London pre-open: Stocks seen touch higher after Easter break
29th Mar 2016 07:44
(ShareCast News) - London stocks are set to open a touch higher on Tuesday as traders get back to their desks following the long Easter weekend. The FTSE 100 is seen starting six points higher than Friday's close at 6,113. Later on in the day, investors will eye a speech from Federal Reserve Chair
Read moreAG Barr looks to move away from sugary drinks as FY sales not so sweet
29th Mar 2016 07:30
(ShareCast News) - Soft drinks maker AG Barr said it was looking to move away from sugary drinks in response to the UK government's plans to introduce an extra tax on the products as it reported its full year results. The manufacturer of Iron Bru and Tizer said cost cutting helped full year statutor
Read moreOsborne stands by sugar tax, tells drinks companies to 'bring it on'
24th Mar 2016 11:35
(ShareCast News) - Chancellor George Osborne stood by his decision to introduce a sugar tax on Thursday. When questioned about reports that some drinks makers were planning a legal challenge against the new policy, Osborne told the Treasury Select Committee the government would defend it "robustly"
Read moreSunday newspaper round-up: Rolls-Royce, Whitbread, Britvic, LSE
20th Mar 2016 16:56
(ShareCast News) - Rolls-Royce has put forward detailed proposals to the government to fill some of the UK's power shortage with a fleet of small reactors built around the company's expertise in generating power for Royal Navy submarines. With the escalating costs and timing of the £18bn Hinkley Poi
Read moreUK Budget: Govt to introduce sugar levy on soft drinks by 2018
16th Mar 2016 13:28
(ShareCast News) - Soft drink makers will be forced to pay a new government levy under plans announced by Finance Minister George Osborne in his annual Budget on Wednesday. He told parliament the levy would be used to fund school sports and help to fund extending school days for wider activities tha
Read moreBroker tips: Burberry, Lloyds, Britvic
26th Feb 2016 12:48
(ShareCast News) - Nomura upgraded Burberry to 'buy' from 'neutral' and lifted the price target to 1,500p from 1,450p. It said since the company announced a review of the global market, its initiatives, efficiency programmes, productivity and capital allocation, expectations have risen in anticipati
Read moreBroker tips: Home Retail, Britvic, AG Barr, Shell
2nd Feb 2016 15:36
(ShareCast News) - Home Retail had its 'sell' rating reiterated by Canaccord Genuity on Tuesday after the company agreed on the terms of a takeover bid from J Sainsbury. Sainsbury's has offered £1.3bn for the owner of Argos, equivalent to 161.3p a share. Home Retail shareholders will receive 55p in
Read moreFTSE 250 movers: Investors worried about Ocado Smart Platform partners
2nd Feb 2016 15:33
(ShareCast News) - The FTSE 250 continued to slide on Tuesday, with the second tier market down 249.75 points (1.51%) to 16,239.51 points by mid-afternoon. Despite posting double-digit revenue growth for the year through "challenging market conditions", shares in Ocado Group were down over 8%. T
Read moreJP Morgan Cazenove initiates coverage of Britvic and AG Barr
2nd Feb 2016 09:48
(ShareCast News) - JP Morgan Cazenove has initiated coverage of soft drink companies Britvic and AG Barr at 'underweight' and 'overweight' respectively. In a note on Tuesday, the investment bank said Britvic's shares have outperformed the sector since 2013. "The 2013 restructuring programme has lar
Read moreLondon close: Equities close higher as oil prices rise, BoJ loosens policy
29th Jan 2016 16:11
(ShareCast News) - The UK equity market closed higher on Friday as oil prices rose and the Bank of Japan's latest policy decision was well received. Oil prices gained on hopes of a deal by major exporters to cut production to address the global supply glut. At 1640 GMT, Brent crude rose 1.4% to $34.
Read moreLondon midday: Stocks gain on BoJ's negative interest rate
29th Jan 2016 11:00
(ShareCast News) - London stocks gained on Friday as investors cheered the Bank of Japan's latest policy announcement. The Bank of Japan unexpectedly decided to introduce a negative interest rate of -0.1% for new commercial banks' current account deposits. It means the banks will charged by the BoJ
Read moreIrn-Bru maker Barr looking at muted full year results
29th Jan 2016 08:00
(ShareCast News) - AG Barr was looking at slightly muted full year performance in a pre-close trading update on Friday, citing a challenging domestic market and its tough first half. The FTSE 250 soft drinks manufacturer - owner of the Irn-Bru brand - said it expected to deliver fourth quarter reven
Read moreAG Barr sales rally in third quarter
3rd Dec 2015 07:54
(ShareCast News) - Soft drinks group AG Barr said like-for-like sales for the 18 weeks to 28 November were up 3.9%. Barr, best known for its Irn Bru soft drink, said year-to-date sales were 0.2% lower and 2.2% lower on a reported basis. Numbers have been adjusted to factor in the impact of disconti
Read moreSugar taxes and food promotion clampdown could follow PHE obesity report
22nd Oct 2015 16:24
(ShareCast News) - A report by UK public health officials has found sugar taxes are an effective tool to combat obesity and has called for restrictions on food manufacturers and supermarkets offering deals on unhealthy foods and marketing to children. The report, 'Sugar Reduction: The evidence for a
Read moreAG Barr interim profit hit by poor weather and tough market conditions
22nd Sep 2015 07:45
(ShareCast News) - Shares in AG Barr slumped after the soft drinks company reported a drop in first-half interim profit due to poor weather and tough market conditions and said it does not expect any profit growth this year. For the six months ended 31 July, pre-tax profit fell 11.3% from the first
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