Tuesday preview: Intl. Power, IHG, Greggs
8th Aug 2011 16:47
With stock markets heading south at a rate of knots, investors keen to retain some exposure to the equity markets often turn to utilities as safe investments, which makes the timing of the half-year results from International Power propitious. Credit Suisse thinks the company needs a large deal to
Read moreWeek Ahead: Standard Life, Greggs, InterContinental Hotels, TUI Travel
5th Aug 2011 11:41
The insurance sector interim results stream continues with figures from Standard Life on Thursday. Panmure Gordon, which thinks Standard Life is in a "period of change" is predicting operating profits of £209m and an interim dividend of 4.6p a share. Baked snacks vendor Greggs has proved resilient
Read moreThursday newspaper round-up: Greece, Santander, UK banks
21st Jul 2011 06:27
Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy held crisis talks in Berlin amid warnings that a failure to break the debt crisis deadlock within 24 hours would send shockwaves around the global economy. Late on Wednesday night it was announced that both parties were close to a deal to bail out Greece, the Telegr
Read moreTuesday newspaper round-up: Greece, C&W Worldwide, Tesco windows,
5th Jul 2011 06:03
Efforts to rescue Greece hit a new roadblock after Standard & Poor's declared that a French plan to involve the private sector would constitute a default by Athens. S&P said that proposals from the Fédération Bancaire Française to participate in a rollover of Greek debt would lead to a downgrade in
Read moreTwo Petropavlovsk directors up their stakes
27th May 2011 16:47
The chairman and chief executive of Russia-focused FTSE 250 miner Petropavlovsk each topped up their stakes in the firm after VMHY Holdings - a company in which they together have a 50% holding - bought shares. As a result of the transaction, they each received 105,000 ordinary shares (representing
Read moreGreggs boosted by Easter treats
11th May 2011 08:00
Solid Easter trading and favourable weather helped bakery chain Greggs report an 4.8% increase in total sales in the first 18 weeks of the year. The tradition of eating hot cross buns on Good Friday was warmly embraced this year. Greggs said over 3m of them were sold, up 23% from the same time last
Read moreTuesday newspaper round-up: Euro, Apple, Google
19th Apr 2011 06:05
The euro fell amid fears that a public backlash against "squanderer" member states could de-rail Brussels' radical plans to avert the mounting sovereign debt crises. The embattled currency fell to as low as $1.4155 at one point as traders ignored Greece's denials that it needs to restructure its deb
Read moreTasty founder takes a big bite
13th Apr 2011 17:20
Samuel Kaye, the multi-millionaire founder of the restaurant chain operator Tasty, has added to his stake in the company with the purchase of £93,000 of shares. He snapped up 300,000 shares at 31p a time and now has about 9.1m shares, or 19.1% of the company, which operates the oriental-themed DimT
Read moreFTSE 250 movers: Heritage Oil rises on rejected offer
17th Mar 2011 15:26
Heritage Oil is wanted after reports in the FT indicated the company has rejected an informal offer of 425p per share from an Abu Dhabi based investor. "This would represent a 47% premium to yesterday's close and a 25% premium to our current target price of 341p," said resources specialist Westhou
Read moreBroker tips: Greggs, Vodafone, Marston's
17th Mar 2011 13:32
Greggs made good progress in 2010 against its shop roll-out and cost control plans, and this is expected to continue into 2011 despite a challenging retail environment, according to UBS. The popular bakery chain announced 2010 results Wednesday that were broadly in line with the broker expectations
Read moreBroker snap: Growth to continue at Greggs
17th Mar 2011 10:06
Greggs made good progress in 2010 against its shop roll-out and cost control plans, and this is expected to continue into 2011 despite a challenging retail environment, according to UBS. The popular bakery chain announced 2010 results Wednesday that were broadly in line with the broker expectations
Read moreThursday newspaper round-up: Banks, yen, oil
17th Mar 2011 06:00
Taxpayers will receive a "handsome" reward for bailing out the banks, according to the heads of Lloyds Banking Group and Royal Bank of Scotland. Yet they criticised ongoing talk of the banks being too big to fail as a "red herring". The outgoing Lloyds chief executive Eric Daniels appeared in front
Read moreLondon close: Market closes at low for the day
16th Mar 2011 17:07
An attempt at an early afternoon rally was short-lived and Footsie ended at its low for the day as investors continue to worry about the situation in Japan and sovereign debt in Europe after the downgrade of Portugal's debt by ratings agency Moody's. A sharp fall on Wall Street did not help sentime
Read moreFTSE 250 movers: Imagination Tech falls despite strong second half
16th Mar 2011 15:19
Imagination Technologies is the worst performer Wednesday despite continuing to see growing demand for its graphics chip technology, though its Digital Audio Broadcasting division, PURE, is finding things a bit tougher. The group expects the volume of chips shipped in the second half of the financ
Read moreLondon afternoon: Stocks pare losses
16th Mar 2011 14:06
Stocks pared losses over the lunch time session leaving the overall picture looking mixed, though the Footsie is slightly easier on balance, as investors continue to fret about the fall-out from the Japanese disaster, while sovereign debt concerns in Europe have been revived by the downgrade of Port
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