London pre-open: Best foot forward for Footsie
14th Apr 2010 07:37
Better than expected figures from computer chip maker Intel after the bell yesterday in New York have allayed fears that the economic revival may be running out of steam, and has put investors in good heart in the UK. Traders expect the FTSE 100 to open around 24 points higher at 5,785. Once again
Read moreJD Sports beats full-year forecasts
14th Apr 2010 07:11
JD Sports Fashion beat the sky-high expectations of most City analysts when it published full-year figures on Wednesday. Total revenue increased by £98.9m to £769.8m in the 52 weeks ended 30 January, while like for like revenue rose by 2.5% (Sports Fascias 2.3%; Fashion Fascias 3.6%). Profit before
Read moreWednesday preview: JD Sports, Atkins, Ashmore
13th Apr 2010 17:28
JD Sports Fashion has raised expectations over Wednesday's full year results by saying back in January that profit before tax and exceptional items would be significantly above market expectations. That sent investment analysts scurrying to update their earnings forecasts, and current consensus is
Read moreLondon close: Footsie flatlines
7th Jan 2010 16:46
A late afternoon rally fizzled out to leave London's blue chip index little changed on the day. Banks emerged from a sticky start as the day's best performers led by Barclays and Lloyds Bank, which both received decent write-ups in an otherwise cautious broker note from Keefe, Bruyette & Woods. It
Read moreLondon afternoon: Banks defy broker gloom
7th Jan 2010 14:27
Leading shares are mixed, with the Footsie barely changed now miners have recovered from a weak showing in the morning session to show gains in the afternoon. Kazakhmys and Fresnillo lead the mining sector but their gains are surpassed by two stocks from the banking sector where Barclays and Lloyds
Read moreSector movers: Sainsbury's update lifts food retail
7th Jan 2010 12:58
Sainsbury's is helping lift the food retail sector higher after saying today a record Christmas performance completed a strong third quarter in which like-for-like sales, excluding fuel, rose by 3.7%. Like-for-like sales, including fuel, rose by 3.8% in the 13 weeks to 2 January, while like-for-lik
Read moreLondon midday: Bank sits on hands
7th Jan 2010 11:51
London drifted lower ahead of the announcement of the Bank of England's quantitative easing and interest rate decision, which, as expected, left both the level of interest rates and the scale of the quanititative easing programme unchanged. Mining stocks are proving to be a millstone round Footsie'
Read moreLondon open: Miners offset strong supermarkets
7th Jan 2010 08:14
Miners are leading London's top stocks lower in early dealings on Thursday, offsetting strong demand in supermarket groups. Eurasian Natural Resources, Kazakhmys, Randgold Resources, Antofagasta, Xstrata and BHP Billiton are among the worst performers. On the positive side, Sainsbury, Tesco and Mo
Read moreJD Sports profits to 'significantly' exceed expectations
7th Jan 2010 07:53
Sportswear fashion seller JD Sports expects full-year profit before tax and exceptional items to significantly exceed current market forecasts. It cautioned though that the extent to which this occurs is still dependent on the impact of the prevailing severe weather conditions. Like for like sales
Read moreThursday preview: Sainsbury, JD Sports, Hays
6th Jan 2010 12:54
Focus remains firmly on the retailers on Thursday with supermarket chain Sainsbury and sportswear fashion seller JD Sports both giving trading updates. Sainsbury has been playing catch-up with Tesco and Asda for the last few years, all the while looking over its shoulder at fast growing sector numb
Read moreJD Sports still going strong
1st Dec 2009 07:33
Sportswear retailer JD Sports Fashion said its core retail division is continuing to perform well despite increased competition. It added that it is seeing encouraging signs from early acquisitions and that margins in the second half have been in line with expectations. JD Sports, which sells spo
Read moreWednesday newspaper round-up: Lloyds, RBS, Northern Rock
28th Oct 2009 06:00
Lloyds, Royal Bank of Scotland and Northern Rock will be broken up and parts of their businesses sold off to create three new banks, it emerged last night. Government sources said ministers were "determined" to see more competition in the market, following the £1.2 trillion bailout of the sector whi
Read moreSunday newspaper round-up: Lloyds, Stagecoach, National Express
25th Oct 2009 11:42
Lloyds will announce within days a controversial £23bn fundraising that will bolster its balance sheet and finally repair the damage caused by its disastrous takeover of rival HBOS, according to the Sunday Times. Stagecoach is putting the final touches to bank financing ready to launch a takeover b
Read moreWednesday tips round-up: Imperial Tobacco, JD Sports, Synchronica
23rd Sep 2009 06:46
Imperial Tobacco yesterday issued a full-year update that reassured the market on various points. In particular, there was some concern at the half-year results that the company would not raise the full-year dividend by as much as everyone had expected. The shares stands at just over 11 times forec
Read moreLondon close: Shares end up but down from highs
22nd Sep 2009 16:39
London's leading shares finished with slight gains but were well below earlier highs as miners eased back slightly. Eurasian Natural Resources, Lonmin, Xstrata and Vedanta Resources still posted healthy gains, while precious metals miners Fresnillo and Randgold Resources were also on the climb. R
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