Mears sees successful year
8th Jan 2010 08:15
Social housing maintenance specialist Mears expects to report another successful trading outcome for the year ended 31 December. The group said it has already secured 75% of its consensus forecast revenues for 2010 and the forward order book stands at £1.8bn. The bid pipeline continues to be stro
Read moreAllied admits Supporta interest
23rd Dec 2009 16:43
AIM-quoted Allied Healthcare International Inc has admitted that it is the other potential bidder for home care provider Supporta. Allied has submitted an indicative cash offer for Supporta and is talking to the company's management and advisers. The offer is subject to due diligence. The fact tha
Read moreLondon close: Footsie hits one-month high
23rd Dec 2009 16:23
The UK's leading index lost a chunk of its gains late on as weak housing data hurt Wall Street, although London still registered its best close in over a month. Despite predictably quiet trade, the FTSE 100 ended ahead for the third session in a row and as high as it's been since 16 November. It w
Read moreLondon afternoon: Gains trimmed
23rd Dec 2009 14:16
London saw its gains pared over the lunch time session in predictably quiet trading. Around one-third of Footsie constituents are now in the red, compared to around one-fifth at midday. Included among the laggards is Cairn Energy, which gives back some of the chunky gains racked up over the first t
Read moreLondon midday: M&A activity keeps shares bubbling
23rd Dec 2009 12:14
The FTSE 100 index hit a 52-week high in the morning session as the pre-Christmas advance continued. Bank of England policymakers voted unanimously to keep interest rates at 0.5% and their programme of quantitative easing (QE) at £200bn when they met earlier this month, it emerged today. Mining gi
Read moreLondon open: Good run continues
23rd Dec 2009 08:49
Footsie has continued its strong run ahead of the Christmas break, though trading is light with news slowing to a trickle. The release of the minutes from the most recent meeting of the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee will have the usual suspects poring over the statement searching for
Read moreSupporta urged to look at alternative offer
23rd Dec 2009 07:26
A bid battle could still be on the cards for care home group Supporta after its main shareholder suggested it should consider a possible cash offer from a third party. On 18 December, Supporta agreed an all-share merger with social housing maintenance group Mears. That deal was worth approximately
Read moreLondon close: Late decline wipes out gains
18th Dec 2009 16:43
Footsie ended lower having spent most of the day in positive territory. Financials led the market down and cruise operator Carnival's lower quarterly profit did not help. Most of the miners ended the day higher but they lost some of their earlier gains. Having been hit hard yesterday following the
Read moreLondon afternoon: Stocks in consolidation mode
18th Dec 2009 14:21
Blue-chips moved sideways over the lunch-time session, consolidating the morning's gains. Goldman Sachs has given a lift to the oil sector, tipping BP as the 'clear winner' among oil companies next year, though it also rates UK operators BG and Royal Dutch Shell over their continental European coun
Read moreLondon midday: Stocks amble higher
18th Dec 2009 12:10
Leading shares are mixed with a slightly firmer bias, helped by the strength of resource stocks. Gold miner Randgold Resources leads the mining sector higher as the gold price stabilises after falling heavily overnight. Elsewhere in the sector BHP Billiton, Kazakhmys and Antofagasta catch the eye.
Read moreMears and Supporta to merge
18th Dec 2009 07:36
Social housing maintenance specialist Mears has agreed terms for an all paper takeover of home care group Supporta. Mears will offer 0.115 of its shares for each for each Supporta share, valuing Supporta in total at approximately £27.2m and each share at 31p. If the offer is declared unconditional
Read moreMears wins contracts worth up to £200m
14th Dec 2009 07:48
Housing repair firm Mears said it has won new contracts across all three operating divisions worth an initial £113m. The awards are subject to contract extensions taking the total worth to in excess of £200m, the group added. 'In spite of current speculation on public spending cuts Mears continues
Read moreBroker tips: BP, BAE, Mears
27th Oct 2009 13:25
Corporate finance and broking house Hanson Westhouse said third quarter figures from BP were 'solid', despite the oil giant seeing a sharp reduction in adjusted replacement cost profit. Replacement cost profit, excluding non-operating items and fair value accounting effects, was $4.7bn, well ahead
Read moreBroker snap: Mears underperformance to end
27th Oct 2009 13:23
Mears Group has been upgraded by Numis Securities after the housing repair firm issued a comforting third quarter trading update. The broker has left its full year earnings forecasts unchanged but has upgraded Mears from 'hold' to 'add' after the shares underperformed the FT All Share index by 8% o
Read moreMears on track
27th Oct 2009 07:38
Housing repair firm Mears is trading in line with expectations and said it has continued to experience strong trading across all divisions. Looking ahead, the group said it has close to full visibility of consensus forecast revenues for the current year and in excess of 72% per cent of next year's
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