London pre-open: Losses likely
13th Jan 2010 07:34
Last night's decline on Wall Street, its first of 2010, is set to tip London lower in early deals. US stocks were hurt by weaker than expected fourth quarter results from aluminium producer Alcoa after hours Monday, while Chinese moves to cool bank lending and a profit warning from Chevron also hur
Read moreGreggs on track, strong Christmas
13th Jan 2010 07:02
Greggs expects full year results to be in line with expectations and said more customers popped into the bakery chain for hot pies over Christmas. Over the four week Christmas trading period to 26 December total sales grew by 3.1% and like-for-like sales grew by 1.1%. The group said it sold more th
Read moreWednesday preview: Greggs, Ashmore, Industrial Production
12th Jan 2010 17:57
The cold snap over Christmas may have prompted shoppers to contemplate popping into Greggs for a hot pie or sausage roll, but Shore Capital thinks that icy conditions, particularly in the north of England and Scotland, may have suppressed footfall at the bakery chain. It's a view shared by dinburg
Read moreWednesday tips round-up; Pearson, Greggs, Bunzl
21st Oct 2009 06:45
Pearson faces pressures in financial advertising at the FT Group while Penguin's performance is flat. However, underpinned by US stimulus spending and the natural hedge between higher US college enrolments and weaker US school budgets, Pearson should continue to prosper in North America while its
Read moreLondon close: Footsie slips back
20th Oct 2009 16:50
There was no shortage of company news to give Footsie direction but it was the release of housing data in the US that ultimately dragged the leading share index into the red. Housing starts increased to a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 590,000 last month, up 0.5% above a revised 587,000 in Oct
Read moreLondon afternoon: Footsie pulled both ways
20th Oct 2009 14:19
Footsie is struggling to find any sense of direction despite some big movements in individual companies' share prices. Fast growing software company Autonomy is finding the market hard to please. Despite another spell of strong organic growth in the third quarter, the shares are the worst performer
Read moreLondon midday: Banks drag Footsie down
20th Oct 2009 12:04
Footsie made a valiant effort to finish the morning in the blue but came up just short, thanks largely to the weakness of financial stocks. Barclays is sharply lower, after Qatar's sovereign wealth fund said it was selling half of the warrants it holds in the bank. Qatar Holding is selling 379.22
Read moreFTSE 250 movers: Partygaming slumps as founder sells
20th Oct 2009 10:39
Investors are betting against PartyGaming after the founder of the online gambling group started selling some of his stake. He will sell up to 75m shares in the firm, reports say. Investors have no appetite for shares in Greggs even after the bakery chain served up a 2.5% rise in third quarter sale
Read moreGreggs beefs up Q3 sales
20th Oct 2009 07:32
Bakery chain Greggs served up a 2.5% rise in third quarter sales and said it is on track to deliver full results in line with company expectations. Like-for-like sales were up by 0.2% in the 16-week period. "Overall business performance in the year to date is in line with our plans and our financ
Read moreFTSE 250 movers: Acquisition buoys James Fisher
18th Aug 2009 12:10
Marine services group James Fisher is buoyant after saying it has bought MB Faber, which provides specialist electrical and engineering services to the nuclear and aerospace industries, for up to £5.25m in cash. Higher crude prices give oil explorer and producer Salamander Energy a lift. Elsewher
Read moreWednesday tips round-up: Intercontinental Hotels, Greggs, NWF
12th Aug 2009 06:50
Intercontinental Hotels, which runs the Holiday Inn and Crowne Plaza chains, released its second-quarter results yesterday, saying that revenue was down, revenue per available room (a key measure in the industry) was down and it had recorded a loss of $82m after last year's $145m profit. If you wan
Read moreLondon close: Weak US drags down Footsie
11th Aug 2009 16:32
Footsie finished the day firmly in the red despite a bright start as banks weighed on the leading share index and a poor start in the US compounded earlier losses. While there was little US company news, stocks were hit by analyst downgrades on companies such as Yum Brands, which owns fast food cha
Read moreLondon afternoon: US slump spreads to Footsie
11th Aug 2009 15:37
Footsie has plunged further into the red in line with a poor performance on Wall Street. While there was little US company news, stocks were hit by analyst downgrades on companies such as Yum Brands, which owns fast food chains such as Pizza Hut, and mobile phone group Sprint Nextel. Banks are wea
Read moreFTSE 250 movers: Greggs fails to whet appetites
11th Aug 2009 12:24
Bakery chain Greggs is lower even though it lifted its interim dividend to a record level as it shrugged off the impact of the recession to lift underlying half-year profits by 7.3%. Interserve is higher after the services, maintenance and building group's profits grew by almost 19% at during the f
Read moreLondon midday: Footsie struggles as banks dip
11th Aug 2009 12:07
Footsie has slipped into the red as results and takeover can't offset another day of weakness in the banking sector. Banks are weak after the FT is reported that Lloyds Banking's tentative plans to raise an estimated £15bn-£20bn in a rights issue to reduce its reliance on the government face a wall
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