Business News in Brief: 31st October

Chalkwell to announce £600,000 cash boost

Chalkwell, the Alternative Investment Market shell, is expected to confirm this week that it has raised up to £600,000 from placing shares with institutional investors.

It is thought that Chalkwell hopes to use the cash to invest in US-focused group Core Oil & Gas, which might result in a reverse takeover of the business. Chalkwell was set-up in 2007 to buy assets in the natural resources sector around the world.

Warsaw exchange float beats expectations

Warsaw Stock Exchange's initial public offering has beaten price expectations and will raise 1.2bn zlotys when the nearly 26.79m shares start trading on 9 November. The sale of the 63% stake in the exchange is part of a 25bn zloty privatisation programme. Krzysztof Walenczak, Poland's treasury under secretary, said: "For the first time in the history of Poland's capital markets investors from 30 countries in all five continents have participated. This day will find its footnote in the history of Polish capitalism."

Bank committee ‘unlikely’ to change rates

The Bank of England’s monetary policy committee is unlikely to change interest rates or its asset purchase programme when it meets on Thursday after good third-quarter growth figures. A Reuters survey found only one of 57 economists expected the MPC to increase its spend on quantitative easing. The poll was taken after figures showed the economy grew twice as fast as expected at 0.8 per cent quarter-on-quarter in the three months to September.