Sector movers: Retailers fall as Next and Home Retail disappoint
11th Sep 2014 13:00
Poorly-received updates from the likes of Next and Home Retail Group ensured that the UK-listed general retail sector was firmly in the red on Thursday afternoon. High street giant Next delivered a solid first half with both sales and profits ahead of the company's original expectations, but under a
Read moreHome Retail has good H1 but says Christmas is key
11th Sep 2014 07:49
Argos and Homebase owner Home Retail reported a good first half but warned that annual results would depend on Christmas. Home Retail said catalogue retailer Argos increased like-for-like sales for the ninth quarter in a row in the second quarter. Total sales at Argos, which expanded its shop numbe
Read moreThursday preview: Wm Morrison dividend in focus
10th Sep 2014 15:43
Tomorrow is “Super Thursday” for retail followers in the City, with interim results from FTSE 100 heavyweights Next and Morrison, as well as but also a quarterly updates from FTSE 250 pair Ocado and Home Retail, together with updates from small caps Dunelm and Darty and the privately hel
Read moreFTSE 250 movers: Keller Group, Home Retail Group, Telecity
4th Aug 2014 15:50
Keller Group was a top riser after reporting better-than-expected first-half results. Pre-tax profit before exceptional items increased by 21% year-on-year to £32.5m in the six months to 30 June. Liberum gave the engineering group a 'buy' rating after the results, saying it sees "compelling attracti
Read moreSunday newspaper round-up: Carillion-Balfour, share sell-off, Lloyds Banking
3rd Aug 2014 18:04
Carillion plans to put Balfour Beatty in a "bear hug" to tempt Balfour's shareholders to support its attempted takeover, the Sunday Times said. Carillion last week scuppered a planned all-share merger when it backtracked on the agreed sale of Balfour's Parsons Brinckerhoff US design consultancy. Wit
Read moreSunday newspaper round-up: Home Retail, strong pound, Lloyds Banking Group
27th Jul 2014 18:00
Home Retail Group is considering a sale of its £1.5bn Homebase DIY chain, the Mail on Sunday said. Home Retail wants to concentrate on its core Argos business under new group Chief Executive John Walden, who turned around Argos in the previous two years. Stronger sales and profitability at Homebase
Read moreFTSE 250 movers: Retailers mostly higher as UK unemployment falls
16th Jul 2014 15:12
A number of retailers including Debenhams, N Brown, AO World and Home Retail were on the rise today as investors welcomed the latest UK economic data which showed a drop in unemployment. The UK jobless rate declined from 6.6% to 6.5% in the three months to May, the lowest since 2008, though wage gro
Read moreLondon midday: Chinese and UK data give FTSE 100 a boost
16th Jul 2014 11:58
- Chinese GDP growth picks up to 7.5% - UK unemployment at lowest since 2008 - Meggitt jumps on M&A hopes - Rio Tinto leads miners higher techMARK 2,808.69 +1.03% FTSE 100 6,771.71 +0.91% FTSE 250 15,592.03 +0.98% Stocks in London jumped on Wednesday morning as a surprise pick-up in Chinese growth
Read moreFTSE 250 movers: Drax rises after High Court ruling
14th Jul 2014 14:35
Shares in energy company Drax Group got a lift today after a High Court ruled in favour of its power station unit subsidies. Following the government's announcement in April that Drax's second unit conversion was no longer eligible for an investment contract under the Final Investment Decision Enabl
Read moreBroker tips: AVEVA, Home Retail, Debenhams
14th Jul 2014 12:11
Investec has repeated its 'buy' recommendation for engineering data and design IT systems group AVEVA, playing down concerns after the company said that full-year results will be weighted more towards the second half. "There has been no material change in the demand backdrop since the [annual resul
Read moreUBS lifts Home Retail target on interest rates, currency
14th Jul 2014 10:21
UBS has lifted its target price for the shares of Argos and Homebase owner Home Retail from 230p to 240p, keeping its 'buy' stance on the stock despite the recent sell-off. The shares have fallen around 25% since reaching their 52-week peak of 225.2p in late March, despite the company reporting a "
Read moreMonday broker round-up UPDATE
14th Jul 2014 10:11
Abcam: Numis cuts target price from 510p to 490p and stays with its add rating. ARM Holdings: Credit Suisse reduces target price from 1200p to 1125p and maintains an outperform rating. AstraZeneca: Jefferies reduces target price from 4850p to 4790p maintaining a hold recommendation. BP: Credit Su
Read moreLondon midday: FTSE 100 extends losses as insurers and retailers fall
9th Jul 2014 12:03
- Admiral, Aviva lead markets lower - FTSE 100 on track for worst finish since late April - Retailers fall as UK retail prices fall 1.8% - Investors nervous ahead of Fed minutes techMARK 2,777.53 -0.59% FTSE 100 6,708.55 -0.44% FTSE 250 15,526.79 -0.80% UK stocks were heading for their worst finis
Read moreSector movers: M&S caution, rate-hike speculation dampen retail stocks
7th Jul 2014 14:55
General retail stocks were under the weather on Monday as investors showed nervousness ahead of results from High Street bellwether Marks & Spencer and reacted to rate-hike speculation. Shares in M&S were down 1% this afternoon before its fiscal first-quarter update due out Tuesday morning which wi
Read moreHome Retail's Argos ramps Click & Collect partnership with eBay
3rd Jul 2014 08:59
Argos, the general retailing half of Home Retail Group, has stepped up its partnership with online auction behemoth eBay, increasing the number of stores where it offers a Click & Collect service. The extension to will allow eBay customers to select products from a much wider range of professional
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