Friday broker round-up

20th Mar 2015 15:33

Asos: Citi reiterates neutral. TSB Banking: Numis reiterates hold and 340p target. Aviva: Nomura reiterates buy and lifts target to 690p from 650p. WPP: Morgan Stanley reiterates buy and raises target to 1,625p from 1,400p. Tullow Oil: Barclays reiterates overweight and 550p target. William Hill

Read more

Thursday broker round-up

12th Mar 2015 17:30

Asos: Cannacord Genuity raises target to 3,250p from 2,520p and reiterates hold. Cambian Group: Cannacord Genuity lifts target to 311p from 294p and reiterates buy. BP: JP Morgan raises target to 410p from 400p and reiterates underweight. Royal Dutch Shell: Investec reiterates hold. Supergroup: C

Read more

Wednesday tips round-up: Prudential, Close Brothers

11th Mar 2015 12:40

Whoever replaces Tidjane Thiam at the helm of Prudential will have a tough act to follow, but he should stick to the game plan. Since being brought on board Thiam managed to constantly confound those who doubted the rationale behind the strategic direction on which he set out. Nonetheless, he manage

Read more

Close Brothers profits ahead of expectations thanks to strong banking division

10th Mar 2015 08:38

Close Brothers reported strong half year results driven by a good performance from its banking division. Despite difficult market conditions in its Winterflood Securities business, the banking division reported positive profit growth thanks to strong loan book growth and lower impairments. The bank

Read more

Close Bros' performance steady despite challenging market conditions

23rd Jan 2015 07:10

Banking group Close Brothers said its banking and asset management divisions performed well in the five months to 31 December, but its securities business struggled. The banking division's loan book grew steadily in the period, growing 4% to £5.5bn, while the number of assets under management rose 2

Read more

Close Brothers confident after strong banking results

20th Nov 2014 09:50

UK merchant bank Close Brothers reported that strong performance in banking had offset challenging market conditions in the firm's securities division. After releasing results for the three month period ended 31 October on Thursday, the company reported that its Winterflood security business had bee

Read more

London pre-open: Volatile trading expected to continue ahead of Chinese GDP

20th Oct 2014 07:16

UK stocks are expected to get Monday's session off to a positive start following a rally in the US on Friday, but analysts have warned last week's volatility may well run into this one. City sources predict the FTSE 100 will open around 24 points higher than Friday's close of 6,310.29. "It looks li

Read more

Close Brothers sells German securities business for £36m

20th Oct 2014 07:06

Close Brothers has sold its German securities business, Close Brothers Seydler Bank, for a cash consideration of £36m. The proceeds will be reinvested in the merchant banking group's core businesses of lending, wealth management and securities trading in the UK. Close Brothers expected to record an

Read more

Wednesday broker round-up UPDATE

24th Sep 2014 09:15

Aggreko: Morgan Stanley ups target price from 1350p to 1375p, while leaving its underweight rating unaltered. Alliance Pharma: Canaccord Genuity lowers target price from 35p to 33p reiterating its hold recommendation. Close Brothers Group: UBS moves target price from 1420p to 1430p and keeps a neut

Read more

Close Bros beats forecasts as banking arm grows loan book

23rd Sep 2014 07:55

Good growth in its core merchant banking division enabled Close Brothers to lift annual profits 20% and beat analysts' earnings expectations. In fact the FTSE 250 group enjoyed even stronger growth at its smaller securities and asset management arms, which helped lift adjusted operating profit 20% t

Read more

Thursday broker round-up UPDATE

5th Jun 2014 09:37

Aberdeen Asset Management: Liberum Capital initiates with a target price of 555p and a buy recommendation. Ashmore Group: Liberum Capital starts with a target price of 303p and a sell recommendation. ASOS: N+1 Singer places both its target price (prev.: 4100p) and its hold recommendation under rev

Read more

Close Brothers reports encouraging third quarter performance

23rd May 2014 11:22

Specialist financial services company Close Brothers reported a positive result in the third quarter, which it said had been consistent with its first half performance. The group said the Banking loan book was at £5.1bn, up 10% in the year-to-date, while the performance by the Winterflood segment

Read more

Thursday broker round-up UPDATE

20th Mar 2014 09:19

Antofagasta: Deutsche Bank cuts target price from 770p to 735p and downgrades to sell. Investec cuts target price from 753p to 726p keeping its sell recommendation. Ashmore Group: HSBC Holdings lowers target price from 410p to 400p retaining its overweight rating. Avacta Group: Numis shifts target

Read more

London midday: Stocks rangebound ahead of UK Budget, FOMC

19th Mar 2014 11:33

- Osborne's 2014 Budget in focus - Jobless rate, BoE minutes, FOMC meeting - Ukraine-Russia tensions running high - Smiths Group drops on H2 outlook - Ophir plummets, Imagination jumps techMARK 2,817.88 +0.53% FTSE 100 6,595.59 -0.15% FTSE 250 16,366.11 +0.07% Stocks were trading in the red on Wed

Read more

Tuesday broker round-up UPDATE

18th Mar 2014 08:58

Antofagasta: Investec places its target price (prev.: 753p) under review, while leaving its sell recommendation unchanged. Ashtead Group: Credit Suisse raises target price from 1000p to 1100p and stays with its outperform rating. UBS increases target price from 875p to 1020p retaining its buy recom

Read more