Sunday newspaper round-up: Lloyds, BT, Standard Chartered
1st Feb 2015 13:33
Lloyds Banking Group is preparing to pay a dividend for the first time since it was bailed out by taxpayers, the Sunday Telegraph reported. The board will sign off the group's annual results and then ask the Bank of England permission to pay a dividend before announcing results on February 27th. Llo
Read moreLondon close: UK stocks sink on Eurozone deflation, US GDP
30th Jan 2015 16:39
Macro concerns weighed on UK stock markets on Friday after Eurozone consumer prices fell more than forecasts and the rate of US economic growth slowed sharply. London's FTSE 100 finished the session down 0.9% at 6,749, ending at its lowest close since 21 January. The Eurozone fell further into defl
Read moreBroker tips: IAG, BT Group, Imperial Tobacco
30th Jan 2015 12:42
IAG was in focus on Friday after the revelation that Qatar Airways had purchased a 9.99% stake in the airline, though broker Liberum reckons that a full takeover of the Anglo-Spanish group is "highly unlikely". The broker said a bid for the whole company is not likely to happen "due to the ownership
Read moreBroker tips: IAG, BT Group, Imperial Tobacco
30th Jan 2015 12:42
IAG was in focus on Friday after the revelation that Qatar Airways had purchased a 9.99% stake in the airline, though broker Liberum reckons that a full takeover of the Anglo-Spanish group is "highly unlikely". The broker said a bid for the whole company is not likely to happen "due to the ownership
Read moreLondon midday: Deflation fears hit stocks as Eurozone consumer prices fall
30th Jan 2015 12:09
UK stocks fell on Friday on the back of concerns about the Eurozone, as data confirmed that the region fell further into deflation this month. Consumer prices in the single-currency region decline at an annual rate of 0.6% in January after a 0.2% fall in December, worse than the 0.5% drop expected.
Read moreHargreaves Lansdown welcomes strong cash generation at BT
30th Jan 2015 11:27
Hargreaves Lansdowne Stockbrokers has applauded BT's strong cash generation and plans to cut its pension deficit, though competition in the telecoms sector is of some concern. BT's third-quarter results and pension plans were met with a poor reaction on the markets on Friday, with shares falling des
Read moreLondon open: Stocks unchanged ahead of Eurozone CPI, US GDP
30th Jan 2015 08:27
UK stocks opened more or less flat on Friday as investors treaded cautiously ahead of some key economic data, including consumer price figures in the Eurozone and growth estimates in the States. London's FTSE 100 was down just 0.04% at 6,808 early on. The release of the Eurozone consumer-price inde
Read moreBT reveals plans to pay down £7bn pension deficit, upgrade fibre network
30th Jan 2015 08:11
Telecoms giant BT reported a solid rise in profits in its third quarter, as it announced a new 16-year "recovery plan" to pay down its expanding pension deficit. The company also revealed that it would upgrade its fibre broadband network with large-scale pilots this summer of ultrafast broadband wi
Read moreLondon open: Stocks extend rally post ECB, but mining shares fall
23rd Jan 2015 09:14
UK stocks were extending gains on Friday morning despite weakness in the mining sector, as sentiment continued to be boosted by the announcement of a €1.1trn stimulus package in the Eurozone. The FTSE 100 was up 0.5% at 6,832 early on after finishing the previous session at 6,796.60, its best finish
Read moreSunday newspaper round-up: Enquest, Britain's economy, Bank of England
18th Jan 2015 19:00
EnQuest is cutting spending, jobs and pay in an effort to avoid breaking the terms of its bank loans, the Sunday Times reported. The biggest independent UK North Sea oil producer's shares have fallen 80% since last summer as the price of crude oil collapsed. Investors took fright because of the comp
Read moreFTSE 100 movers: BP boosted by lower-than-expected fine, ARM hit by Intel competition
16th Jan 2015 12:53
Oil giant BP was among the risers after the company revealed it faces a maximum penalty of $13.7bn under the Clean Water Act. This follows the District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana ruling on the Deepwater Horizon case, which found that 3.19m barrels of oil were discharged in the Gulf
Read moreWednesday tips round-up: BT, Workspace Group
24th Dec 2014 15:34
The purchase of EE by BT will likely be inked at some point early next year, with the price tag at or around the £12.5bn price given. BT had begun work on building out its own mobile network from scratch, but an acquisition is more sensible. To take note of, even if highly unlikely some observers ha
Read moreSunday share tips: BT Group, Shepherd Neame, Afren
21st Dec 2014 20:01
Long-term investors should consider buying shares in BT, Danny Fortson argued in the Sunday Times. The Inside the City columnist said BT boss Gavin Patterson is likely to ask shareholders for about £2bn to help fund his acquisition of mobile operator EE. Patterson might not stop there because the ne
Read moreFTSE 100 movers: Retail sector boosted by data report while BT slides
18th Dec 2014 16:27
Retail firms received a boost on Thursday after data showed higher-than-expected UK retail sales. Sales rose 1.7% month-on-month in December, much better than the 0.3% consensus expectation. Drinks group SABMiller and supermarket giant Tesco were both advancing. Financial stocks were also rising in
Read moreLondon close: Shares soar on upbeat Eurozone and bank news
16th Dec 2014 16:26
London shares bounced back on Tuesday in the wake of some long-awaited upbeat economic data in the Eurozone and positive news for UK banks. The FTSE 100 Index climbed 149.11 points to 6331.83 as Markit's purchasing managers' index (PMI) for euro-area manufacturing rose to 50.8 in December from 50.1
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