Johnson Matthey sees profits up but warns on platinum prices
1st Feb 2012 07:30
Johnson Matthey, the chemicals company, saw sales (excluding precious metal sales) rise by 22% between October and December last year. The firm's third quarter saw revenues up to £649m, producing profits of £104.3m, a rise of 34% on the previous year. Net debt has reduced by £175m to £442m, althou
Read moreThursday broker round-up - UPDATE
26th Jan 2012 09:34
Misys: Panmure Gordon cuts target from 335p to 295p, hold rating unchanged; Peel Hunt puts 250p target under review, hold rating kept; Merchant Securities initiates coverage with sell rating and 220p target. Mitchells & Butlers: Panmure Gordon keeps hold and 240p target; Peel Hunt retains hold rati
Read moreLegal & General vice chairman stocks up
2nd Dec 2011 14:58
Legal & General's vice chairman and senior indepedent director Henry Staunton purchased over £10,000-worth of shares, one month after the firm reported a slight drop in sales. Staunton, who was appointed to the board in 2004, bought 9,708 shares at 105.60p each for a total of £10,252. At the sta
Read moreTuesday tips round-up: Senior, Johnson Matthey, Cove
29th Nov 2011 07:31
The timing is auspicious for Senior's purchase of Airbus-parts supplier Weston, as the market for large commercial aircraft is just starting to take off, notes Tempus in The Times. The deal, at £54m, or the equivalent of one year's sales or eight times' annual earnings, might look an expensive one,
Read moreFriday broker round-up: Atkins WS, Johnson Matthey, BT
25th Nov 2011 09:58
Atkins WS: UBS reiterates neutral, raises price target to 600p from 560p. Johnson Matthey: UBS reiterates buy, ups target to 2015p from 1915p. Lloyds: UBS reiterates buy, lowers target to 55p from 60p. BT Group: Credit Suisse reiterates outperform. Intermediate Capital Group: Credit Suisse reite
Read moreThursday tips round-up: QinetiQ, United Utilities, Johnson Matthey
24th Nov 2011 06:26
In May 2010 QinetiQ started a two-year turnaround programme that would see the UK workforce cut by 10-15%, but contract delays in the British and US defence markets have continued since then, writes the Tempus column in the Times. "Yesterday's halfway figures, though sharply ahead of market expectat
Read moreLondon close: German bond auction response unnerves investors
23rd Nov 2011 17:05
After an uneventful morning session that came as a relief after the turbulent events of recent days, shares turtned sharply lower in the afternoon session, as US markets took a bath. The results of this morning's German bond auction set nerves a-jangling. Germany issued €3.644bn in 10-year bonds
Read moreLondon midday: Reassuringly dull morning session
23rd Nov 2011 12:01
It has been a comfortingly dull morning session in London after all the excitement of recent weeks, though there is no sign of Footsie bringing an end to its losing streak, though its cause is not helped by the index constituents Man, Next and Standard Life trading in ex-dividend form. MINERS HEAD
Read moreLondon open: Chinese data weighs on stocks
23rd Nov 2011 08:31
The Footsie fell below the 5,200 level early on, as some gloomy data from China dampened the mood. Weighing on sentiment today is the poor data out from China, which showed factory activity levels dropping to their lowest in 32 months. The HSBC flash manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI),
Read moreJohnson Matthey raises divi after good first half
23rd Nov 2011 07:31
Specialist chemicals firm Johnson Matthey reported six month earnings ahead of market estimates and has hiked its dividend. Pre-tax profits came in at £203m, up 24% on the year before, with total revenues rising 29% to £5.9bn. Analysts at Charles Stanley had tipped profits to come in at around £18
Read moreWednesday preview: Compass, Johnson Matthey, BoE minutes ...
22nd Nov 2011 14:55
Contract caterer Compass brings out full-year figures on Wednesday, with the market expecting profits before tax to burst through the billion pounds barrier. Market consensus is for pre-tax profit of £1.01bn on turnover of £15.6bn. Earnings per share are set to rise to 38.7p from 35.7p last year,
Read moreFirst broker round-up of the morning
28th Sep 2011 10:03
Burberrys: Alpha Value upgrades to ´reduce´ from ´sell. BG Group: Alpha Value downgrades to ´add´ from ´buy´. Johnson Matthey: UBS upgrades ´to ´buy´ from ´neutral´, cuts target to 1915p from 2150p. AZ Electronic Mat.: UBS keeps at ´buy´, cuts target to 300p fropm 310p. Close Brothers: UBS keep
Read moreEXPANSYS bosses buy into rally
27th Jul 2011 15:45
Directors at EXPANSYS have been clubbing together to buy big stakes in the ailing online smartphone retailer, taking advantage of a continuing rally. Bob Wigley took the biggest stake, taking about 6.6m shares at 1.49p a time and lifting his stake to 8.4m shares, about 0.73% of the company. Brian C
Read moreWednesday tips round-up: Johnson Matthey, Smiths Group, Headlam...
20th Jul 2011 06:49
Johnson Matthey's investors have become accustomed to the company making all the right noises when it updates the market. And yesterday it did not disappoint, writes the Independent. The speciality chemicals operation, which refines platinum and is the world's biggest maker of catalytic converters,
Read moreLondon close: Banks recover as Footsie gains 0.65%
19th Jul 2011 16:29
The banking sector was winning back investor confidence on Tuesday as shares sharply rebounded, lifting the top share index close to the 5,800 level. Lloyds, RBS and Barclays were in demand, following the sector sell-off yesterday on the back of concerns over the softness of last week's European ba
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