New business ossifies at Legal and General
3rd May 2012 08:43
Insurance giant Legal and General disappointed the market with its first quarter revenue figure, which was barely changed from a year earlier. New business on an annualised premium equivalent (APE) business in the first three months of 2012 edged up to £434m from £433m in the first quarter of 2011
Read moreLondon close: Financials weigh on Footsie
18th Apr 2012 16:34
- Financials, ex-div stocks weigh down Footsie - BoE's Miles alone on more QE - Italy may delay achieving balanced budget by a year The Footsie finished firmly lower on Wednesday afternoon despite some positive domestic jobless figures, as concerns over the Eurozone continued to dampen sentiment. S
Read moreFTSE 100 movers: Miners leading the way
18th Apr 2012 13:50
Miners were among the best performers on the Footsie with precious metals group Fresnillo rising strongly. The group this morning hailed a strong start to 2012 with gold production beating its own expectations and silver output being on target. BHP Billiton was wanted after iron ore production at
Read moreLondon midday: Investors show caution after yesterday's strong rise
18th Apr 2012 11:46
- Ex-div stocks weigh on Footsie - MPC minutes: Miles calls for more QE - Eurozone swings to deficit in February - UK jobless rate falls for first time since May 2011 London's FTSE 100 index was trading slightly lower by Wednesday lunchtime following a strong showing from the benchmark yesterday, a
Read moreLondon open: Stocks flat before MPC minutes
18th Apr 2012 08:22
- Supermarkets rise after Tesco's results - BHP, Fresnillo lead miners higher - Markets await MPC minutes London's blue chips opened broadly flat on Wednesday morning despite a strong rise by supermarket and mining stocks. Stocks rose strongly on Tuesday, with the Footsie gaining nearly two per ce
Read moreFTSE 100 movers: Ashmore bucks the trend
5th Apr 2012 14:32
Fund manager Ashmore was bucking the downward trend of the financial sector after UBS raised its rating on the stock from neutral to buy. The broker said that its recent under-performance, combined with the strong fund performance and record inflows at industry level, was the reason behind the upgra
Read moreLondon midday: Footsie down after manufacturing data, BoE holds rates
5th Apr 2012 11:41
- BoE holds rates, QE - UK manufacturing in surprise decline - Financials lead Footsie lower, Ashmore bucks trend After a cautious start, the Footsie found its direction by mid-morning, falling steeply after some worse-than-expected domestic manufacturing data. Meanwhile, the Bank of England's po
Read moreMillennium and Copthorne Hotels non-exec makes sale
4th Apr 2012 15:45
Richard Hartman, a Non-Executive Director of FTSE 250 firm Millennium and Copthorne Hotels, sold 132,694 shares in the company on April 3rd at a price of 478.00p each. The £634,277 transaction followed the vesting of around 479,000 shares under the firm's long term incentive plan on March 30th 200
Read moreMonday broker round-up - UPDATE
19th Mar 2012 09:37
Antofagasta: Exane BNP Paribas upgrades from neutral to outperform, target lifted from 1,200p to 1,450p; Nomura cuts target to 1,500p from 1,650p, buy rating unchanged. AstraZeneca: Goldman Sachs cuts target from 3,350p to 3,306p, neutral rating kept. Barclays: UBS raises target from 240p to 272p,
Read moreBroker tips: Legal&General, IMI, Compass
15th Mar 2012 12:33
Nomura has today raised its target price on Legal&General to 182p from 180p, adding that they continue to be buyers. They begin their research note by calling attention to the success of its so-called ´capital-light strategy´ at growing its asset management and unit-linked savings business, which
Read moreBroker snap: Nomura remains a buyer of L&G, sees scope for increased dividends
15th Mar 2012 12:26
Nomura analysts have this afternoon issued an up-beat assessment of Legal&General´s 2011 full-year results. They begin by calling attention to the success of its so-called ´capital-light strategy´ at growing its asset management and unit-linked savings business, which contributed the major part of
Read moreLondon close: Miners drag Footsie into the red
14th Mar 2012 16:40
- Miners outweigh financials to drag Footsie lower - Fed expects 'moderate' growth in 2012 - Osborne considering 100-year gilts UK stocks finished the day slightly lower on Wednesday despite an earlier rise as steep falls in the mining sector offset a strong performance by the banks and insurers. T
Read moreSector movers: Vodafone drags telecoms lower
14th Mar 2012 16:18
The mobile telecommunications sector was the worst performer of the day with stocks falling an average 1.96%. Vodafone was a major reason, with the telecoms giant falling 2.2% before the close of trade on Wednesday after being downgraded by Exane BNP Paribas from neutral to underperform. The broker
Read moreFTSE 100 movers: Legal and General divi rise sends shares soaring
14th Mar 2012 14:07
The legion of income investors holding shares of Legal and General were cheered by the insurance leviathan's decision to bump up the 2011 dividend by more than a third, well ahead of market expectations. The final dividend in respect of fiscal 2011 has been increased by a whopping 39% to 4.74p per
Read moreBroker tips: Legal and General, Tullow Oil, Marston's
14th Mar 2012 12:06
Nomura has reiterated its buy recommendation and 180p target price for insurance group Legal and General after its 2011 results came in ahead of consensus expectations in key areas. Nomura says the focus of the results was on the dividend, which was raised by 35% to 6.4p, surpassing expectations of
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