London midday: Miners join financials on the slide
28th Oct 2009 12:05
Miners have joined financial stocks in the dog house as the Footsie dives below 5200 and threatens to carry on going to sub-5100 levels. With metal prices in retreat miners such as Xstrata, Lonmin and Kazakhmys have muscled aside insurer Prudential in the race to be worst performing Footsie stock.
Read moreWednesday newspaper round-up: Lloyds, RBS, Northern Rock
28th Oct 2009 06:00
Lloyds, Royal Bank of Scotland and Northern Rock will be broken up and parts of their businesses sold off to create three new banks, it emerged last night. Government sources said ministers were "determined" to see more competition in the market, following the £1.2 trillion bailout of the sector whi
Read moreFTSE 100 movers: Miners rally again
23rd Oct 2009 16:16
Miners, whose fortunes are linked to global metals prices, were among the strongest performers on a day that ultimately turned out to be quite good for London's blue chips. Kazakhmys, Anglo American, Vedanta and Xstrata were the picks of the mining sector, with Anglo receiving an additional leg-up
Read moreLondon close: Tough day for Footsie
22nd Oct 2009 16:41
Blue chips rallied late in the day, but it was a tough session generally with miners and insurance companies under pressure. Telcos led the rally with Vodafone, British Telecom and satellite group Inmarsat all making gains near the close. Lloyds was also a late riser as on reports that it is close
Read moreFriday newspaper round-up: JJB Sports, Royal Bank of Scotland, Lloyds
9th Oct 2009 06:14
The government is probing whether Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds are failing to meet officially mandated lending targets by deliberately pricing loans to small and medium-sized businesses at artificially high levels. "We don't want them to make uneconomic loans but our research suggests they may
Read moreSunday newspaper round-up: BAE Systems, Aviva, Lloyds Banking
4th Oct 2009 10:09
Directors of BAE Systems rejected a £300m settlement of a Serious Fraud Office investigation after receiving advice they would leave themselves open to civil lawsuits for a misuse of shareholders' funds. The offer, made by the SFO in recent weeks, came after lengthy talks over a plea bargain deal t
Read moreWednesday newspaper round-up: Lloyds Banking, Tullow Oil, Barclays
16th Sep 2009 06:15
The European Commission has warned Lloyds Banking Group that it may have to split off Halifax as punishment for the billions of pounds of state aid that it has received. Neelie Kroes, the Competition Commissioner, has yet to make a final decision, but banking sources say it is clear that she is pla
Read moreSunday newspaper round-up: Lloyds Banking, RSA, Yell
30th Aug 2009 11:07
The Lloyds Banking is offering the sale of two regional branch networks to address concerns by the European Commission over state aid and market share. The British bank has offered to sell the Scottish branches of Lloyds TSB and the Cheltenham & Gloucester (C&G) network. This would affect some 340 b
Read moreSunday newspaper round-up: Lloyds, Betfair, Johnston Press
23rd Aug 2009 12:35
Sir Win Bischoff, the incoming chairman of Lloyds Banking Group, is facing pressure to clear out the boardroom. Investors are telling him to beef up the banking experience on the board in the wake of its catastrophic takeover of HBOS, which has already claimed the scalp of outgoing chairman Sir Vict
Read moreLondon close: Blue chips surge continues
30th Jul 2009 16:42
Corporate newsflow and resurgent miners sent Footsie to within a whisker of its highest close this year. Investors piled into blue chips after a string of household names reported earnings this morning. Triple-digit gains for the Dow added to the upward momentum in the afternoon. Telecoms giant
Read moreLondon afternoon: Miners push Footsie higher
30th Jul 2009 14:48
Corporate news-flow and resurgent miners are driving Footsie higher today, with the benchmark index adding to its gains over the lunch-time session. Telecoms giant BT racked up a double-digit percentage gain in the morning after quarterly figures that were not as bad as feared. EBITDA (earnings b
Read moreFTSE 100 movers: BT surges on results
30th Jul 2009 14:46
Telecoms giant BT leads the FTSE 100 higher after investors shrugged off a 45% drop in first quarter profits and a jump in its pension deficit of £3bn. Investors were also buoyed by the adjusted EBITDA falling only 3% to £1.37bn, which was ahead of analyst's expectations. But pre-tax profits slid
Read moreLondon midday: Footsie tops 4600
30th Jul 2009 11:54
Footsie has broken through the 4,600 barrier, helped by well received results from index heavyweight BT and strong demand for miners. Telecoms giant BT racked up a double-digit percentage gain in the morning after quarterly figures that were not as bad as feared. EBITDA (earnings before interest, t
Read moreUpdate: BT surges despite profit slump
30th Jul 2009 11:09
Telecoms giant BT posted a 45% drop in first quarter profits and said its pension deficit ballooned by £3bn but shares ticked higher as investors concentrated on the firm's cost cutting measures. Investors were also buoyed by the adjusted EBITDA falling only 3% to £1.37bn, which was ahead of analy
Read moreSector movers: Better than expected BT results lift telecom sector
30th Jul 2009 10:52
The telecommunications sector jumps ahead after BT's results, while still fairly grim, were ahead of expectations. The firm saw profits slump in the first quarter, held back by BT Global Services, while its pension deficit surged. The group said net pension position at 30 June 2009 was a deficit o
Read more