London afternoon: Reckitt fails to cut the mustard
27th Apr 2010 14:35
Footsie drifted lower over the lunch time session, not helped by disappointing results from household goods maker Reckitt Benckiser. Shares in Reckitt sank to the bottom of the FTSE 100 despite the French's mustard maker posting a rise in earnings and sales for the first quarter. The firm said oper
Read moreFTSE 250 movers: Poor sales give Premier indigestion
27th Apr 2010 12:33
Shares in Premier Foods have taken a big hit after the company behind Hovis bread, Branston pickle and Sharwood's sauces, reported a 5.1% drop in first quarter sales and said it remains cautious about the consumer and trading environment for 2010. Also in the red is homewares retailer Dunelm, which
Read moreLondon midday: Footsie slides below 5700
27th Apr 2010 12:04
Footsie has given up all of yesterday's gains and more and has dipped below the 5700 level. Barely a dozen of the blue-chip index's constituents are in the blue, with miners featuring prominently among the laggards. Vedanta, Rio Tinto, Kazakhmys and Xstrata are the worst performers in the mining s
Read moreDunelm sales slow
27th Apr 2010 08:03
Homewares retailer Dunelm has seen a sharp slowdown in sales growth over the past four months and cautioned it faces tough comparisons over the rest of the year. Sales in the 16 weeks to 24 April rose by 10.9%, compared with a 19.9% for the whole year so far, while on a like-for-like basis sales gr
Read moreCommunisis chairman buys
26th Feb 2010 16:49
Peter Hickson, the chairman of print management and data analysis services provider Communisis, is buying shares following yesterday's results. A downturn in spending on direct mail promotions hit Communisis in 2009 and it cut its final dividend from 1.635p a share to 0.43p a share. The total divid
Read moreLondon close: Overseas concerns sink Footsie
25th Feb 2010 16:28
Blue chips closed sharply lower as fears about Greece resurfaced and US dole claimant figures were worse than expected. On a busy day for big company results RBS hogged the headlines. The part-nationalised bank saw its net attributable loss narrow markedly in 2009 with fourth quarter impairments 5%
Read moreLondon afternoon: Footsie heads south
25th Feb 2010 14:23
The Footsie sank below last night's closing level over the lunch time session, weighed down by weak miners. On a busy day for big company results RBS continues to hog the headlines. Though off the top, the share price is still sharply higher after the part-nationalised bank saw its net attributable
Read moreFTSE 250 movers: Hays results disappoint
25th Feb 2010 13:24
Hays is down almost 9% after grim figures. Profits crashed to £3.4m in the six months to 31 December from £100.8m in 2008 and plunged 70% to £30.4m, excluding a £27m OFT fine that is currently under appeal. Turnover actually increased by 1% to £1.29bn and fell just 5% on a like for like basis due t
Read moreDunelm pays out £43m as profits surge
25th Feb 2010 11:47
Homewares retailer Dunelm is to return £43m or 21.5p per share to shareholders after a bumper first half. The cash payout is in addition to a 50% hike in the ordinary dividend to 3p. Chief executive Will Adderley said the payout reflects the very strong financial position enjoyed by the 100 outlet
Read moreLondon close: Footsie finishes below 5,500
12th Jan 2010 17:17
Equities staged a rally in the afternoon session but it was not enough to push the Footsie back into the black, largely because of weak miners, which took fright at moves by the Chinese central bank to cool down the economy by increasing the reserves ratio for Chinese commercial banks. Fresnillo, L
Read moreLondon afternoon: Chinese banking move sparks selling
12th Jan 2010 14:47
News that China has raised the reserve requirements for its banks in an attempt to choke growth in the economy has spooked global markets, including London. The prospect of China slowing down economic expansion does not sit well with miners such as Fresnillo, Lonmin, Kazakhmys, Vedanta and Xstrata,
Read moreFTSE 250 movers: Resilient Galiform leads the way
12th Jan 2010 14:35
Joinery company Galiform has built good gains after it said it expects pre-tax profits for the year to come in at the top end of expectations as it continued to perform resiliently. IT infrastructure services provider Computacenter is higher after it said 2009 profit before tax and exceptional item
Read moreLondon midday: Retreat picks up pace
12th Jan 2010 12:11
The market's retreat is picking up pace, as the losses suffered by miners lengthen in the wake of disappointing results from Alcoa, the US aluminium producer. Alcoa, which kicked off the fourth quarter earnings reporting season in the US, declared a slightly worse than expected loss from continuing
Read moreLondon open: Dull start despite Tesco cheer
12th Jan 2010 08:52
It's retail all the way today with Christmas trading statements from a host of a names including Tesco and Debenhams. So far, investors don't seem over impressed even though supermarket giant Tesco enjoyed its best Christmas in three years as shoppers braved the winter weather to stock up on festiv
Read moreDunelm says tough to maintain sales growth
12th Jan 2010 07:31
Home furnishings retailer Dunelm kept up its impressive performance through the first half, but warned it will become 'much more difficult' to sustain like for like growth over the next six to twelve months. The group, which operates 100 shops including 88 of out-of-town superstores, reported like
Read more