Wednesday newspaper round-up: BP, Argos, Stobart
1st Feb 2012 06:44
The Ministry of Defence will no longer give UK companies priority over their foreign competitors when buying equipment and weapons for the armed forces. The only exceptions will be cases where buying British is essential to maintaining national security, Peter Luff, the defence procurement minister,
Read moreFTSE 250 movers: Inmarsat plummets on LightSquared issues
16th Jan 2012 14:49
Satellite group Inmarsat headed the fallers on the FTSE 250 on Monday after a government agency highlighted potential GPS-interference issues in its partner's (LightSquared) high-speed wireless network in the US. Inmarsat became involved with LightSquared in August 2010, when it agreed a plan "to e
Read moreMonday broker round-up - UPDATE
16th Jan 2012 08:48
Capita: Bank of America-Merrill Lynch downgrades to neutral from buy. Carnival: Credit Suisse keeps neutral rating and 2,285p target; Morgan Stanley downgrades to neutral from outperform, target cut from 2,700p to 1,800p. Amec: Goldman Sachs upgrades to buy from neutral. Morrisons: Deutsche Bank
Read moreLondon close: Stocks erase gains, Tesco falls 16%
12th Jan 2012 16:24
Gains were pared in afternoon trade on Thursday following a poor start on Wall Street, meaning that the FTSE 100 finished in the red for the second day in a row. It was a busy day on the corporate news front, with Tesco and RBS grabbing the headlines, while central banks did what was expected and ke
Read moreFTSE 250 movers: Ocado soars on impressive festive sales
12th Jan 2012 15:03
There were plenty of company announcements on the FTSE 250 on Thursday, providing some big swings in the market. The biggest mover was Ocado after the online grocer reported a festive surge with gross sales in the seven trading days before Christmas jump 23.8% from the same period in 2010. Shares
Read moreLondon midday: Banks rise, retailers drop, BoE maintains rate
12th Jan 2012 11:58
After a subdued start, the Footsie seems to have found its direction, trading up near the 5,700 level, helped by the latest Italian and Spanish debt auctions which saw solid demand and a fall in yields. Italy has sold a total of €12bn in bills, with yields on its 12-month debt falling to 2.74% from
Read moreThursday broker round-up - UPDATE
12th Jan 2012 09:08
Reckitt Benckiser: J.P. Morgan Cazenove downgrades to neutral from overweight. Tesco: Nomura reiterates buy rating and 500p target; Panmure Gordon cuts target from 500p to 440p, buy rating unchanged. Royal Bank of Scotland: Shore Capital reiterates sell. Tesco: Shore Capital downgrades to hold fr
Read moreLondon open: RBS rises after shake-up, Tesco plummets
12th Jan 2012 08:28
A sharp fall for the retailers was met with a strong showing by the banks this morning, equating to a flat start for the FTSE 100. It has been reasonably busy on the corporate front, with several firms providing trading statements, but RBS and Tesco dominated the headlines early on. MARKETS CELEBRA
Read moreArgos had a bleak Christmas, says Home Retail Group
12th Jan 2012 07:57
Home Retail Group, has reported weak Christmas sales for Argos but says Homebase has been more resilient. The crucial like-for-like (LFL) sales figure for Argos was down a worrying 8.8% in the 18 weeks to the end of December. Over the last 44 weeks like-for-like sales have fallen 8.9%. At Homebase
Read moreThursday preview: Tesco's travails in the UK to continue
11th Jan 2012 14:59
There are not many things Britain's number one retailer Tesco does not sell, or so it seems, but tin hats are not among their product lines, which is unfortunate as shareholders may have need of some protection when the supermarket chain issues its Christmas trading update on Thursday. It is hard t
Read moreFTSE 250 Movers: Domino's leads the way
4th Jan 2012 12:53
Domino's Pizza was flying high despite seeing a slow-down in year-on-year like-for-like (LFL) sales growth in the final quarter of 2012, as expected. The stock was boosted by the company's reassurance it is on target to meet full-year profit expectations. In the 13 weeks to December 25, LFL sales r
Read moreFTSE 250 Movers: Talvivaara races into pole position
3rd Jan 2012 15:16
Talvivaara Mining saw its share price rocket into the top spot on the FTSE 250 after it announced that it has reached its production target for 2011. Full year production totalled 16,087 tonnes (t) of nickel and 31,815t of zinc, while fourth quarter production of 4,769t nickel and 10,524t zinc was
Read moreLondon close: Footsie hits nine-day high after economic data
22nd Dec 2011 16:25
The Footsie held on to gains by the close, helped by some helpful economic data at home and abroad. It seems as if the 'Santa rally' that many had put on their Christmas lists has finally started to bear fruit with London's blue chip index finished at the highest closing level since last Tuesday. B
Read moreBroker tips: Retailers, European Goldfields, LSL
22nd Dec 2011 11:15
Credit Suisse has reassessed its forecasts across the European General Retail sectorahead of the January 2012 trading statement season. "Demand conditions for 2012 remain uncertain, although we are cautiously optimistic on the UK environment versus the rest of Europe," the Swiss broker said. "An
Read moreBroker snap: Credit Suisse cautiously optimistic for UK retailers
22nd Dec 2011 10:58
Credit Suisse has reassessed its forecasts across the European General Retail sector ahead of the January 2012 trading statement season. "Demand conditions for 2012 remain uncertain, although we are cautiously optimistic on the UK environment versus the rest of Europe," the Swiss broker said. "Ann
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