London open: Footsie drifts lower
15th Mar 2010 08:48
It's a quiet start for Footsie with little company news and buyers again largely sitting on the sidelines. British Telecom and Cable & Wireless are pushing on helping to offset a dull morning for the miners. Xstrata, Vedanta and Kazakhmys are the worst affected. BSkyB is down after Friday's excite
Read moreLondon pre-open: Dull start in store
15th Mar 2010 07:44
London looks set to get the week off to a quiet start with City traders predicting the FTSE 100 will open around 10 points lower than it's closing level on Friday. Investment trust giant Witan’s investment performance beat its benchmark index in 2009 after calling the bottom of the market a month e
Read moreBunzl expands Swiss presence
15th Mar 2010 07:06
Distribution and outsourcing group Bunzl has bought Switzerland-based consumable products supplier Weita Holding. Weita supplies cleaning and hygiene, food service, retail, healthcare and safety consumable products to both end users and redistributors throughout Switzerland. In 2009 the Swiss comp
Read moreChairman's wife buys Redrow shares
2nd Mar 2010 16:33
Redrow chairman Steve Morgan's wife has bought 100,000 shares in the housebuilder taking their combined stake to 29.95%. Fiona Morgan paid 131.5p a share for the 100,000 shares. The total cost was £131,500. Morgan founded Redrow in 1974 and floated the company 20 years later. He also owns Wolver
Read moreLondon close: Footsie slips back
22nd Feb 2010 16:36
Footsie struggled to find any sense of direction on a quiet day's trading, closing slightly in the red. Bunzl showed a healthy rise as the market was encouraged by a strong second half for the group that saw margins improve. Foreign exchange tailwinds enabled the outsourcing and distribution group
Read moreLondon afternoon: RBS heads the field
22nd Feb 2010 14:45
The lunch-time session was a positive one for blue-chip equities despite Wall Street opening modestly lower, with banks and miners leading the advance. Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has usurped Bunzl as the best performer of the day. The part-nationalised lender, like its counterpart Lloyds Banking,
Read moreFTSE 100 movers: Avandia concern knocks GlaxoSmithKline
22nd Feb 2010 12:28
GlaxoSmithKline took its second hit in the space of a few days as a US Senate committee suggested its diabetes medicine Avandia may increase the risk of a heart attack. Brokers reckon the main risk to the company is from possible litigation as the report claims that Glaxo knew of possible heart at
Read moreTuesday tips round-up: Bunzl, Asos, Pennon
19th Jan 2010 06:42
Boring it may be, but Bunzl ? the distributor of carrier bags, plastic cutlery, protective masks and thousands of other disposable items for grocers, cleaners and caterers ? is one of the stock market's best barometers. Left to its own devices, its sales can be relied upon to grow just ahead of GDP,
Read moreLondon close: Good gains for FTSE 100
18th Jan 2010 16:33
Footsie finished the day in the blue despite a sharp reversal in the fortunes of International Power, which earlier had soared on speculation of a takeover by French power giant GDF Suez. Shares in the energy company slid from their earlier highs after it admitted it held talks with GDF Suez about
Read moreLondon afternoon: Stocks keep climbing
18th Jan 2010 14:49
Ongoing bid speculation, stronger retailers and buoyant miners have pushed London above 5,500. International Power is top of the pile on press reports that French power giant GDF Suez has made a takeover approach to the group, but there has been no statement from either side over the truth of the s
Read moreLondon midday: Good morning for blue chips
18th Jan 2010 12:20
London's leading share index has enjoyed a good morning on hopes of a bid for International Power and a higher offer for Cadbury. IP is up nearly 5% after press reports that French power giant GDF Suez has made a takeover approach to the group, but there has been no statement from either side over
Read moreLondon open: M&A rumours in focus
18th Jan 2010 08:19
London's blue chips have made a good start to the new week, with International Power leading the way on takeover rumours. International Power is up more than 5% after press reports that French power giant GDF Suez has made a takeover approach to the group. Cadbury is also among this morning's rise
Read moreBunzl buys Clean Care in Denmark
18th Jan 2010 07:59
Distribution and outsourcing firm Bunzl said has acquired Clean Care from a privately owned company which is controlled by Jan Knygle and Ole Bæk. Based in Aalborg, Denmark, Clean Care is a supplier of cleaning and hygiene consumable products and equipment to contract cleaners and other industria
Read moreBroker tips: Rio Tinto, Xstrata, Drax, Game
15th Dec 2009 12:41
Strong demand from China and restocking in 2010 could lead to the most resource intense recovery since the 1970s, according to one broker. UBS says companies have cannibalised 15% of a year's supply of base metals out of the supply chain in 2009, and will have to return to buying that material agai
Read moreTuesday tips round-up: Whitbread, Great Portland, Mouchel
15th Dec 2009 06:56
Whitbread shares are not cheap, trading at a 2010 price-to-earnings ratio of 15.6, but some of its rivals' are more expensive. And Whitbread's decision to invest in its business during the downturn - while keeping a tight lid on costs - bodes well for the year ahead, as the UK slowly emerges out of
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