easyJet Sept passengers up 5.3%
6th Oct 2009 07:33
Budget airline easyJet said it carried 4.4m passengers in September, up 5.3% from just under 4.2m passengers the year before. September's load factor was 88.1% compared with 86.9% in the same month a year earlier, making 85.5% for the rolling 12 months. The no frills carrier also said September p
Read moreLondon close: Blue chips post useful gains
17th Sep 2009 16:42
A better than expected start on Wall Street helped London post more gains by the close. Balfour Beatty was the best performer with the shares roaring ahead on plans to acquire Parsons Brinckerhoff, a US consultancy business. A rights issue to raise about £350m will fund the deal. Ian Tyler, Balfou
Read moreLondon afternoon: Holding onto gains
17th Sep 2009 14:16
London is still in the blue but off its best with futures pointing towards a flat start on Wall Street. British Airways has been the blue-chip stock to own in the third quarter of 2009 with its share price virtually doubling since the beginning of July. The shares get another lift today from Goldma
Read moreFTSE 250 movers: Broker boost lifts Easyjet
17th Sep 2009 12:11
Easyjet is flying high after Morgan Stanley lifted its rating on the budget airline to 'overweight' from 'equal-weight'. It also lifted its target price on the group, to 460p from 340p. Among the fallers is building and civil engineering contractor Kier Group, which reported annual pre-tax profit
Read moreLondon midday: Traders get on board British Airways
17th Sep 2009 12:08
Risers outnumber fallers among FTSE 100 constituents by around three to one as London's strong run continues, despite flat retail sales in August. British Airways has been the blue-chip stock to own in the third quarter of 2009 with its share price virtually doubling since the beginning of July. T
Read moreWH Smith finance boss sells more shares
25th Aug 2009 16:27
WH Smith's financial director Robert Moorhead has sold nearly £240,000 worth of shares in the newsagent chain. He offloaded 53,896 shares at 445.2p a time and now has 176,504. The firm's shares have rallied since he last offloaded shares in February, pocketing 360.9p a time for 10,197 shares In a
Read moreTuesday newspaper round-up: British Land, Northern Rock, LSE
18th Aug 2009 06:09
Blackstone, the American private equity group, is set to buy half of the Broadgate Estate in the City of London from British Land. The deal could be announced as early as today when British Land discloses its results for the three months to June 30, which are expected to show a further fall in asset
Read moreLondon close: Financials spark good gains
6th Aug 2009 16:22
Footsie fell back in the afternoon session after the Bank of England increased its quantitative easing programme, but still finished healthily in the blue. Banks continued to rise with Royal Bank of Scotland, Lloyds Banking and Barclays all up. RBS reports its interim figures tomorrow. It is being
Read moreLondon afternoon: Footsie eases back from day's highs
6th Aug 2009 14:35
Footsie fallen back in the wake of the £50bn increase to £175bn in the Bank of England's quantitative easing programme. Interest rates, as expected, remained on hold at 0.5%. Banks continue to rise with Royal Bank of Scotland, Lloyds Banking and Barclays all up. RBS reports its interim figures tomo
Read moreLondon midday: QE increase boosts Footsie
6th Aug 2009 12:13
Footsie has reacted calmly to a surprise £50bn increase to £175bn in the Bank of England's quantitative easing programme. Interest rates, as expected, remained on hold at 0.5%. Insurer Aviva is the best performer and leads a life sector rally despite a 31% cut in the interim dividend. A plan for a
Read moreLondon open: Stocks surge ahead
6th Aug 2009 08:53
London's top stocks charge off the blocks as financials set a fast pace in early deals. Insurer Aviva is the main riser after it cut interim dividend by 31% and announced plans for a partial IPO of its Dutch business. IFRS operating profit fell to £1.05bn for the six months ended 30 June 2009 from
Read moreEasyJet lifts July traffic
6th Aug 2009 08:36
Budget airline EasyJet crammed more passengers onto its planes and lifted traffic in July as demand for cheap flights held up in the recession. The group flew 4.66m passengers during the month, compared with 4.47m over the same month the previous year. Load factor, a measure of how full the planes
Read moreLondon close: Upward march recommences
29th Jul 2009 16:47
Footsie was back to winning ways Wednesday as investors digested a stream of company updates. Fund manager Schroders led the way after Morgan Stanley upgraded the firm to "overweight" from "underweight" and raised its price target to 1,045p from 710p. Rexam was the major faller after it launched
Read moreLondon afternoon: Financials lift Footsie
29th Jul 2009 14:33
Risers outnumber fallers by around three to one among FTSE 100 constituents, as the blue-chip index resumes its upward climb following yesterday's pause for breath. Financial stocks lead the advance, with insurers Aviva, RSA and Standard Life to the fore, as is part-nationalised bank Royal Bank of
Read moreLondon midday: Blue-chips advance on broad front
29th Jul 2009 11:50
Having seen its winning streak come to an end yesterday Footsie is back on the rise today despite some mixed corporate news. Rexam is the major faller after it launched its well-flagged rights issue to raise £351m at a big discount to the current share price. The interim dividend has also been scra
Read more