant protection for our proprietary technology and create significant barriers of entry to any would-be competitors."
This latest patent, in Europe, is a counterpart patent to one granted to Medgenics for the United States back in 2008. That patent lasts until November 2023.