London afternoon: No sign of rally yet
11th Aug 2010 13:57
Expectations of a weak start on Wall Street have put the kybosh on any hopes of a recovery in London over the lunch time session, after leading shares endured a tough morning in the wake of downbeat statements from the Federal Reserve (last night) and the Bank of England (this morning). The Bank of
Read moreLondon midday: BoE adds to gloom
11th Aug 2010 12:08
London has lurched lower still after the Bank of England lowered its forecasts for economic growth in 2011 while raising inflation expectations. The Bank is now predicting economic growth of 2.5% in 2011, down from a previous forecast of 3.4%. He predicted that inflation would remain above the 2%
Read moreFlying Brands brings back dividend
11th Aug 2010 08:44
Flowers and gifts retailer Flying Brands has cheered investors with half-year profit in line with expectations and the resumption of dividend payments. The company, which bought flower delivery firm Flowers Direct for nearly £3m in May, has also announced the purchase of London florist Drake Algar
Read moreSmall caps-round up: Chime, OMG, Pinewood Shepperton,...
12th May 2010 13:27
Marketing services group Chime Communications expects operating income and operating profit to be ahead of both budget and market expectations. Image technology group OMG reported slightly higher half year pre-tax profits of £1.4m compared with £1.2m last time and said it is cautiously optimistic t
Read moreHuntsworth non-exec buys again
21st Apr 2010 16:45
Huntsworth non-executive director Eugene Beard has taken his spending on the marketing services company's shares in the past year to nearly £186,000. Beard has bought a further 100,000 shares at 72.91p each. This is the highest price he has paid for the shares in the past year. The lowest buying p
Read moreLondon close:Equities advance on broad front
20th Apr 2010 17:11
London brought its two day losing streak to an end today, despite a mixed reception to the day's major company announcements and a disappointing set of inflation figures. A sharp rise in fuel costs was responsible for much of the acceleration in the inflation rate, which climbed to 3.4% from 3% in
Read moreLondon afternoon: Tesco heads small band of fallers
20th Apr 2010 14:13
The blue-chip index shuffled sideways over the lunch time session with not even expectations of a firm opening on Wall Street encouraging buyers to commit further. Earlier in the day sentiment had received a knock from worse than expected inflation data. A sharp rise in fuel costs was responsible f
Read moreLondon midday: Equities resume upward trend
20th Apr 2010 12:15
Worse than expected inflation figures gave the market pause for thought but leading equities have since recovered their poise and ended the morning session on an upward trend. A sharp rise in fuel costs was responsible for much of the acceleration in the inflation rate, which climbed to 3.4% from 3
Read moreLondon open: Footsie makes bright start
20th Apr 2010 08:49
Footsie has moved higher as retailers come into focus on a busy day on the company news front. Tesco reaffirmed its position as the UK's supermarket powerhouse as profits last year surged to nearly £3.2bn with underlying growth of more than 10%. Total sales in the year to end February rose by 6.8%
Read moreFlying Brands warns of FY challenge
20th Apr 2010 08:02
Shares in flowers and gifts retailer Flying Brands slumped 26% after it warned that meeting company profit expectations for the year will be a considerable challenge, after continued pressure at its Garden division. The Jersey based mail order company reiterated that while trading overall had got o
Read moreSmall caps round-up: Flying Brands, Sanderson, First Derivatives...
11th Mar 2010 12:17
Flowers and gifts retailer Flying Brands posted a profit before tax of £2.67m in 2009 compared to a loss of £11.91m. Like-for-like revenue in the Garden division rose 6% to £15.9m, with underlying operating profit up to £1.81m (2008: £1.31m). In the Gifts division, there was a little changed loss o
Read moreLondon close: Commodity slide hits Footsie
13th Jan 2010 16:32
Footsie ended the day firmly in the red with low commodity prices helping to offset positive broker coverage. With the oil price below $80, oil titans Royal Dutch Shell and BP found themselves on traders' sell lists. BG Group also slipped even after HSBC upped its price target for the stock from 13
Read moreLondon afternoon: Leading shares mixed
13th Jan 2010 14:57
Leading shares are mixed having picked up a little over the lunch time session, helped by a firmer start on Wall Street. With the oil price below $80, oil titans Royal Dutch Shell and BP find themselves on traders' sell lists, but BG Group makes headway after HSBC upped its price target for the st
Read moreLondon midday: Ferrero pulls out of Cadbury chase
13th Jan 2010 11:56
Oils and banks are dragging the Footsie down, with sentiment also soured by disappointing manufacturing output figures. While industrial production showed a 0.4% rise in November, better than the 0.3% rise economists had been predicting, manufacturing output remained unchanged from October's level
Read moreFlying Brands expects to beat FY estimates
13th Jan 2010 08:37
Home shopping firm Flying Brands said it expects to exceed full year market forecasts after it cut costs. Sales from continuing operations fell 27% to £6.6m in the three months to 1 January. Flying Flowers' sales decreased to £3.58m from £5.29m in 2008, in line with market expectations. The figure
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