London midday: Bank sits on hands
7th Jan 2010 11:51
London drifted lower ahead of the announcement of the Bank of England's quantitative easing and interest rate decision, which, as expected, left both the level of interest rates and the scale of the quanititative easing programme unchanged. Mining stocks are proving to be a millstone round Footsie'
Read moreLondon open: Miners offset strong supermarkets
7th Jan 2010 08:14
Miners are leading London's top stocks lower in early dealings on Thursday, offsetting strong demand in supermarket groups. Eurasian Natural Resources, Kazakhmys, Randgold Resources, Antofagasta, Xstrata and BHP Billiton are among the worst performers. On the positive side, Sainsbury, Tesco and Mo
Read moreCostain trading in line
7th Jan 2010 07:31
Engineering and construction group Costain said trading during the final quarter of 2009, and for the year as a whole, remained in-line with the board's expectations. The group said it continued to benefit from good demand from blue chip customers, "whose major spending plans are underpinned by s
Read moreLondon close: Miners power Footsie gains
9th Nov 2009 16:31
Mining stocks were at the vanguard of a strong advance from FTSE 100 as commodity prices were boosted by plans outlined by world leaders over the weekend to continue with stimulus measures. Kazakhmys, Fresnillo, Rio Tinto and Vedanta were some of the best performers in the mining sector. Mining g
Read moreLondon afternoon: Cadbury rejects Kraft bid
9th Nov 2009 14:23
After all the waiting and speculation, the formal bid for Cadbury from US group Kraft Foods proved a disappointment, but it has not dampened sentiment in a buoyant London market. Kraft formally announced a bid for Cadbury on the same terms as the indicative offer announced at the beginning of Septe
Read moreCostain wins stimulus road maintenance work
9th Nov 2009 11:21
Engineering and construction group Costain has been appointed to assist with a roadworks programme in the Midlands arising from the government's fiscal stimulus plan. The work, which will be undertaken with the aggregates group Lafarge, will have a value of up to £250m over two years. 'This framew
Read moreFriday tips round-up: WH Smith, Costain, SABMiller
16th Oct 2009 06:45
WH Smith is no longer just a defensive play, as the innovative ways that chief executive Kate Swann has found to expand the format into workplaces shows. The yield is a respectable 3.5%, but trading on 11 times next year's earnings - before yesterday's rise - the shares are at a discount of about 1
Read moreCostain wants end to final salary pensions
26th Aug 2009 08:08
Costain said it expects full year results to be in line with expectations despite a drop in interim profit, but staff will be dismayed at its proposal to close its final salary pension scheme. The engineering and construction group said the scheme's deficit grew by £39.6m in the first six months of
Read moreCostain wins £297m nuclear contract
8th Jul 2009 07:33
Engineering and construction group Costain said it has won a £297m contract to provide its services at one of the largest nuclear projects in the UK. The group has been hired by Sellafield for engineering, procurement and construction of the Evaporator D project, Costain said in a company statemen
Read moreLondon close: Late rally fizzles out
6th Jul 2009 16:37
Footsie made a brief attempt to lift itself into the blue in late trading but finished where it spent most of the day: firmly in negative territory. Declining metal and oil prices took their toll on resource stocks. Copper miners Lonmin and Kazakhmys are among the big fallers, despite both stocks b
Read moreLondon afternoon: Defensives in favour as stocks slide
6th Jul 2009 14:26
Footsie is halfway to a triple digit fall as resource stocks drag the market lower, with many pundits suggesting that the market may have bounced back too far since it reversed course in March. Declining metal and oil prices are taking their toll on resource stocks. Copper miners Lonmin and Kazakhm
Read moreUnited Utilities extends upgrade contract
6th Jul 2009 07:38
Utility company United Utilities has extended the AMP4 framework contract with a joint-venture comprising Costain, Atkins and Galliford Try to cover the next upgrade phase for the water industry. The extension for the AMP5 framework will run from 2010 to 2015 and consists of £400m of capital works
Read moreFriday tips round-up: Costain, Diageo, Menzies
26th Jun 2009 06:44
Costain shares are pricey and each time the contractor puts out one of its impressive updates, the share price increases by a little less than last time. The truth is that everyone expects Costain to keep churning out the good results and the stock has become stymied. The Independent, though, argue
Read moreLondon close: Late rally not enough
25th Jun 2009 17:01
A late rally by UK equities was not enough to prevent the blue-chip index closing in negative territory, largely as a result of weak miners, which were weighted down by softer metals prices. Lonmin, Vedanta, Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton were all stuck in the red. Elsewhere in the sector, Anglo Americ
Read moreLondon afternoon: Banks and miners retreat
25th Jun 2009 14:27
Leading equities drift lower in the afternoon session, led by banks and miners. Asia-focused bank Standard Chartered eases back, despite enjoying record income and operating profit in the first five months of this year. Some of this success has been offset by weakness in consumer banking, however,
Read more