Centrica subsidiary makes £30m acquisition
11th Nov 2011 07:09
Centrica's North American subsidiary, Direct Energy, has acquired the home protection plan business Home Warranty of America (HWA) for $48m (£30m) in cash. The acquisition was made to enable Direct Energy to use it as a national platform to build and grow an extensive protection plan business in th
Read moreUPDATE: Monday broker round-up
31st Oct 2011 10:17
Homeserve: Citi retains sell, cuts target to 400p from 430p. Virgin Media: Citi stays at buy, lowers target to $32 from $35.7. Homeserve: Credit Suisse downgrades from outperform to neutral, target cut from 570p to 485p. Removes from small and medium cap Focus list. JJB Sports: Panmure Gordon d
Read moreLondon close: Buoyant RBS, Barclays and Lloyds boost FTSE 100
23rd Sep 2011 16:38
Stocks rediscovered their earlier strength, but only after tumbling below the 5,000 point mark on another volatile day for the leading share index. Banks were prominent among the risers, with Barclays, Lloyds and RBS posting decent gains, after talk of a 50 basis point cut in European Central Bank
Read moreLondon midday: FTSE 100 below 5,000 points
23rd Sep 2011 12:04
This morning's rally is a distant memory now with stocks tumbling below the 5,000 point mark as nerves set in again. Miners are prominent in the firing line as metals prices slide, with Xstrata and Kazakhmys sharply lower. Gold miner Centamin Egypt is also suffering big losses. Copper fell by 7%.
Read moreLondon open: Lloyds, RBS and Barclays lead rally
23rd Sep 2011 08:14
Shares have staged an impressive rally after yesterday's slide, with banking trip Lloyds, RBS and Barclays setting the pace in the FTSE 100. They are joined higher by private equity investor 3i, which warned that falling stock markets will lead to an inevitable fall in the value of its portfolio at
Read moreCentrica corrals Texan energy retailer
23rd Sep 2011 07:47
Centrica, which trades as British Gas and Scottish Gas in Britain, is expanding its retail energy business in the deep south of the USA, with the acquisition of a Texas firm. Centrica North American subsidiary, Direct Energy, is paying $270m (£175m) for energy retailer First Choice Power. First Ch
Read moreLondon pre-open: London to stop bleeding
23rd Sep 2011 07:20
London's top share index is set to open modestly firmer this morning, posing a dilemma for traders, who have to determine whether this is just a pause for breath before the market hurtles off on the next leg of its downhill journey, or the signal to pick up some bargains. City sources predict the F
Read moreUPDATE: Wednesday broker round-up
21st Sep 2011 08:52
Inmarsat: Citi downgrades to hold from buy. Inmarsat: Morgan Stanley downgrades to underweight from neutral. Imperial Tobbacco: Investec retains buy. Carnival: Credit Suisse confirms neutral rating and 2,357p target. Drax: Credit Suisse cuts target from 400p to 350p, underperform rating maintain
Read morePlexus wins new Centrica contract
6th Sep 2011 09:16
Plexus Holdings, the engineering company which serves the oil and gas industries, has won an £800,000 contract with Centrica Energy. Plexus will now supply Centrica with wellhead equipment, a mudline casing support system and services for oil and gas exploration activities in the Central and Northe
Read moreTuesday tips round-up: Morgan Sindall, Centrica, Imperial Tobacco
9th Aug 2011 06:48
Cautious optimism is about the best one can expect from a business such as Morgan Sindall, so heavily exposed is it to a range of activities in construction. The shares have been trending down since the start of the year and sell on less than eight times' earnings and have the support of a yield app
Read moreFriday newspaper round-up: Vodafone, global slump risk, BP
29th Jul 2011 06:05
Vodafone will pay a £2bn special dividend next year after its patience in hanging on to a minority stake in America's biggest mobile network paid off. The British company, which owns a 45 per cent stake in Verizon Wireless, will receive £2.8bn in dividend payments after Verizon Communications, the m
Read moreLondon close: Late rally lifts stocks
28th Jul 2011 16:41
Stocks finished in positive territory after a choppy day, with US economic data helping to spark a late rally. Weekly Initial jobless claims in the world's biggest economy fell below 400,000 for the first time since April and homes sales data also came in ahead of expectations. The rush of company
Read moreLondon midday: Stocks fall back after news flurry
28th Jul 2011 12:00
Stocks are in the red after this morning's splurge of company updates. Anglo-Dutch integrated oil company Royal Dutch Shell fell after it reported net income on a current cost of supplies (CCS) basis, excluding specific items, of $6.6bn, compared to $4.2bn in the second quarter of last year. The fi
Read moreHigher supplementary tax hurts Centrica's profit
28th Jul 2011 08:35
Energy giant Centrica reported a 24% drop in half-yearly earnings, as the company wrestled with higher supplementary tax rates and challenging economic conditions in the United Kingdom, but said it is on course to deliver full year earnings growth. "Economic conditions are increasingly challenging,
Read moreLondon close: Stocks slump after giving up rally
27th Jul 2011 16:49
Stocks finished deep in the red, giving up an earlier rally, after a poor showing on Wall Street. Energy supplier Scottish & Southern Energy suffered after going ex-dividend. Meanwhile, sector peer Centrica also fell, albeit by a lesser extent, after utilities firm British Gas (owned by Centrica)
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