Wolseley chairman spends £200,000
14th Apr 2011 17:03
Gareth Davis, the chairman of Wolseley, has splashed out nearly £200,000 on shares in the plumbing supplies group. Davis, who took up his post at Wolseley at the beginning of the year after he stepped down as the chief of Lambert & Butler cigarettes maker Imperial Tobacco, took 9,720 shares at 2,14
Read moreLondon close: Miners drive FTSE 100 rally
8th Apr 2011 16:44
Stocks went into the weekend on the front foot as higher commodity prices drove miners forward. Shares in Fresnillo, which mines for silver in Mexico, went well as the precious metal hit $40 an ounce for the first time since 1980, but was leapfrogged by more mainstream miners such as Anglo American
Read moreLondon midday: Shares buoyant as commodities soar
8th Apr 2011 12:13
Miners are leading the rally in the FTSE 100 as commodity prices advance, though the higher oil price is causing concern. Shares in Fresnillo, which mines for silver in Mexico, were the best performing in London's leading share index. Silver hit $40 an ounce for the first time since 1980, while gol
Read moreLondon open: Shares bounce back
8th Apr 2011 08:28
Shares have rebounded after a late dive yesterday following an earthquake aftershock in Japan, which was not as bad as feared. Indian mining giant Vedanta produced record volumes of metals in the fourth quarter as it sought to benefit from soaring commodity prices. In its Indian zinc-lead-silver op
Read moreGames Workshop to produce great figures
8th Apr 2011 07:51
Tabletop fantasy and science fiction war games firm Games Workshop expects pre-tax profits in the current financial year will be ahead of expectations. The company, best known for its Warhammer and Warhammer 40k products, as well as for a gaming system based on JRR Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings", sa
Read moreSmall caps round-up: Future, Ortac, Stratex ...
9th Feb 2011 14:44
Magazine publisher Future's first quarter revenues were little changed as growth in commercial revenues compensated for pressure in circulation. Digital advertising revenues were up 25%, more than compensating for a 10% decline in print advertising revenue. Publishing revenues rose by 18%. "We expe
Read moreWednesday tips round-up: Babcock, Hornby, Playtech...
26th Jan 2011 06:48
Babcock bought rival VT last year and said investors would be looking at how well it performed. So far, it seems the integration is on track, with management confident of hitting a run-rate of £11m by the end of March. Babcock also exceeded expectations on paying down debt following the VT acquisi
Read moreGames Workshop sales fall as new staff adjust
25th Jan 2011 12:01
Games Workshop, the fantasy toy soldiers retailer, saw revenues and profits fall in the six months to November 28 after replacing staff in its stores to reduce overheads. The company posted a pre-tax profit of £6.7m during the period, down from £7.9m over the same period the previous year, as reven
Read moreThursday tips round-up: CRH, Tullett Prebon, Domino's Pizza
6th Jan 2011 06:40
CRH, the building materials producer that is Ireland's biggest company, spent €367m (£312m) on 17 different purchases in the second half, bringing the year's total to €536m, well ahead of the €450mspent in 2009 and back to pre-crash levels. The group has one of the strongest balance sheets in the
Read moreLondon close: Strong start to 2011 continues
5th Jan 2011 16:44
An afternoon rally helped the FTSE 100 build on yesterday's strong start to the year and stay at levels not seen since the first half of 2008, well in advance of the global economic crash. The turnaround in fortunes was inspired by some strong US jobs data, with payroll processor ADP reporting a re
Read moreLondon afternoon: Footsie back above 6,000
5th Jan 2011 14:04
Footsie has scrambled back above 6,000 over the lunch time session though the blue-chip index remains slightly lower on the day. Miners remain a drag on the index, with the likes of Antofagasta, Anglo American, BHP Billiton and Kazakhmys falling back in line with softer metals prices. Retailers
Read moreLondon midday: Shares give back some gains
5th Jan 2011 12:07
The FTSE 100 is firmly in the red after yesterday's strong gains amid weakness in the mining and retail sectors. With metals prices falling back following a strong run recently, miners such as Antofagasta, BHP Billiton and Kazakhmys are weak. Retailers are in focus, with Next one of the top riser
Read moreGames Workshop warns on year profits
5th Jan 2011 08:04
Miniature war games retailer Games Workshop has admitted a drop in sales means full-year profits will miss estimates. "The board of Games Workshop currently believes that, as a result of reduced volumes, pre-tax profits in respect of the year ending 29 May 2011 are unlikely to meet current market c
Read moreWednesday tips round-up: Misys, Arm, Croda
28th Jul 2010 06:53
Reckitt Benckiser is looking for more bolt-on acquisitions in the health and personal care area - and SSL is an excellent purchase, although at £2.54bn it cannot be described as cheap. However, you have to pay for quality and SSL will fit well with Reckitt. The shares are trading on a December 201
Read moreLondon close: Lead slashed as miners fail
27th Jul 2010 16:37
A big chunk of the morning's hard-fought gains went up in smoke late in the session as an early rally on Wall Street quickly turned into nothing. Miners were the main culprits. All the big guns gave back big leads mid-afternoon following stronger-than-expected US home-price data that helped the dol
Read more