London open: Buoyant miners lift Footsie
8th Oct 2009 08:17
Buoyant mining shares are giving London's blue chips a lift in early dealings the day after gold hit a new record high. Nine out of the ten top FTSE 100 performers are miners. Lonmin is leading the way, closely followed by Xstrata, Rio Tinto, Fresnillo, Kazakhmys, Antofagasta, Vedanta Resources, An
Read moreHays revenues slump
8th Oct 2009 07:40
Recruitment firm Hays posted continuing sharp revenue falls across its geographical and business divisions in the quarter to September 30, with permanent recruitment fees leading the decline, falling by half. Fees at the permanent division fell by 50% on an actual basis and by 52% on a like-for-lik
Read moreLondon pre-open: London set to get off to a flyer
8th Oct 2009 07:38
After yesterday's pause for breath leading shares are back at the races today, with dealers predicting the FTSE 100 will open just under 50 points higher. Attention is certain to focus on part-nationalised bank Lloyds Banking Group which is proposing to raise around £25bn in capital by means of a r
Read moreBroker tips: InterContinental Hotels, Michael Page, Dunelm
7th Oct 2009 13:07
Ahead of results due on 10 November, brokers have been turning their attention to Holiday Inn owner InterContinental Hotels and are seeing signs of a recovery in the business travel market. Broker Panmure Gordon said the relaunch of the Holiday Inn has been driving a turnaround in the fortunes of I
Read moreBroker snap: Hays preferred to Michael Page
7th Oct 2009 10:35
The third quarter saw some stabilisation at recruiter Michael Page but broker Charles Stanley reckons things are a long way from getting back to normal and continues to advise its clients to sell the shares. 'Conditions have stabilised and the macroeconomic outlook is undoubtedly improved compared
Read moreFaroe non-exec tops up
1st Oct 2009 17:46
Tim Read, non-executive director of Faroe Petroleum, has topped up his holding despite a surge in the share price over the past two months on a stream of good news. Read bought 25,000 shares at 137p each, marking the first significant buy by a director for some time. Faroe, which is controlled by
Read moreOFT fines construction recruiters £39m
30th Sep 2009 11:30
The Office of Fair Trading today landed its second heavy blow on the construction industry in little over a week with a total of £39.3m in fines for six suppliers of workers to the industry. The six recruitment companies received the penalty after allegations of price-fixing and for a boycott of P
Read moreFTSE 250 movers: McBride sparkles after results
3rd Sep 2009 08:44
McBride, which makes cleaning, laundry and personal care products for supermarkets to sell under their own names, is shining after the firm said it increased market share in its main European markets and lifted pre-tax profits. Electronic component distributor Premier Farnell is lower after second
Read moreLondon open: Footsie starts flat
3rd Sep 2009 08:17
Footsie is flat in early deals with miners pushing the markets in one direction and financials and defensives dragging it the other. Amongst the major risers so far are miners Randgold Resources, Lonmin, Xstrata, Kazakhmys, Rio Tinto, Fresnillo and Vedanta Resources. the big fallers are RSA Insuran
Read moreLondon pre-open: Small fall ahead
3rd Sep 2009 07:37
London's top stocks look set to add to yesterday's losses, though traders expect only a 10 points drop early on. HMV reported a 1.8% drop in total like-for-like sales in the 18 week period since the end of April in what the entertainment media group called a tough consumer environment. Separately,
Read moreHays pre-tax profits fall 43%
3rd Sep 2009 07:02
Recruitment group Hays posted a sharp fall in profits in the year to June 30 and said it was seeing no signs of recovery. Pre-tax profits for the year slid to £151m from £264.4m as revenues fell to £670.8m from £786.8m. The firm retained its full-year dividend at 5.8p. Hays said net fees fell by 2
Read moreWeek ahead: McBride, Hays, Hargreaves Lansdown
28th Aug 2009 12:21
Only four days of trading next week due to the bank holiday on Monday. McBride, the own private label household and personal care products supplier, will unveil its final results on Thursday, expecting to show underlying profits of no less than £35m after better than expected fourth quarter revenu
Read moreSunday tips round-up: Diploma, SABMiller, Hays
12th Jul 2009 12:53
Distributor Diploma shares are trading on a September 2009 earnings multiple of 8.9 times, which does not look too demanding, and they are yielding 5.8%, which is pretty impressive. The strength of the group's balance sheet means that this looks pretty secure and the company is well placed to snap
Read moreLondon close: Modest gains as US struggles
9th Jul 2009 16:33
Equities held onto gains despite a lacklustre final session as Wall St struggled to make headway. Mining stocks continue to dominate the list of risers. Silver miner Fresnillo is the best performer after being upgraded to "buy" by Citigroup. In contrast the US bank had downgraded gold miner Rand
Read moreLondon afternoon: Rally gathers pace
9th Jul 2009 14:46
Equities pushed higher over the lunch-time session, boosted by expectations of a firm start on Wall Street. Mining stocks continue to dominate the list of risers. Silver miner Fresnillo is the best performer after being upgraded to "buy" by Citigroup. In contrast the US bank had downgraded gold min
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