Home Retail rallies 4% on Morgan Stanley upgrade
30th Jun 2015 10:25
Home Retail rallied 4% on Tuesday after Morgan Stanley upgraded the stock to 'overweight' from 'equalweight' and raised the price target to 180p from 170p. "We think there are some very interesting things going on at Argos at the moment. We don't have high conviction as to how they will play out, bu
Read moreFTSE 250 movers: Petrofac higher on new contract, miners retreat
11th Jun 2015 13:27
Mid caps were performing well on Thursday afternoon, led by strength in the construction, insurance and technology sectors. As of 1445 BST, the FTSE 250 was trading 0.47% higher at 18,114. Oil and gas industry services provider Petrofac surged after landing a four-and-a-half year contract with Petr
Read moreHome Retail quarterly sales decline at Argos and Homebase
11th Jun 2015 08:09
Home merchandise retailer Home Retail registered a decline in sales in its Argos and Homebase division in the first quarter. A decline in electrical product sales, mainly TVs, tablets and computers, saw total sales in Argos dropped 2.6% year-on-year to £846m in the 13 weeks to 30 May, while like-for
Read moreSector movers: Royal Mail, food reatilers edge higher while property stocks extend gains
11th May 2015 14:19
Spikes in Royal Mail shares, food retail, mining and property companies provided market momentum on Monday, with the FTSE 100 trading marginally down. At 16:33 BST, the blue chip index was down 0.18% or 12.41 points at 7,034.41 points as shares in Royal Mail topped the risers after rival postal f
Read moreFTSE 250 movers: Zoopla rockets on acquisition, RPS hit by sluggish first quarter
30th Apr 2015 13:05
Zoopla, the residential property website group, topped the risers after agreeing to acquire utility price comparison site uSwitch for up to £190m. Zoopla said it expected the deal to be "significantly enhancing" to adjusted basic earnings per share in the first full financial year following completi
Read moreFTSE 250 movers: NMC Health surges on acquisitions, Ophir Energy reverses
29th Apr 2015 13:20
Healthcare provider NMC Health topped the risers after completing the acquisition of two sector peers based in the United Arab Emirates for a combined £65m. Following the deal, analysts at Numis raised the target price on the stock for the second time in six weeks. Greggs surged after first-quarter
Read moreHome Retail impresses with twin growth from Argos and Homebase
29th Apr 2015 09:07
Full-year profits from Home Retail nudged slightly higher than forecasts as both Argos and Homebase delivered like-for-like sales and profit growth for the second successive year. The FTSE 250 retailer, which made no comment on current trading, lifted its full-year dividend 15% to 3.8p as earnings p
Read moreWednesday preview: Fed in focus as central bank unveils policy measures
28th Apr 2015 13:33
Investors will be keen to see if the Federal Reserve on Wednesday provides hints on the timing of its first interest rate hike when the central bank releases its policy decision, while the UK corporate calendar sees Barclays, British American Tobacco, Home Retail, Next and Standard Life among those
Read moreFriday broker round-up
13th Mar 2015 12:06
Poundland: Morgan Stanley lifts target to 280p from 245p and reiterates underweight. Vesuvius: UBS hikes target to 610p from 560p and reiterates buy. Prudential: Credit Suisse raises target to 1,900p from 1,750p and reiterates outperform. BT Group: Berenberg raises target to 570p from 475p and rei
Read moreLondon close: Stocks rally strongly after Swiss move as ECB stimulus hopes rise
15th Jan 2015 16:36
A surprise policy move by the Swiss National Bank (SNB) resulted in a choppy day for UK markets on Thursday, though stocks were able to regain their composure and rally strongly as the dust settled. The FTSE 100 finished the session 110.32 points higher at 6,498.78, up 1.7% on the day due to increas
Read moreFTSE 250 movers: Oil stocks gain, Bovis Homes falls despite profit gains
15th Jan 2015 15:05
The energy sector was dominating the risers list on Thursday as oil prices began to rebound slightly. Afren, Premier Oil, Soco International and Cairn Energy were all on the incline. Savills was also increasing after the estate agency said revenues and profits in December had "significantly exceed[e
Read moreBroker tips: Tullow Oil, Experian, Home Retail
15th Jan 2015 11:27
News of a multibillion-dollar write-down at Tullow Oil sent the share price in the exploration company lower on Thursday, though analysts at Westhouse Securities retained their positive rating on the stock. While the size of the $2.3bn write-down (after tax), is likely to disappoint investors, the b
Read moreHome Retail delivers poor LFL sales but Canaccord impressed by margins
15th Jan 2015 09:15
Home Retail, the owner of the Argos and Homebase, sacrificed like-for-like (LFL) sales in the third quarter to protect profitability, according to Canaccord Genuity. LFL sales at Argos rose by just 0.1% in the 18 weeks to 3 January, well below Canaccord's +2.2% forecast, while LFL sales at the small
Read moreHome Retail dashes hopes as Argos sales fall flat
15th Jan 2015 08:06
Citing a volatile trading environment, Home Retail assured that full year pre-tax profit remained on target despite flat sales at Argos falling short of City forecasts as Black Friday proved a disruptive force. Like-for-like (LFL) sales at Argos were up just 0.1% for the 18 weeks to 3 January, far s
Read moreFTSE 250 movers: Food retailers take a hit while energy stocks soar
23rd Dec 2014 09:41
Retail stocks were mixed on the day before Christmas Eve. Home Retail Group, N Brown Group and Supergroup were advancing as last-minute shoppers headed online and hit the high street. Shares in Workspace Group were rising after the company agreed a cash payment of £30m to terminate the proceeds sha
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