Wednesday broker round-up
28th Sep 2016 12:15
(ShareCast News) - Close Brothers Group: Barclays reiterates overweight with a target price of 1500p. Royal Dutch Shell: HSBC keeps at buy, 2050p target. William Hill: Deutsche Bank keeps at buy with a 390p target. The Restaurant Group: Berenberg reiterates hold with a 350p target. Astrazeneca: D
Read moreClose Brothers operating profit up, but shares fall
27th Sep 2016 09:22
(ShareCast News) - Close Brothers posted its preliminary results for the year to 31 July on Tuesday, with adjusted operating profit up 4% to £233.6m, and adjusted basic earnings per share up 7% to 128.4p. The FTSE 250 firm's board proposed a dividend per share of 57p, a 7% increase on last year's 53
Read moreRBC ups targets on specialty lenders due to UK economic resilience
23rd Sep 2016 08:34
(ShareCast News) - Analysts at RBC revised their price targets for UK challenger banks higher as a result of the resilience shown thus far by the economy and the support provided by the Bank of England. The broker also revised its forecasts higher for Aldermore,Close Brothers and Shawbrook. "While
Read moreClose Brothers trades well despite Brexit concerns
21st Jul 2016 09:33
(ShareCast News) - Close Brothers Group released its scheduled pre-close trading update ahead of its 2016 financial year-end on Thursday, updating the market on the five months to 30 June. The FTSE 250 firm said it has continued to perform well in the five months to 30 June, and remained confident i
Read moreFTSE 250 movers: house builders in focus as mid caps sour
4th Jul 2016 18:25
(ShareCast News) - FTSE 250 stocks ended on a sour note with residential property-linked stocks figuring prominently among the fallers as UK construction data disappointed. Clarkson led to the downside as it warned full-year 2016 profits would be "materially lower" on the year due to lower freight r
Read moreLondon pre-open: Stocks set to rebound from Fed-fuelled losses
20th May 2016 07:31
(ShareCast News) - London stocks were expected to open in the black on Friday, bouncing back from the Fed-fuelled losses of the previous session. The FTSE 100 was seen starting 57 points higher than Thursday's close at 6,110. "While US markets did finish the day lower yesterday they did at least ma
Read moreClose Bros delivers improved Q3 performance
20th May 2016 07:05
(ShareCast News) - Financial services group Close Brothers said it delivered an improved third quarter performance, with good loan book growth, tighter cost control and better market conditions for its market making unit Winterflood. It added that it was confident of "delivering a satisfactory outco
Read moreFriday preview: Spectris and Close Brothers update on quarterly trading
19th May 2016 12:36
(ShareCast News) - Precision instruments maker Spectris will update the market on its first quarter trading on Friday after reporting soft full year results earlier in the year. The company in February posted a 17% decline in 2015 pre-tax profit to £141.6m, blaming faltering industrial activity in N
Read moreTuesday broker round-up
26th Apr 2016 13:09
(ShareCast News) - Premier Foods: Jefferies upgrades to buy with a 60p target. Aberdeen Asset Management: Citigroup downgrades to sell with a 265p target. Smiths Group: Jefferies keeps at buy with a target price of 1100p and Credit Suisse reiterates outperform with a target of 1275p. Close Brother
Read moreTuesday broker round-up
8th Mar 2016 14:42
(ShareCast News) - South32: HBSC upgrades to buy with a target price of 85p. Capital & Counties Properties: Exane BNP Paribas downgrades to underperform. 348P target. Admiral Group: Nomura upgrades to buy with a target price of 2325p. Millennium & Copthorne Hotels: Berenberg downgrades to sell wit
Read moreFTSE 250 movers: TalkTalk up after company admits security shortfalls
8th Mar 2016 14:01
(ShareCast News) - The FTSE 250 was trending down in afternoon trading on Tuesday, after weak data from China fuelled global concerns about the economic health of the People's Republic. CLS Holdings led the risers, after it had its 'buy' rating restated by equities researchers at Panmure Gordon. The
Read moreClose Bros first half profit up despite more challenging markets
8th Mar 2016 07:19
(ShareCast News) - Specialist financial services group Close Brothers reported a rise in first half profit despite a more challenging market backdrop. For the six months to the end of January, adjusted operating profit was up 2% from the first half of 2015 to £111.2m. Adjusted basic earnings per sha
Read moreLondon pre-open: Burberry in fashion ahead of Carney testimony
8th Mar 2016 07:06
(ShareCast News) - Market sentiment took a hit overnight from weaker than expected trade numbers out of China ahead of what may be a key hearing from Bank of England governor Mark Carney and deputy governor Jon Cunliffe before the Treasury Select Committee on the financial costs and benefits of the
Read moreThursday newspaper share tips: Virgin Money, Challenger banks
3rd Mar 2016 16:40
(ShareCast News) - Homes are not always a safe repository of value, as property busts show, but at the moment they are the safest corner of the UK banking space. That was reflected yesterday in Virgin Money's full-year figures for return on tangible equity, which at 10.9% easily trumped those of the
Read moreClose Bros confident over full year despite difficult conditions
22nd Jan 2016 07:39
(ShareCast News) - Close Brothers' loan book rose 4.9% in the five months to the end of December to £6bn, reflecting growth across all of the group's lending businesses. However, assets under management fell to £9.4bn from £10.8bn at the end of July, which the company attributed to negative market m
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