UPDATE: Monday broker round-up
31st Oct 2011 10:17
Homeserve: Citi retains sell, cuts target to 400p from 430p. Virgin Media: Citi stays at buy, lowers target to $32 from $35.7. Homeserve: Credit Suisse downgrades from outperform to neutral, target cut from 570p to 485p. Removes from small and medium cap Focus list. JJB Sports: Panmure Gordon d
Read moreLondon open: Miners weigh down Footsie
31st Oct 2011 08:58
Banking giant Barclays is a rare bright spot in London after a better than expected third quarter update, as stocks head lower. Miners Vedanta Resources, BHP Billiton, Xstrata and Rio Tinto are the biggest fallers among the top-share index constituents, as metal prices head south. Barclays said it
Read moreHomeServe suspends marketing over mis-selling fears -UPDATE
31st Oct 2011 07:47
HomeServe, the company which provides emergency repair services, is to suspend its telesales operation after an independent review. The audit firm Deloitte found "processes that did not meet the company's required standards." Many observers will interpret this as so called mis-selling, when custom
Read moreFriday tips round-up: Compass, Homeserve, Shanks
30th Sep 2011 06:27
The trading update from the catering giant Compass did not do much for its share price yesterday. This is a resilient business with a strong balance sheet, so much so that some analysts are eyeing the possibility of a capital return to shareholders in the not-too-distant future. Moreover, on multipl
Read moreHomeserve warns of increased losses in new markets
29th Sep 2011 12:32
Emergency home repairs outfit HomeServe expects to report a higher operating loss in its new markets division for the half year to the end of September. The firm blames the loss on increased investment in marketing in Italy and said its financial position remains strong with net debt on 30 Septembe
Read moreThursday tips round-up: Supergroup, Prezzo, IQE
8th Sep 2011 06:32
Fashion group Supergroup sells at 17 times this year's earnings. Lifestyle brands such as SuperGroup have done well over the recession and future growth looks assured, but the churl in me finds it hard to see immediate progress for a retailer on this sort of multiple in this market, says Martin Wall
Read moreLondon open: US worries overshadow cheery updates
29th Jul 2011 08:29
Shares have moved higher after some upbeat company statements this morning, but, demonstrating its exposure to the global economy, the top share index has slumped on the back of worries over the ongoing deadlock as US politicians debate raising its debt ceiling. Banks such as Lloyds and miners suc
Read moreLondon pre-open: Footsie set to dive below 5800
29th Jul 2011 07:38
The failure of Republicans in the US House of Representatives to muster enough support last night for a programme that will enable the US debt ceiling to be raised has set nerves jangling this side of the Atlantic. The US has until 2 August to raise the debt ceiling. The Republicans are said to be
Read moreHomeserve expecting strong growth
29th Jul 2011 07:03
Emergency home repairs outfit Homeserve expects customer growth of around 3% in the UK in the current financial year. The first four months of the company's fiscal year, which runs to the end of March, has seen the business grow and develop, with increasing customer and policy numbers and retention
Read moreBetfair boss spends £1m
15th Jul 2011 17:27
Betfair's chairman and co-founder Edward Wray has opened his account at the online gambling group in a big way, splashing out £1m on shares. He took 152,578 at 655.4p a pop. The purchase comes amid a spell of weakness for Betfair's stock price after the mixed full-year results it reported at the en
Read moreBrightside founder banks £2m
14th Jul 2011 16:21
Arron Banks, chief executive and co-founder of the insurance broking and financial services business Brightside, has pocketed £2m from the sale of shares in the group. He sold 8m at 25p a pop, but still has nearly 70m, more than 15% of the company. Banks, along with commercial director John Gannon
Read moreTuesday tips round-up: Kingfisher, William Hill, Homeserve
14th Jun 2011 06:37
It is not always appreciated that B&Q owner Kingfisher, which also has operations in Turkey, Russia, Spain and China, achieves 60% of its sales and profits outside the UK. This gives it a significant counterpoint to the woes of the high street here. The shares sell on less than 12 times this year's
Read moreBroker tips: Vodafone, BTG, Homeserve
25th May 2011 10:02
While Nomura leaves its target price for Vodafone at 210p, the broker downgrades the telecoms giant from 'buy' to 'neutral', saying that "customer lifetime value [is] heading in the wrong direction." "Despite the push on smartphones, European mobile momentum is heading south. Both O2 and KPN manage
Read moreBroker snap: 'Excellent' year for Homeserve
25th May 2011 09:38
UBS has hiked up its target price at home emergency repairs group Homeserve, after an "excellent operational performance" in the year ended 31 March. Revenue came in ahead of the broker's forecasts at £467.1m (UBS: £464m), representing a growth of 27%. Earnings per share (EPS) was 25.9p, above esti
Read moreFTSE 250 movers: Victrex jumps on soaring profits
24th May 2011 16:28
Victrex is among the best performers after the plastics group said profit surged 57% and sales volumes rose 22% in the last six months after a strong performance in all of its major markets. Due to MITIE's underperformance against the peer group, Peel Hunt upgraded its rating on the outsourced ser
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