Whitbread chief keeps the faith
13th Dec 2011 15:39
Whitbread chief executive Andy Harrison made a firm declaration of his faith in the firm, purchasing nearly £200,000-worth of shares on the same day the company admitted sales growth had slowed. The Costa Coffee and Premier Inn owner disappointed investors after the figures suggested that even the
Read moreTuesday broker round-up - UPDATE
6th Dec 2011 09:27
Wolseley: Charles Stanley gives accumulate recommendation. Wolseley: Panmure Gordon keeps sell rating and 1,500p target. Meggitt: Credit Suisse downgrades to underperform from outperform; cuts target to 330p from 410p. Shire: Goldman Sachs reiterates buy. SABMiller: Nomura maintains buy recomme
Read moreGreencore tells suitor to hop it
5th Dec 2011 11:03
Greencore, the Irish convenience food company, says discussions on a possible takeover, announced on 25 October, have ended. The identity of the suitor has remained secret although private equity firms keen to increase their exposure to the relatively low risk food industry were the main focus of r
Read moreMonday broker round-up - UPDATE
5th Dec 2011 08:45
Kingfisher: Credit Suisse raises price target to 310p from 295p, outperform rating kept. Berkeley Group: Credit Suisse raises target to 1,225p from 1,079p, maintains neutral. Berkeley Group: UBS raises target to 1,530p from 1,480p. BG Group: UBS ups price target to 1,635p from 1,600p, stays at
Read moreHis n' hers shares for Robert Walters and wife
16th Aug 2011 09:51
Robert Walters, chief executive of the recruitment company he named after himself, and his wife have together spent about £200,000 on shares in the firm. They purchased a combined total of 81,630 shares at 245p each. The transaction brings Robert Walters' total interest to 2,181,480 shares, equi
Read moreGreencore Foods gobbles up Uniq for £113m
12th Jul 2011 09:46
Greencore Foods has offered to buy British convenience foods supplier Uniq from a pension fund that owns 90.2% of the company for 96p-a-share, or £113m, sending Uniq's shares soaring 21%. Greencore Foods, which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Irish chilled prepared meals maker Greencore Group, is p
Read moreConsumer caution to continue, says Greencore
24th May 2011 14:43
The cost of convenience foods group Greencore's rebuffed courtship of Northern Foods put a serious dent in the Irish firm's interim profits. Profit before tax and exceptional items surged to €20.13m in the half year to 25 March, from €10.7m the year before. However, the company's exceptional cha
Read moreMonday newspaper round-up: RBS, LSE, IMF, The Prelude
23rd May 2011 06:14
Royal Bank of Scotland is braced for the City regulator to refer to Sir Fred Goodwin's alleged affair with a colleague in its long-awaited report into the bank's collapse. As the fallout from Sir Fred's superinjunction spreads, the Financial Services Authority (FSA) has contacted the bank for detail
Read moreGreencore bows out of Northern Foods chase
9th Mar 2011 15:46
Irish food group Greencore has waved the white flag in its battle with Boparan Holdings for control of Goodfellas pizza and Fox's biscuits maker Northern Foods. The Irish ready meals provider had agreed a merger with Northern Foods in November 2010 only to see the wedding gatecrashed by food magnat
Read moreGreencore seeks partners for Northern Foods assault
17th Feb 2011 18:16
Speculation is growing that Irish food group Greencore is poised to re-enter the battle for Northern Foods after holding discussions with potential private equity partners. The Telegraph reported Greencore was allowed this week to look at figures on how Northern Foods has been trading recently ahe
Read moreTuesday newspaper round-up: Egypt, ECB, Marks & Spencer...
1st Feb 2011 06:42
Oil prices broke through the $100 a barrel level for the first time in more than two years, amid market fears that Egypt's turmoil will hit oil flows. Although both the Suez Canal and a pipeline linking the Red Sea with the Mediterranean continue to operate, the popular uprising to unseat Hosni Mub
Read moreGreencore continues to ponder Northern plans
31st Jan 2011 11:39
Irish food producer Greencore says that it is considering its options now that BH Acquisitions has trumped its all share offer for Northern Foods. Greencore says that the logic of merging with Fox's biscuits maker Northern Foods to create Essenta Foods remains sound. It also "recognises the import
Read moreSector movers: Premier Foods lower after yesterday's sale
25th Jan 2011 12:50
The food producing and processing sector is lower Tuesday after a busy day yesterday. Premier Foods, whose most famous brands include Hovis bread and Sharwood's cooking sauces, announced Monday that it has sold its vegetarian foods business to a private equity consortium for £205m as it seeks to re
Read moreLondon close: Shares jump after sluggish start
24th Jan 2011 16:46
Shares put their early indecisiveness behind them to close with good gains after a decent start on Wall Street. Banks were weak after comments by the head of the Independent Banking Commission over stricter capital rules and possible separation of the retail and investment bank arms. The political
Read moreLondon afternoon: Stocks edge higher
24th Jan 2011 14:49
After a morning of indecision, leading shares pushed on over the lunch time session, despite the weakness of the banking sector. Banks are weak after comments by the head of the Independent Banking Commission over stricter capital rules and possible separation of the retail and investment bank arms
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