Croda International appoints new chairman

21st Sep 2015 08:15

(ShareCast News) - Anita Frew has replaced Martin Flower as the chairman of Croda International, the chemical manufacturer confirmed on Monday. In March, the FTSE 250 company announced that Flower, who had chaired the group for 10 years, would step down from his role and would be succeeded by Frew,

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FTSE 250 movers: Mitchells and Butlers surges on upgrade, miners lower

22nd Jul 2015 14:40

(ShareCast News) - Mid-caps edged lower on Wednesday, as gains in the construction and insurance sectors were eclipsed by weakness from technology, mining, engineering and oil stocks. As of 1600 BST, the FTSE 250 was trading 0.5% lower at 17,660. Mitchells & Butlers topped the risers after Numis ra

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Broker tips: Ashtead, Tate & Lyle, Mitchells & Butlers, Croda

22nd Jul 2015 12:14

(ShareCast News) - Ashtead took a hit on Wednesday after a double downgrade by Bank of America Merrill Lynch, which cut the stock to 'underperform' from 'buy' and slashed its price target to 1,000p from 1,300p, pointing to a "triple whammy" of worrying trends. "We have become increasingly concerned

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Exane BNP upgrades Croda to 'neutral' on growth prospects

22nd Jul 2015 11:52

(ShareCast News) - Exane BNP Paribas upgraded Croda International to 'neutral' from 'underperform' and raised its price target to 2,950p from 2,620p, noting the shares are close to fair value and pointing to potential catalysts such as M&A or a special dividend in the second half. It said Croda has

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Wednesday share tips: Infosys, Zalando, Croda

22nd Jul 2015 11:08

(ShareCast News) - Infosys' Visha Sikka needs to do more, the Financial Times Lex column says, despite the chief executive producing pleasant surprises in three out of the last four quarters. Consensus forecasts for the current year have barely changed since Sikka took over, but the company's earnin

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Charles Stanley upgrades Croda after first-half results

21st Jul 2015 14:58

(ShareCast News) - Charles Stanley upgraded Croda to 'hold' from 'reduce' in light of the company's improved performance and the likelihood of a capital return to shareholders, following its first-half results earlier on Tuesday. The brokerage said the figures were better than expected and a 4% beat

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FTSE 250 movers: IG Group buffeted by currency headwinds, miners rebound

21st Jul 2015 14:07

(ShareCast News) - Mid-caps were subdued on Tuesday as strong performances from oil, insurance and technology stocks were offset by losses in the telecommunications, utilities and construction sectors. As of 14:30 BST, the FTSE 250 was trading flat at 17,790. IG Group topped the fallers after repor

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London midday: Morgan Stanley calls time on UK-focused stocks

21st Jul 2015 12:49

(ShareCast News) - Investors were keeping their powder dry ahead of a raft of earnings reports from several US tech heavyweights due out after the close on Tuesday while pondering their next move after the bounce seen in stocks over the past fortnight. With expectations building for interest rate hi

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Croda rallies as it posts jump in first-half profit

21st Jul 2015 08:12

(ShareCast News) - Shares in Croda International rallied after the company posted a 7.3% jump in pre-tax profit and said the first half of the year has been encouraging, with the recovery in underlying sales trends that began in the second half of last year continuing. For the six months ended 30 Ju

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London midday: Stocks hold near highs as traders monitor Greek situation

10th Jul 2015 11:44

(ShareCast News) - Stocks were holding near their best levels of the day as traders waited for the Greek parliament to vote on their Prime Minister's bailout proposal and monitored the news flow to see if Germany would allow debt-relief. There was uncertainty early on Friday over how European leader

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London open: Stocks track gains in Europe, China

10th Jul 2015 08:50

The relief rally in British stocks gathered pace after Greece made concessions to its creditors overnight in exchange for a £38.56bn (€53.5bn) rescue programme, although some analysts and government officials were cautious. As of 08:55 the Footsie was up by 51.89 points to 6,633.59. The second tier

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SocGen starts Croda at 'buy'; says growth is back but valuation isn't full yet

10th Jul 2015 07:55

Societe Generale initiated coverage of Croda with a 'buy' rating and 3,050p price target. It said Croda has suffered from stagnating consumer spending in mature markets over 2012-2014, resulting in virtually no sales growth. However, since the third quarter of 2014, consumer sentiment/innovation rat

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Croda International spikes on bid chatter

21st May 2015 15:09

Shares in Croda International were inflated by bid speculation on Thursday with more than 0.25m shares in the chemicals group traded in a half-hour period. Reuters reported that "multiple traders" had cited bid rumours around the company, with Germany's Evonik cited as a prime potential suitor. Fro

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FTSE 250 movers: Tate & Lyle hit by downgrade, energy stocks higher

22nd Apr 2015 13:28

Shares in sugar, sweetener and food ingredients group Tate & Lyle were losing their flavour after analysts at Credit Suisse lowered their rating on the stock from 'neutral' to 'underperform'. Ladbrokes was also trading lower as the bookmaker revealed operating profits were down materially due to cus

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Croda international posts strong H1 sales in healthcare

22nd Apr 2015 08:51

Sales in chemicals maker Croda International increased during the first-half of the year thanks to strong growth at its healthcare division. The group's sales were up 4% to £294.9m, with a strong dollar offsetting the weak euro against the pound. Its personal care division saw revenues rise by 1.8%

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