The Ides of March had come for Antofagasta (LON:ANTO) shareholders as the Chilean conglomerate suspended its dividend pay-out following poor results.
The copper mining group, 65% owned by Chile’s influential Luksic family, was hit by the collapse in the price of the metal last year.
Russ Mould of AJ Bell called the move a “stunning” departure from the group’s glory years.
In the last few months fellow copper miners, Glencore (LON:GLEN) and Anglo-American (LON:AAL) among them, cut dividends too.
Antofagasta’s cut takes the total reduction in payouts by FTSE 100 firms to over £5.7bln, reckons Mould.
Shareholders at Sirius Minerals (LON:SXX) were having a better time of it though.
Shares shot up over 17% on the back of a definitive feasibility study announcement at its Yorkshire project, to be issued this coming Thursday (17 March).
One tweeter summed it up perfectly:
" thank god i kept all my @siriusminerals shares" - @JamesPurvis21
Sirius is developing the world's largest and highest grade deposit of fertiliser polyhalite.
The site could enjoy a mine life of more than 100 years even at a full production rate of 20mln tonnes per annum.
The LSE/Deutsche Boerse merger reared its head once again as the March 22nd deadline approaches.
Michael Hewson of CMC Markets said “the outcome of these talks could have significant consequences for London’s future as a centre for clearing in the coming years.”
A sharp rise in the share price suggests shareholders aren’t too worried, but Hewson warns there could be problems with regulatory scrutiny.
Meanwhile Totally PLC was totally over the moon with its first acquisition, Premier Physical Healthcare.
Investors not so much, as the share price tanked 10%.
Unlike an emissions testing document, the Volkswagen scandal is not going away any time soon.
300 institutional investors are suing the car giant for £2.5bn for what they claim were breaches of its stock market duty.
An ex-VW worker also claimed he was fired after refusing to participate in a three-day document purge following the emissions test allegations.
Sainsbury’s is starting to see the frosts of winter thaw as it saw the first rise in sales for two years despite the on-going supermarket price war.
The group reported sales at stores open more than a year had risen by an, albeit modest, 0.1% in the three months to 12 March.
The rise appears to have offset a 0.4% fall in like-for-like sales over the Christmas period.
As for the proposed Argos deal, Sainsbury's chief executive Mike Coupe seemed to shrug it off:
"The Argos bid is not a must-do deal at any price and if it doesn't go ahead, then Sainsbury's will continue."