Dresdner Kleinwort News

Aker Solutions says it has recruited David Phillips from HSBC Global Equity Research as head of industry and investor relations. He will start on June 17, 2014. Phillips, 43, served as global co-head of oil and gas research and managing director at HSBC since mid-2011 after joining the bank as an analyst in 2005. He earlier specialized as an analyst covering the chemicals sector for banks including Commerzbank, Morgan Stanley and Dresdner Kleinwort Benson. He will be based at Aker Solutions' London office and report to the company's chief financial officer. David Phillips has a BA in Chemistry from Oxford University and a PhD in Chemistry from Cambridge University. www.akersolutions.com

The Board of Singapore's financially-turbulent FSL Trust Management Pte. Ltd. has appointed Investment Banker Alan Hatton to be CEO of the Trust. Alan Hatton joins FSL Trust from FR8 where he has been CEO since 2008. He joined FR8 as CFO in 2007 and has significant commercial shipping experience including negotiating and executing time charters, sale & purchase deals and risk management strategies. Previously, Alan was an investment banker working in Mergers & Acquisitions and Corporate Finance for Lazard and Dresdner Kleinwort in London. Alan has an M.Sc. and B.Sc.

Cammell Laird's $500 million contract with U.S. firm Luxus could fail unless loan guarantees are received from the British government by the end of February. "It's urgent. I'd like to think it (loan guarantee approval) was certainly this month," Juan Kelly said. Kelly said he had written to British Trade and Industry Secretary Stephen Byers to urge the speedy approval of loan guarantees for Luxus, which has ordered two luxury liners from Cammell Laird. Without the guarantees, Luxus, which is a start-up company, may not get bank loans to fund the orders, sources at Cammell Laird said recently. The guarantees could cover some 60 percent of the value of the contract.

Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein said on Tuesday it had upgraded its recommendation for British distribution and logistics firm Exel Plc to "buy" from "add", noting a global economic slowdown would accelerate outsourcing. A Dresdner note said despite the slowdown in the world economy its forecasts showed double digit earnings growth and rising cash generation over the next three years. - (Reuters)

Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein said on Wednesday it was cutting its recommendation on P&O (Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Company Plc) to reduce from hold and had a price target of 240 pence a share. A research note said a recent visit to P&O Ports discovered that new project start-ups were proceeding apace and underlying volume growth was still healthy, although the market rate had fallen as world trade had slowed. Slower growth should prove challenging to P&O Nedlloyd as container shipping capacity is set to grow 12.5 percent this year and 11 percent next year. "Utilization will come under pressure and freight rates are likely to fall. It is largely a question of the timing and order of magnitude," the note said.

Iran announced its biggest oil find in 30 years last week, a 26-billion barrel field discovered just as the country drives to revive exploration activities and foreign firms compete for big deals. Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh said the oilfield in the prolific southwest Khuzestan province has the potential to produce up to 400,000 bpd. He said that development on the field, which is close to the Iraqi border, will start by the end of March 2001 and could earn revenues of some $100 billion given current estimates of recoverable reserves. The massive discovery by the National Iranian Oil Company comes under renewed Iranian efforts to rejuvenate exploration activities in a country with the world's second largest natural gas reserves and fifth biggest oil reserves.