Morrison's new chief executive buys first shares
20th Mar 2015 14:59
The new chief executive of Morrison Supermarkets bought his first shares in the group after taking the helm on Monday. David Potts, who started his new job this week after 16 years working at Tesco, purchased 508,000 shares for an individual price of 205.85p, spending £1.045m. Shore Capital brokers
Read moreFTSE 100 movers: CRH higher on merger agreement, Next hit by downgrade
20th Mar 2015 12:53
CRH was the biggest gainer on the Footsie after building materials giants Lafarge and Holcim agreed upon terms for a merger. Shares in Tullow Oil surged after the West Africa-focused exploration outfit announced it had successfully negotiated for access to £450m in fresh financing. Morrison was als
Read moreFTSE 100 movers: CRH lower on Holcim rejection, miners and energy stocks higher
17th Mar 2015 12:39
Building materials group CRH was extending losses after Holcim on Monday rejected the terms of its proposed tie-up with Lafarge. CRH is set to snap up €6.5bn of assets from the two European cements companies when they merge. Tesco shares were in the red, reversing from Monday, alongside Morrison, as
Read moreMonday broker round-up
16th Mar 2015 15:59
Bodycote: N+1 Singer downgrades to hold. Morrrison: Deutsche Bank lifts target to 210p from 190p and reiterates hold. Centrica: Deutsche Bank reiterates hold and 280p target price. Rio Tinto: HSBC downgrades to neutral. IGas Energy: Cannacord Genuity lowers target to 85p from 125p and reiterates
Read moreSector movers: Tesco and Sainsbury on shopping lists as grocery stocks rise
16th Mar 2015 14:56
Supermarket stocks were the best performers in London on Monday as speculation about Tesco's data-analysis unit helped shares in the UK's largest retailer bounce, while Sainsbury rose ahead of a trading update the following day. According to Bloomberg this weekend, advertising giant WPP has made an
Read moreTesco, Sainsbury and Asda continue to lose market share, Nielsen shows
13th Mar 2015 11:04
Big supermarkets Tesco, Sainsbury and Asda have continued to lose market share, according to a survey of the UK's leading supermarkets from research firm Nielsen. Nielsen data showed Tesco's sales declined 1.1% to a 27.6% share of the market in the 12 weeks to the end of February, worse than recent
Read moreBroker tips: RBS, Morrisons, ASOS
12th Mar 2015 11:40
Investec has raised its stance on RBS from 'sell' to 'hold' following an 11% drop in the shares since the bank's annual results on 26 February. Following the results, the broker now forecasts RBS to record an eight successive attributable loss in 2015, predicting a loss of £0.9bn. It had previously
Read moreShoreCap stays upbeat about cash generation potential at Morrisons
12th Mar 2015 10:38
Shore Capital has retained a 'buy' rating on Morrisons despite a "tumultuous" year for the supermarket group, hailing the company's free cash flow (FCF) potential in the future. Morrisons missed forecasts with its results on Thursday, with turnover falling 4.9% to £16.8bn in the year ended February
Read moreLondon open: Mining stocks lift FTSE but Morrisons slumps after results
12th Mar 2015 09:05
A rebound in the mining sector pushed UK markets higher for a second day on Thursday as stocks continue to recover after a steep sell-off earlier in the week. London's FTSE 100 was up 0.75% at 6,771.66 in early deals with metal producers rising strongly after stronger-than-expected Chinese lending d
Read moreLondon pre-open: Small gains expected, Morrisons reports £0.8bn loss
12th Mar 2015 07:40
UK markets were set to open slightly higher on Thursday ahead of a busy day for economic data. City sources predict the FTSE 100 will open 18 points up on Wednesday's close of 6,721.51. Investors will be looking out for a barrage of economic indicators during the session, whilst keeping their eyes
Read moreMorrisons losses mushroom after property write-off, plans 23 store closures
12th Mar 2015 06:58
Like-for-like sales improved in the fourth quarter at Morrisons but the grocer reported a £792m loss before tax for 2014 as it wrote down the value of its stores by £1.3bn and announced 23 closures. The supermarket group said it was hiking the total dividend by 5% to 13.65p after a final dividend of
Read moreBarclays cautious on Sainsbury and Morrison
11th Mar 2015 16:39
Plucking nuggets from its in-depth analysis of free cash flow (FCF) of the food retail sector, Barclays equity research team has cast doubts on the resilience of earnings estimates at the UK supermarkets. As growth in food retail has eroded in the last 15 years, investors and companies have become m
Read moreThursday preview: Morrison expected to report drop in annual profit amid supermarket price war
11th Mar 2015 14:49
WM Morrison Supermarkets is forecast to report its worst annual profit figure in eight years on Thursday amid a price war in the sector. The group has said it expects 2014 pre-tax profit before one off items of £335m to £365m while analysts predict £342m, down from the previous year's £785m. The UK
Read moreBroker tips: HSBC, Morrisons, Capita, G4S
10th Mar 2015 12:24
Recent strength in US interest rates, together with opportunities to streamline some of its less profitable operations, should act as catalysts for shares in the world's local bank, HSBC. That was the opinion of analysts at Goldman Sachs who upgraded their view on shares of HSBC to 'buy' from 'neutr
Read moreJPMorgan upgrades Morrisons, but dividend cut predicted next year
10th Mar 2015 09:43
Analysts at JPMorgan Cazenove have removed their 'underweight' recommendation on Morrisons' stock, saying that bad news is already baked into the price of the supermarket operator. "We upgrade Morrison to 'neutral' from 'underweight' as we believe the combination of new management, improved trading
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