London pre-open: Modest gains expected
30th Mar 2010 07:40
London is expected to start Tuesday on a firm footing with traders predicting the Footsie will open around 10 points higher. Mining stocks are in focus this morning with BHP Billiton and Kazakhmys both making announcements. Mining giant BHP Billiton has successfully persuaded several of its iron o
Read moreInvestec to pay £412m for remaining Rensburg stake
30th Mar 2010 07:18
South Africa-focused bank Investec has agreed to pay £412m for the shares in British wealth manager Rensburg Sheppards that it does not already own. Under the terms of the recommended offer, Rensburg shareholders will receive 1.63 fully paid newly issued Investec shares in exchange for each fully p
Read moreLondon close: Footsie recovers losses
22nd Mar 2010 17:05
Footsie finished just a few points lower after an improvement on Wall Street helped London's leading share index recover most of its earlier losses. South Africa-focused bank Investec is leading the revival on its first day as a FTSE 100 constituent. Smiths Group is right behind after Smiths Interc
Read moreLondon afternoon: US strength sparks rally
22nd Mar 2010 15:19
A firm start on Wall Street has given London a lift and pushed the Footsie back towards Friday's closing level. South Africa-focused bank Investec is leading the revival on its first day as a FTSE 100 constituent. Smiths Group is right behind after Smiths Interconnect, a division of the technology
Read moreFriday tips round-up: Investec, Savills, Aegis
19th Mar 2010 06:45
Shares in Investec, the South African lender with a dual listing in London, have gained 26% since the start of the year ? a performance that will see it promoted to the FTSE 100 index for the first time next week. Overall, Investec has risen more than threefold in value since floating over here in 2
Read moreInvestec profit seen 'marginally higher'
18th Mar 2010 11:24
Investec expects full-year operating profit to be "marginally higher" than last time as the UK, Europe and Australia offset weakness at the South African business. The company, which posted an operating profit of £368m a year ago, said it has enjoyed a "resilient" performance during the year ending
Read morePetrofac director sells before demerger
12th Mar 2010 16:51
Michael Press has raised £1.4m from selling shares in oil services provider Petrofac ahead of the proposed demerger of its oil and gas assets. Press is the senior independent non-executive director on the board of Petrofac. He sold 120,000 shares at 1173.65p each. He retains 120,000 shares. This i
Read moreInvestec books place in FTSE 100
10th Mar 2010 17:52
South Africa-focused bank Investec will join London's blue chip index next Monday following FTSE's latest quarterly reshuffle. The shares secured their place with a 28% rally in the last month as senior managers beefed up their stakes. At its last update, the company said operating fundamentals 'r
Read moreHalfords chairman takes more shares
22nd Feb 2010 14:56
Halfords chairman Dennis Millard has increased his holding in the company on the same day the bicycle and car part retailer announced the acquisition of Nationwide Autocentres, a chain of car servicing and repair garages. He bought 15,000 shares at 431p a time, paying £43,100 and lifting his shareh
Read moreLondon close: Strong finish for FTSE 100
29th Jan 2010 16:38
Footsie gave up a recent weak spell to finish the week with good gains. Whitbread was the star performer. Following an investor day yesterday, Barclays Capital raised its price target on the Costa Coffee and Premier Inn owner to 1,700p from 1,600p. The broker thinks Whitbread will benefit from new
Read moreLondon midday: RBS unit sued for $8bn
29th Jan 2010 12:10
After a mid-morning dip blue-chips are on the rise again, though it is not the sort of advance that is likely to change investors' view that January was a month to forget. For once, the miners are not moving in lock step with each other. Sector giants Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton are firmer, while go
Read moreLondon open: Footsie tries to break losing streak
29th Jan 2010 08:48
London's blue chips have kicked on this morning despite the bad night for tech stocks on Wall Street. Huge numbers from Microsoft after the US market closed did restore some calm, while a rally by the miners has helped Footsie reverse its recent losing trend. Rio Tinto and Randgold lead the way. A
Read moreLondon pre-open: Small gains expected
29th Jan 2010 07:34
London's blue chips look set to open slightly higher after slumping near the close yesterday mirroring heavy falls in the US. Traders expect Footsie to open around 12 points higher on Friday morning. BP has appointed the former chief executive of mining giant BHP Billiton to the oil company's boar
Read moreInvestec sees mixed trading
29th Jan 2010 07:09
South Africa-focused bank Investec's operating fundamentals 'remain mixed' with activity levels below historic trends despite recent stability in financial markets. Net operating income before impairments on loans and advances rose by 1% in the nine months to end December. Bad debts increased in
Read moreMcKenna's Ingenious discount
17th Dec 2009 16:06
Non-executive director Patrick McKenna has taken advantage of a large discount to net asset value to snap up 12.6m shares in investment company Ingenious Media Active Capital. The total cost of the stake was £5.8m. He paid 46p a share compared with a net asset value of 65.6p a share at the end of
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