Babcock bullish as revenues rise

17th May 2011 08:58

Engineering support services group Babcock International hailed the ability of outsourced service providers to benefit from the government's cost-cutting efforts as it posted a sharp rise in revenues. In the year to 31 March, revenue was up by 50% from the previous year at £2.89bn, while pre-tax p

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Broker snap: Setting sail with a 'buy' at Babcock

10th May 2011 13:18

UBS has initiated coverage for engineering support services company Babcock International with a 'buy' and 770p target price, citing the group's high-quality outsourcing business, strong management team and track record of delivery. UBS notes that its exposure to the UK government has hit sentiment

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FTSE 250 movers: CPP plummets after profit warning

29th Mar 2011 15:09

The biggest mover of the day is CPP, which has seen its share price plummet after yesterday's announcement that the FSA has raised sales-related issues with its identity protection products and this will reduce its profit in 2011. The identity theft and credit card insurer said that the FSA is conce

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Business opportunities picking up at Babcock

29th Mar 2011 07:28

Engineering support services company Babcock International is sitting on a strong order book and a growing bid pipeline, giving it confidence for the next financial year. Having seen a slowdown in the first half of the year in the number of new contracts coming up for tender this trend has reversed

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Babcock nabs German bases contract

11th Feb 2011 07:38

Support services group Babcock has picked up a £170m contract to maintain 12 British Army bases in Germany, the first time a private contractor has been chosen to run British Forces facilities in the country. The five-year contract will see Babcock deliver planned and reactive building maintenance

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Wednesday tips round-up: Babcock, Hornby, Playtech...

26th Jan 2011 06:48

Babcock bought rival VT last year and said investors would be looking at how well it performed. So far, it seems the integration is on track, with management confident of hitting a run-rate of £11m by the end of March. Babcock also exceeded expectations on paying down debt following the VT acquisi

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Babcock in confident mood

25th Jan 2011 07:53

The final quarter of 2010 saw more of the same for engineering support services group Babcock International, with trading in line with expectations. The order book remains stable at around £12bn, while, as expected, the pipeline of bids at pre-qualification questionnaire and invitation to tender st

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Tuesday preview: PZ Cussons, Babcock, Playtech, GDP

24th Jan 2011 16:37

Consumer products group PZ Cussons, best known for its Imperial Leather brand of soap, will be going up against a tough set of comparatives when it issues interim results on Tuesday. Panmure Gordon is expecting the firm to deliver "relatively muted growth" of around 3% in earnings per share (EPS).

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Broker tips: Marston's, Serco, ASOS

24th Jan 2011 13:31

Pub group and brewer Marston's share price has taken a hit in the last couple of months making what Peel Hunt described as the best operator in the modern pub industry an even bigger bargain. Snow disruption, an "overwhelming exposure" to places with average public sector employment, and the north

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Broker snap: Serco plays down speculation

24th Jan 2011 12:37

Outsourcing giant Serco has confirmed that it is not in talks over acquiring US group SRA International, much to the disappointment of Panmure Gordon, which described it as a missed opportunity for the group to become the "biggest foreign company providing services to the US government." The Teleg

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First Quantum non-exec halves holding

22nd Nov 2010 16:46

Non-executive director Andrew Adams has sold nearly half of his stake in First Quantum Minerals. The disposal was a week after First Quantum reported its third quarter figures. Adams sold the shares in four tranches. He sold 14,286 shares in total, leaving him with 15,000 shares. The shares were

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Newly appointed QinetiQ non-exec buys

18th Nov 2010 17:22

Recently appointed non-executive director Paul Murray has invested nearly £50,000 in defence group QinetiQ following the release of its interim figures. Murray bought 44,377 shares at 112.08p a share. This is his total holding in QinetiQ. He was appointed to the board on 25 October. Murray is al

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Incoming Whitbread boss takes another slice

17th Nov 2010 17:56

Whitbread's incoming chief executive Andy Harrison has continued signalling his commitment to his new employers, spending nearly £500,000 on shares in the hotel and coffee shop operator. He bought 29,439 shares at 1,685.74 a time and now has 161,673. Harrison, who used to be chief executive at eas

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Petmin non-exec buys

15th Nov 2010 17:02

Petmin non-executive director Enrique Greyling has invested nearly £41,000 in the anthracite and silica miner. This deal was originally mistakenly reported as a disposal. Greyling has bought 156,000 shares at R2.95 (26p) a share. Greyling owns just over 3.67m shares. His fellow directors have al

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Babcock chairman buys

11th Nov 2010 16:54

Babcock non-executive chairman Mike Turner has invested £57,000 in the engineering support services provider following its interim figures earlier this week. Turner acquired 10,000 shares at 572.74p each. That takes his stake to 30,000 shares. Turner has been Babcock chairman for two years, join

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