London afternoon: Brokers boost banks
15th Apr 2010 14:25
Footsie is keeping its head above 5800, climbing a bit further over the lunch time session despite expectations of a soft start on Wall Street. After better than expected results from US investment bank JP Morgan yesterday investors are keen on UK banks such as Barclays, Royal Bank of Scotland and
Read moreSector movers: Uniq pension plans hard to digest
15th Apr 2010 12:28
Uniq is leading the food sector producer sector lower. The company, whose customers include Marks & Spencer, posted a pre-tax loss of £18.5m for the year, compared with £100,000 the previous year, on revenues that edged up to £287.2m from £286.7m. But what has really concerned investors is a prop
Read moreLondon midday: Flat Footsie
15th Apr 2010 11:50
Leading shares remain mixed , with laggards among FTSE 100 constituents now marginally outnumbering leaders. Experian is the worst performing blue-chip. The credit checking firm saw revenues from continuing operations rise for the six months to March but revenues at its UK operations fell in the pe
Read moreFTSE 100 movers: Banks keep Footsie up
15th Apr 2010 11:45
London's leading shares are just above flat as good gains from banks are being offset by weak defensives. Investors are keen on the likes of Barclays, Royal Bank of Scotland and HSBC Holdings but defensives are proving a drag. Reckitt Benckiser, Unilever are lower while G4S, Centrica and Thomas Coo
Read moreLondon open: Modest gains
15th Apr 2010 08:43
London's benchmark index has kicked off with modest gains with banks proving popular early on. Investors are keen on the likes of Barclays, Royal Bank of Scotland and HSBC Holdings But they seem unsure about Rio Tinto, which released a first quarter update. The group said its operation continued
Read moreMPs call for 'radical reform' of banking system
29th Mar 2010 09:46
MPs are calling for "radical reform" of the UK banking system to prevent taxpayers from picking up the bill next time a lender fails. The Treasury Select Committee, which said that the public would not stand for another bail-out of the banks, urged ministers not to rule out the break-up of institut
Read moreLondon close: Footsie comes off highs
19th Mar 2010 16:37
Footsie reached levels not seen since 2008 in afternoon dealings, but the gains dwindled after a poor start in the US and the leading share index finished just a few points in the blue. Banks led the way after an upbeat trading update from Lloyds Banking Group. Lloyds will be profitable on a combin
Read moreLondon afternoon: Footsie at 21 month high
19th Mar 2010 14:08
Footsie marked time over the lunch time session after hitting levels in the morning session not seen since June 2008. Banks continue to lead the way after an upbeat trading update from Lloyds Banking Group. Lloyds will be profitable on a combined businesses basis in 2010, chief executive Eric Danie
Read moreLondon midday: Defensives left behind
19th Mar 2010 12:10
Risers outnumber fallers by around four to one among FTSE 100 constituents as the market continues to enjoy a sentiment boost from an impromptu and upbeat trading update from Lloyds Banking Group. Lloyds will be profitable on a combined businesses basis in 2010, chief executive Eric Daniels claimed
Read moreSector movers: Lloyds buoys banking sector
19th Mar 2010 10:52
Lloyds leads the banking sector after giving an impromptu and upbeat trading update ahead of a presentation at the Morgan Stanley european financials conference today. Lloyds will be profitable on a combined businesses basis in 2010, chief executive Eric Daniels claimed Friday. Daniels said trading
Read moreSunday newspaper round-up: Lloyds, EMI, Vedanta
14th Mar 2010 11:01
Lloyds Banking is believed to be considering plans to hive off a portion of its giant commercial property portfolio into a separate, tax-efficient company. Senior figures within the bank are thought to have put forward the idea, which would see some of the £50bn to £75bn worth of assets and loans in
Read moreFTSE 100 movers: Murdoch gossip lifts BSkyB
12th Mar 2010 15:29
BSkyB has been busy today on talk that Rupert Murdoch is planning to the take the satellite broadcaster private. The Aussie/US tycoon owns 40% of BSkyB already. Analysts were sceptical of the rumour, though apparently there has been a large buyer for the shares recently. Banks are going well with
Read moreHSBC data theft affects 24,000 accounts
11th Mar 2010 10:54
HSBC has admitted that data on about 15,000 customers with accounts in Switzerland has been stolen by a former information-technology employee. Up to 9,000 accounts that had been closed in the past are also said to have been affected. The British bank previously claimed that 'less than 10 clients'
Read moreFriday paper round-up: HSBC, Scottish & Southern, ITV
5th Mar 2010 06:33
The supertax on bank bonuses will reap more than £2.5bn for the Treasury, giving the UK government an unexpectedly large windfall to spend ahead of the general election, a Financial Times survey of 16 global banks has found. Government insiders predict that the receipts of £2.5bn would exceed by ab
Read moreWednesday tips round-up: Meggit, JLT, RBS
3rd Mar 2010 06:41
With every one cent decline in the pound against the US dollar adding £400,000 to defence group Meggitt's prospective pre-tax profits, currency moves alone have been enough to send current-year forecasts higher. Even so, profit progress in 2010 driven more by Meggitt's target of £50m of annualised
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