London midday: AstraZeneca leads stocks higher, but traders cautious
28th Apr 2014 11:53
- AstraZeneca jumps as Pfizer confirms interest - US announces new sanctions on Russian officials - Japanese retail sales surge, but analysts still cautious - BG Group drops after CEO exit, update - Premier Oil rejects Ophir merger approach techMARK 2,788.13 +1.46% FTSE 100 6,708.87 +0.35% FTSE 250
Read moreLondon open: FTSE 100 rises as AstraZeneca jumps
28th Apr 2014 08:33
- AstraZeneca jumps as Pfizer confirms interest - Pharma stocks outweigh weakness in basic resource shares - Japanese retail sales surge, but analysts still cautious - BG Group drops after CEO exit, update techMARK 2,780.12 +1.17% FTSE 100 6,700.83 +0.23% FTSE 250 15,848.32 -0.25% UK markets edge
Read morePremier Oil announces discoveries in Indonesia and Pakistan
28th Apr 2014 07:36
Premier Oil has announced oil and gas discoveries in both Indonesia and Pakistan, one of which is from one of its planned 'high impact' wells. The company, which this weekend was reported to have rejected a merger proposal from FTSE 250 peer Ophir Energy, said that the Kuda Laut-1 well in the Tuna
Read morePremier Oil rejects merger proposal from Ophir Energy
28th Apr 2014 07:22
Premier Oil has rejected a merger proposal from smaller FTSE 250 oil and gas peer Ophir Energy. In response to media speculation over the weekend, Ophir confirmed that it recently made an approach to Premier's board "with an indicative proposal to merge the two businesses". Ophir believed that mer
Read moreSunday newspaper round-up: Premier Oil, Bookmakers, Friends Life
27th Apr 2014 10:08
Premier Oil has rejected two takeover approaches from Ophir Energy, the Sunday Times reported. The most recent proposal by Ophir was an all-share deal that was unanimously rejected by Premier's board two weeks ago. The companies are likely to inform the market about the talks on April 28th following
Read moreSunday share tips: Severn Trent, Ladbrokes, Lloyds Banking
27th Apr 2014 08:35
Severn Trent investors have reasons to be annoyed after the water company's performance since rejecting a takeover bid, Danny Fortson argued in the Sunday Times. In his Inside the City column, Fortson said Severn's shares are almost a fifth lower than the 22 pounds offered by overseas investors a ye
Read moreFTSE 250 movers: Tate & Lyle rises on M&A speculation
25th Apr 2014 15:14
Tate & Lyle extended yesterday's gains on the back of renewed M&A speculation, which has seen a talk circulate in relation to US peer Bunge. Price comparison website Moneysupermarket.com recovered from losses seen earlier in the week, which came after it reported a flat start to the second quarter
Read moreBroker tips: Barclays, Smith & Nephew, Pearson, Ophir
25th Apr 2014 12:32
Investec has maintained a positive stance on Barclays, recommending investors to 'buy' the stock ahead of the bank's first-quarter results and 'Strategic Update' next month. "For a 'cheap' stock, you don't actually need that much to drive a reasonable share price reaction. We think the 'absence of
Read moreUBS upgrades Ophir to 'buy' after a tough 18 months
25th Apr 2014 09:23
UBS has upgraded Ophir Energy from 'neutral' to 'buy', saying that it sees some exploration upside after a tough year and a half for the company. The bank said that the stock is "deeply out of favour...too deep". UBS pointed out that the stock has fallen by around 60% over the last 18 months aft
Read moreOphir Energy awarded licence and begins drilling
27th Mar 2014 07:53
Ophir Energy has been awarded a 95 per cent operated interest in a block in offshore Myanmar. Block AD-03, which is about 10,000 km square in size and is located in the Rakhine basin, is part of the current licensing round in Myanmar. The initial exploration period will see Ophir re-process existi
Read moreOphir Energy sells interest in Tanzania assets to Pavilion Energy
24th Mar 2014 07:48
Ophir Energy has agreed to sell a 20 per cent interest in Blocks 1, 3 and 4 in Tanzania to Pavilion Energy after posting disappointing annual results. The company has received $1.255bn in cash for the assets and will receive a further $38m following the final investment decision for the developme
Read moreBroker tips: Pearson, Meggitt, Ophir Energy, Investec, FirstGroup
21st Mar 2014 11:41
Credit Suisse has lowered its target price for publishing group Pearson from 1,410p to 1,260p after last month's profit warning, but said that the downgrade cycle is now over as it maintained an 'outperform' rating on the stock. It said that 2014 will be a "trough year" for Pearson's earnings and
Read moreCanaccord lowers Ophir target after disappointing well result
21st Mar 2014 11:34
Canaccord Genuity has lowered its target price for oil explorer Ophir Energy after the company ended drilling at its Padouk Deep-1 (PD) well in the Ntsina Block offshore Gabon. PD was drilled to 3,297 metres total vertical depth subsea targeting the Cretaceous Gamba and Coniquet/Dentale sands in th
Read moreFriday broker round-up UPDATE
21st Mar 2014 09:36
Anglo American: Nomura reduces target price from 1550p to 1475p and retains a neutral rating. Antofagasta: Nomura cuts target price from 800p to 720p and stays with its reduce rating. Canaccord Genuity reduces target price from 1030p to 880p, while its buy recommendation is kept. ASOS: UBS reduces
Read moreFriday tips round-up: Ophir Energy, Insurance sector
21st Mar 2014 07:18
Ophir Energy's remaining 20 per cent Tanzania stake is being valued at half of what the other 20 per cent was hived off for towards the end of last year. In fact, it is owed and should soon receive 1.25bn dollars from Pavilion Energy for the stake which it acquired. That comes on top of another 667m
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