Tuesday broker round-up - UPDATE
28th Feb 2012 10:02
SABMiller: Nomura downgrades from buy to neutral, target increased from 2,600p to 2,700p. HSBC: Nomura cuts tagged from 725p to 650p, buy rating kept. Pearson: Nomura reiterates reduce rating and 1,200p target. Whitbread: Peel Hunt cuts target from 1,938p to 1,860p, buy rating kept; Nomura reiter
Read moreHiscox hit by natural catastrophe losses
27th Feb 2012 13:38
Hiscox, the FTSE 250 reinsurance group, reported a reduction in pre-tax profit for the year ended December 31st, leading to a significant fall in earnings per share (EPS). Profit before tax dropped from £211.4m to £17.3m, which the firm said was "a good result considering natural catastrophe losse
Read moreMonday broker round-up - UPDATE
27th Feb 2012 09:44
BP: Nomura maintains neutral rating and 500p target. HSBC: Seymour Pierce confirms buy rating and 800p target. Vedanta Resources: Credit Suisse reiterates neutral recommendation and 1,400p target. Marks & Spencer: UBS upgrades from neutral to buy, target lifted from 325p to 410p. Lloyds Banking
Read moreBuyBuy for TalkTalk non-exec
21st Nov 2011 12:27
A non-executive director of both broadband provider TalkTalk and mobile phone seller Carphone Warehouse has made a double purchase, phoning in orders for shares in both firms. John Allwood bought 10,000 shares at 134.80p for a total of £13,480 in TalkTalk, and 3,500 shares at 311.00p in Carphone Wa
Read moreDigital Look broker talk -UPDATE
7th Nov 2011 09:37
RBS: "At c0.45x TBV, the shares already discount a lot of negative news. The group prospects are uncertain and vulnerable to downturns in the economy and financial markets. Our recommendations of Barclays and the two Far Eastern banks are more analysable. However, RBS does now look oversold to us, e
Read moreHiscox to benefit from reinsurance rate rises
7th Nov 2011 07:46
Bermuda-based specialist insurance and reinsurance group Hiscox saw gross written premiums ease 3.0% year-on-year in the first nine months of the year, in line with expectations as the company becomes more picky about the risks it underwrites. Gross written premiums totalled £1,169.5m from £1,205.3
Read moreHiscox swings to loss in 'costliest year ever'
1st Aug 2011 13:34
Bermuda-based specialist insurance and reinsurance group Hiscox swung to a loss in the first half of 2011 "reflecting the costliest year ever for the industry." During the six months ended 30 June, the firm reported a pre-tax loss of £85.6m, down from a profit of £97.2m in the same period the year
Read moreLondon midday: Stocks gain on euro hopes
28th Jun 2011 12:16
Stocks are still going well on hopes that the Greek crisis will soon be acted on. However, Cable & Wireless Worldwide is lower after saying chief executive Jim Marsh is to step down after the telecommunications group concluded profits are likely to fall short of previous expectations due to slower
Read moreLondon open: FTSE 100 moves higher, C&W Worldwide and Carpetright slump
28th Jun 2011 08:29
The FTSE 100 has climbed as investors await progress in troubled Eurozone member Greece, but gloomy updates C&W and Carpetright are reminding investors of the fragile state of our own economy. Cable & Wireless Worldwide's chief executive Jim Marsh is to step down after the telecommunications group
Read moreHiscox counting the cost of US tornadoes
28th Jun 2011 07:26
Hiscox, the specialist insurer, has estimated the cost of the April and May tornadoes in the US at around £35m. This comes on top of estimates for the Japan earthquake of between $60m (£37.6m) and $150m. Including other catastrophes such as the New Zealand earthquake, total reserves for pay outs h
Read moreTuesday tips round-up: Serco, Lonmin, Eros
10th May 2011 06:30
That Serco's shares managed to remain strong throughout the session after the outsourcer issued an update yesterday is creditable. The update was reassuring, with the group saying that it remained on track to deliver on expectations for 2011. We do think that Serco is fairly valued at current levels
Read moreChairman's wife sells Hiscox shares
9th May 2011 16:21
The wife of specialist insurance firm Hiscox's chairman Robert Hiscox has pocketed more than £80,000 from the sale of shares in the company. Julia Hiscox offloaded 20,000 at 411p a time. The announcement of the sale comes the week after the Bermuda-based company said Robert Hiscox sold 56,398 shar
Read moreHiscox says sales down 8%
9th May 2011 16:11
Specialist insurer Hiscox said on Monday that sales fell 8% in the first three months of 2011, compared with a year earlier. Gross written premiums were £453.5m in the three months until the end of March amid a "tough" market, the firm said. "We continue to underwrite for profit over volume in the
Read morePearson's Penguin boss picks up £2.2m
8th Apr 2011 16:24
John Makinson, a director at the publisher Pearson and chairman and chief executive of its book publishing arm Penguin, has pocketed £2.2m from the sale of shares in the company. He sold 200,000 Pearson shares at 1,106p a time leaving him with 402,815 shares. Makinson was finance director of Pears
Read moreHiscox directors take stakes
6th Apr 2011 16:22
Two directors at Hiscox have invested in stakes in the FTSE 250-listed specialist insurer. Andrea Rosen, who is also a director of Canadian energy group Emera, took 5,473 shares at 380.5p a time, paying more than £20,000. Ernst Jansen, who joined Hiscox in 2008 after a career in the European chemi
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