Broker tips: BT, WPP, Arm Holdings
12th Jun 2009 13:26
The share price of telecoms giant BT has taken a battering this year but Merrill Lynch believes the shares are now low enough to be worth buying. The US broker reckons that the problems at the Global Services arm and the worries over the company's pension deficit are factored into the share price.
Read moreBroker snap: Battered BT battles back
12th Jun 2009 13:12
The share price of telecoms giant BT has taken a battering this year as the company has struggled to get to grips with its troublesome Global Services unit, but Merrill Lynch believes the shares are now low enough to be worth buying. The US broker reckons that the problems at Global Services and th
Read moreFriday newspaper round-up: BlackRock buys Barclays Global
12th Jun 2009 06:19
BlackRock, the giant US money manager, is to buy Barclays Global Investors for $13.5bn (£8.2bn) in a deal that will make it the world's biggest asset manager, the Times reports. The sale, which also includes the iShares business, will more than double BlackRock's assets to roughly $2.7trn and give
Read moreDomino's vice chairman sells £1m slice
1st Jun 2009 14:50
Colin Halpern, vice chairman of the pizza delivery firm Domino's, has pocketed more than £1m after offloading some of his shares in the group. H S Real, a company owned by a discretionary trust, the beneficiaries of which are his children, sold 500,000 shares at 205p a share. The sale leaves Halpe
Read moreBT cancels pay rises
27th May 2009 12:06
Telecoms firm BT has cancelled all pay rises and cut back on bonuses because the company did not meets its financial targets for the year. "The Committee decided to postpone the increases in on-target bonus levels for 2009/10. In addition, there will be no increases in the salaries of executive di
Read moreOfcom gives BT some leeway
22nd May 2009 07:45
Telecoms regulator Ofcom will allow BT to raise the price it charges its rival for broadband line rentals by just under 6%, but is still mulling over charges for old-style telephone services. Under the new tariffs, BT can charge £86.40, up from £81.69, for a fully unbundled line, where a rival take
Read moreMonday newspaper round-up: Lloyds Banking, Shell, BT
18th May 2009 06:20
The departure of Sir Victor Blank has opened the floodgates on City demands for Lloyds Banking Group to unwind its fateful merger with HBOS which led to the chairman's downfall. A powerful combination of investors as well as business and political leaders are arguing that the superbank should be de
Read moreSunday's newspaper round-up: Lloyds, RBS, cash-calls
17th May 2009 13:31
Sir Victor Blank is believed to be close to stepping down as chairman of Lloyds Banking Group following pressure from investors furious about the bank's rescue of HBOS, says the Independent on Sunday. The City regulator has fired the opening shot in its inquiry into the crisis that engulfed Britain
Read moreSector movers: Petrofac lifts oil service stocks
15th May 2009 13:42
Oil services stocks are in the blue after Petrofac said it made a strong start to the year, with the oil and gas facilities provider's backlog doubling to $8.2bn at the end of April. Chairman Rodney Chase is confident 2009 will be another year of strong growth after its biggest business, engineerin
Read moreLondon close: Late surge boosts blue chips
14th May 2009 16:48
A late surge helped Footsie close firmly in the blue after it traded within a narrow range for the bulk of the day. BT set a gloomy tone with worse than anticipated results and a dividend cut more severe than predicted, but other results got a more encouraging response. Insurer Prudential rose by
Read moreLondon afternoon: Footsie remains range-bound
14th May 2009 14:39
The FTSE 100 continues to trade within a narrow range, unable to move outside the 4,320 to 4,340 corridor since mid-morning. Though there has been a flood of company results, the mixed reaction to these is representative of the market's indecision today. The market was braced for bad news from BT b
Read moreSector movers: General industrials advance
14th May 2009 12:40
Heavy plastics maker British Polythene leads the general industrials sector higher after saying it anticipates that results for the first six months will be ahead of the same period last year. In the same sector, Cookson is higher even though the ceramics group saw revenues plunge by a third in the
Read moreLondon midday: Shares tread water
14th May 2009 11:54
It is back to square one for London's blue-chips, with gains on banks and miners cancelled out by losses on oils and telecoms giant BT. Banks suffered some profit taking earlier in the week but are bouncing back, helped by a research note on the sector from Morgan Stanley. The US investment bank ha
Read moreFTSE 100 movers: Brokers warm to Invensys
14th May 2009 10:59
Thomas Cook is under pressure today after larger than expected losses in the six months ended March. Pre-tax losses widened to £280.4m compared with £233.2m last time, while revenue rose 12.6% to £3,484.3m. Even so, the underlying momentum is encouraging, reckons broker KBC Peel Hunt. "Stripping
Read moreLondon open: BT in focus
14th May 2009 08:19
London's blue chips have opened lower with telecoms giant BT among the main fallers early on. BT suffered a 40% slump in pre-tax profit during the four quarter, forcing the firm to slash its dividend and announce plans to axe another 15,000 jobs. Fourth quarter pre-tax profit plunged to £429m from
Read more