Sunday newspaper round-up: Vodafone, National Grid, bank legal claims
24th May 2015 16:21
Several of Vodafone's major shareholders have urged the telecoms giant to pursue a merger with US-based Virgin Media owner Liberty Global and offload some of its overseas businesses. After Liberty's owner, US billionaire John Malone, dropped heavy hints about a potential deal, the Sunday Telegraph r
Read moreStart-up British banks seeing better returns than larger rivals, says KPMG
22nd May 2015 13:35
New 'challenger' banks are outperforming the 'Big Five' high street banks, and the larger lenders need to examine better ways of standing out in the market, according to a report by KPMG. The reported said that new banks in the UK are securing stellar returns, as they pick up "the whitespace left be
Read moreThursday broker round-up
21st May 2015 13:01
Barclays: JP Morgan Cazenove reiterates overweight and 285p target. StanChart: Goldman sachs reiterates neutral. St.James Place: Numis reiterates add and 1050p target. Hargreaves Lansdown: JP Morgan Cazenove reiterates neutral and raises target to 1,100p from 1,050p. UK Mail Group: RBC Capital re
Read moreLondon close: Vodafone, banks lead markets higher but Greek concerns weigh
20th May 2015 16:59
Decent gains from blue chips Vodafone, Barclays and RBS gave UK stock markets a lift on Wednesday, with the Footsie settling above the 7,000 level for the first time in seven sessions. The FTSE 100 finished 12.16 points higher (+0.17%) at 7,007.26, a level it has not closed above since 11 May. Howe
Read moreBarclays and RBS among banks fined $5.6bn for forex rigging
20th May 2015 15:01
Five global banks including the UK's Barclays and Royal Bank of Scotland have agreed to pay over $5bn in combined fines and will plead guilty to criminal charges over the rigging of foreign exchange markets. After a long-standing US probe into whether traders at the institutions conspired to fix for
Read moreMonday newspaper round-up: Greece, Whitehall job cuts, NHS
18th May 2015 06:51
Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras had warned creditors that it would not be able to repay the IMF, just days before Athens tapped emergency reserves at the Fund, according to The Telegraph. "It has emerged that the prime minister was seemingly unaware of the cash reserves just days before the paym
Read moreBarclays facing possible fine over LIBOR settlement breach
15th May 2015 07:55
Barclays may be facing a second fine in connection to its June 2012 settlement with US authorities over the alleged rigging of the main interbank lending rate, known as the London Interbank Offered Rate or LIBOR. The size of the fine is not clear but as of a few weeks ago was calculated to stand at
Read moreDoJ declined to prosecute Citigroup on LIBOR rigging
11th May 2015 14:07
The Department of Justice (DoJ) declined to prosecute on charges that it tried to rig the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR), Citigroup said in a quarterly filing with the US stock market regulator, the SEC. Shares in the lender were lower by 0.30% to trade at $53.86 as of 14:06 London time, befo
Read moreMonday newspaper round-up: China cuts rates, Barclays, Greece
11th May 2015 06:41
China has lowered interest rates for the third time in six months in an effort to avert a slowdown, cutting the benchmark lending and deposit rates by 25 basis points each, The Wall Street Journal writes. "Barclays faces fines and penalties of more than £2 billion this week as the big investment ban
Read moreLondon midday: Stocks power ahead as market cheers surprise Tory election win
8th May 2015 11:23
London stocks posted healthy gains on Friday as investors welcomed news that Prime Minister David Cameron's Conservative party is on track for a second term in power. The FTSE 100 was up 1.7% at 7,004.23 by midday, with banks, utility stocks and housebuilders pacing the advance. Lloyds Banking Grou
Read moreNomura upgrades UK banks after recent underperformance; says Tory election win is more banking friendly
8th May 2015 09:48
Nomura upgraded UK bank stocks to overweight from underweight on Friday, pointing to their recent underperformance and the "business/banking friendly outcome" of the UK election, with the Conservative Party on track for another five years in power. "When we downgraded the UK banks sub-sector at the
Read moreOphir Energy brings on Golar as mid-stream partner at Fortuna
5th May 2015 07:28
Unlike its competitors, Ophir Energy has decided to move ahead with investments at its Fortuna LNG project offshore Equitorial Guinea, accelerating the date of first gas. On Tuesday, the company named Golar LNG as its mid-stream partner for its Fortuna floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) project.
Read moreLondon close: Markets shrug off weak data as Lloyds and miners surge
1st May 2015 16:37
Strong gains from mining stocks and an impressive first-quarter performance from UK lender Lloyds helped UK markets to rise on Friday, as investors shrugged off mostly worse-than-expected economic data. "With Europe mostly out of action for May Day, it was a quiet day in London, but at least the tra
Read moreBroker tips: Lloyds, Barclays, Zoopla
1st May 2015 11:40
Lloyds impressed investors and analysts alike with its first-quarter results on Friday, though some brokers highlighted uncertainty ahead of the election and regarding the government's stake. Gary Greenwood from Shore Capital said he expected the shares to react positively, but material upside "may
Read moreBerenberg cuts Barclays to 'sell'
1st May 2015 10:34
Berenberg has recommended investors to 'sell' shares of Barclays, saying that positive catalysts at the bank "seem further away than we hoped". The broker lowered its rating on the stock from 'hold' and cut its target price from 220p to 200p. "Barclays is one of our wildcards for 2015 as we believe
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