UK top four banks respond to stress test success
27th Oct 2014 08:16
Britain's four main banks have released statements following their stress test success. The test is meant to assess each bank's capital adequacy against a 5.5% common equity tier 1 (CET1) capital benchmark. The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) claimed that its improvement "reflected actions taken to re
Read moreRoyal Bank of Scotland will continue Ulster support, responds to stress test success
26th Oct 2014 15:55
The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is rumoured to firmly back Irish counterpart Ulster Bank after a recent upswing in value, despite reports that RBS was looking to "seek a sale or outside investment", according to the Sunday Telegraph. The bank's chief executive Ross McEwan has hinted that he would l
Read moreFriday broker round-up UPDATE
24th Oct 2014 10:11
Advanced Medical Solutions: Oriel initiates with a target price of 135p and a buy recommendation. African Barrick Gold: JP Morgan moves target price from 300p to 310p maintaining its overweight rating. Canaccord Genuity reduces target price from 330p to 275p keeping a buy recommendation. Numis moves
Read moreThursday newspaper round-up: BoE, Lloyds, JP Morgan
22nd Oct 2014 19:30
Bank of England policymakers have revealed that they do not intend to raise interest rates in the short-term amid a slowing economic recovery and increased risks from the Eurozone, the Guardian reported on Thursday. Minutes of the October meeting of the Bank's rate-setting Monetary Policy Committ
Read moreWednesday's newspaper round-up: RBS, Tesco, Lloyds
21st Oct 2014 20:56
Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has avoided €115m of fines for alerting the European commission's competition regulator to two attempts to fix the prices of key interest rates, the Daily Telegraph reported on Wednesday. The bank, which is 81%-owned by the taxpayer, was hit by £390m last year for manipu
Read moreLondon midday: ECB stimulus hopes lift stocks, but earnings reports mixed
21st Oct 2014 11:38
Decent gains in the financial, energy and retail sectors helped the FTSE 100 rise strongly on Tuesday, despite some mixed blue-chip earnings and economic data from China. Also helping sentiment were reports that the European Central Bank is considering buying corporate bonds on the secondary market.
Read moreTuesday broker round-up UPDATE
21st Oct 2014 08:50
African Barrick Gold: JP Morgan cuts target price from 340p to 300p and stays with its overweight rating. Anglo American: JP Morgan raises target price from 1240p to 1310p, while leaving its underweight rating unchanged. Investec increases target price from 1573p to 1603p and stays with its buy reco
Read moreBanks are starting to look like utilities, Brewin Dolphin says
20th Oct 2014 15:59
Britain's banks are becoming more like utilities as they focus on traditional retail banking rather than "casino" investment banking after the financial crisis, according to broker Brewin Dolphin. The banks are increasingly adopting characteristics common among defensive stocks like utilities, such
Read moreLondon midday: FTSE 100 drops another 1.8% as sell-off resumes
16th Oct 2014 11:39
In spite of an initial 'dead cat bounce' in early deals, London's FTSE 100 tanked again on Thursday morning with the index sinking to levels not seen since June 2013 The UK benchmark index was down 1.8% at 6,099 by lunchtime, having earlier touched a high of 6,282.95, with banking shares sinking sha
Read moreThursday tips round-up: TSB, Virgin,Marston's
9th Oct 2014 07:21
The long list of challenger banks, both those who have recently floated as well as those which are waiting in the wings to do so, enjoy some important advantages over their big four rivals (HSBC, Barclays, Lloyds, RBS). Namely, they lack the legacy problems which are dogging their competitors and th
Read moreLloyds Banking Group to slash thousands of jobs, report says
6th Oct 2014 13:02
Lloyds Banking Group is set to slash thousands of jobs as the UK lender closes more branches in response to the advance of digitisation. The bank is expected to axe positions in areas such as new account opening and mortgage processing, The Times reported, as the bank computerises manually completed
Read moreSunday newspaper round-up: Tesco, Supermarkets, BP
5th Oct 2014 17:19
Tesco is planning a boardroom purge after a string of profit warnings and the revelation of a £250m hole in its accounts, the Sunday Times said. The retailer was planning to unveil up to three non-executive directors 10 days ago but the accounting problem put the announcement on hold. Patrick Kenned
Read moreFriday broker round-up UPDATE
3rd Oct 2014 09:25
Anite: Investec places its target price (prev.: 90p) under review maintaining a hold recommendation. Avon Rubber: WH Ireland ups target price from 765p to 800p and retains a buy recommendation. Investec ups target price from 700p to 720p upgrading from add to buy. BTG: Panmure Gordon raises target
Read moreTSB's long-term outlook is
26th Sep 2014 12:32
Investec Securities is feeling very positive about TSB's long-term outlook in the wake of Lloyds' decision to sell another 11.5% of its shares in the bank, it revealed in a note to investors on Friday. Having sold 38.5% of TSB in June at 260p a share, Lloyds has placed a further £57.5m stake up for
Read moreLondon midday: BAE Systems leads gains on geopolitical worries
26th Sep 2014 12:14
The Footsie had reverted to positive higher by midday ahead of the release of two first-tier economic indicators in the States on Friday afternoon. UK equities traded lower throughout the better part of the morning, ignoring overnight losses in US markets which saw the Dow Jones Industrials and S&P
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