Friday preview: Petrofac, Dignity
12th May 2011 17:54
Oilfield services provider Petrofac's shares suffered in the early part of the year as a wave of civil protests swept across many of the oil rich parts of the world, but the share price has perked up a bit of late, helped by the award of a contract worth more than $240m (£149m) with Shell to develop
Read moreFTSE 100 movers: Antofagasta tumbles after disappointing production figures
4th May 2011 13:51
Miner Antofagasta is leading the decline on Wednesday after reporting production figures that missed expectations. Group copper production for the first three months of the year came in at 129,800 tonnes, below forecasts of 158,800 tonnes, reflecting delays and lower-than-budgeted grades at two of i
Read moreLondon close: Shares in late dive
31st Mar 2011 17:19
A late dive sent London's top share index firmly into the red ahead of the close having been flat all day ahead of Ireland's banking stress test. Ireland's central bank said the ailing economy's banks need €24bn (£21bn) to stay afloat. Gold miner Randgold Resources was the star performer in the m
Read moreLondon afternoon: Weak retailers offset strong miners
31st Mar 2011 14:41
Footsie is stuck in neutral, though the flat performance is largely down to strong demand for mining stocks. Gold miner Randgold Resrouces is the star performer in the mining sector after reporting a 55 increase in its attributable mineral resources and reserves for the year to December 2010. T
Read moreShell hands Petrofac £149m of work in Iraq
31st Mar 2011 11:48
Oil services company Petrofac has won a contract worth more than $240m (£149m) with Shell to develop facilities in the Majnoon field, Southern Iraq. The UK firm will provide engineering, procurement, fabrication and construction management services to develop a new early production system that wil
Read moreLock increases stake in Kofax
23rd Mar 2011 16:37
Kofax chairman Greg Lock has invested nearly £73,000 in the document software provider. Lock has acquired 15,000 shares at 484p each. That takes his stake to 465,000 shares. In 2010, Lock invested just over £320,000 in Kofax shares at 235p a share and 272.3p a share. The Lock family have been bu
Read moreTuesday tips round-up: Intertek, Tarsus, Stagecoach...
8th Mar 2011 06:58
Shares in testing specialist Intertek, up 95p to £19.94p, have been very strong over the past couple of weeks and have almost recovered to their £20 peak of early December. They are by no means cheap, changing hands on 20 times' this year's earnings, but the company is a strong play on the strengt
Read moreLondon close: Shares give up gains as Libya worries persist
7th Mar 2011 16:39
Shares closed in the red having spend most of the day in the blue after recovering from a weak start. Once again, the Libya turmoil has been casting a shadow. Oil prices are still an issue. Light crude rose to a 30-month high above $106 on Monday as fighting rages in Libya while reports that the un
Read moreLondon afternoon: Stocks consolidate gains
7th Mar 2011 14:18
Shares came off the top at the beginning of the afternoon before recovering some of their poise toward the end of the lunch time session as futures markets indicated a moderately firm start in store on Wall Street. Oil prices are still an issue. Light crude rose to a 30-month high above $106 on Mon
Read moreLondon midday: Shares advance despite Libya worries
7th Mar 2011 12:13
The ongoing turmoil in Libya and worries that other Arab nations could be affected are still casting a shadow but shares have moved well ahead of the 6,000 point mark. Oil prices are still an issue. Light crude rose to a 30-month high above $106 on Monday as civil war rages in Libya while reports t
Read moreLondon open: Sluggish start for Footsie
7th Mar 2011 08:32
London has made a slow start with concerns over the Middle East and North Africa adding to some mixed trading updates. Light crude rose to a 30-month high above $106 on Monday as civil war rages in Libya while reports that the unrest may have reached Saudi Arabia further added to the oil market's f
Read morePetrofac unaffected by unrest as orders surge
7th Mar 2011 07:54
Oil fabrications giant Petrofac has seen only a 'minimal impact' so far from the unrest in the Middle East and North Africa, but adds it continues to monitor the situation closely. "The significant political changes across the Middle East and North Africa have, to date, had a minimal impact on our
Read moreWeek Ahead: BoE rate, Pru, Intertek
4th Mar 2011 12:22
After European Central Bank (ECB) president Jean-Claude Trichet dropped heavy hints this week that the ECB is seriously contemplating a rise in interest rates for the eurozone, attention switches to the next week's meeting of the rate-setting committee, where the hawks slowly seem to be gaining a fo
Read moreLondon close: Flat finish for FTSE 100
14th Feb 2011 16:42
The top share index finished flat after a sluggish day's trading. Takeover talk pushed the price of engineering stalwarts Weir Group and Invensys higher, with engineering colossus Siemens said to have cash burning a hole in its pocket. The German company's chief financial officer, Joe Kaeser, sai
Read moreLondon afternoon: Footsie in red despite miners
14th Feb 2011 14:29
Mining stocks are buoyant after China's economy grew 9.8% in the final quarter of 2010, but demand for miners has not prevented the blue-chip index from sliding into the red. Takeover talk is pushing the price of engineering stalwarts Weir Group and Invensys higher, with German engineering colossu
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