London midday: Banks shine but Footsie falls
29th Oct 2009 12:05
Shareholders in Royal Dutch Shell are grateful to Lloyds Banking Group for wresting investor attention away from the Anglo-Dutch company's poorly received results, as the part-nationalised bank confirmed it is contemplating digging an escape tunnel from the government's asset protection scheme. Llo
Read moreQinetiQ CEO Love stands down
29th Oct 2009 08:07
The boss of defence technology group QinetiQ, Graham Love, is being replaced by the former chief of banknote printer De La Rue Leo Quinn after eight years at the company. Love is standing down at the end of next month after four years as CEO, but will remain a consultant to the group on the Defence
Read moreDefence industry calls for more support
2nd Sep 2009 08:22
The defence sector can be used as one of the UK's 'paths out of recession' as well as continuing to ensure the safety of the country, a report from the industry said as it urged the government to set out its commitment to the sector. 'As the economic frailties of the British economy become more ap
Read moreLondon close: Stocks finish ahead
24th Aug 2009 16:23
London's leading shares have finished the day with comfortable gains as miners and banks stole the limelight. Mining giant Rio Tinto is reportedly in talks with the Aluminium Corporation of China (Chinalco) over co-operation in bauxite and alumina production. The Australian Financial Review newspap
Read moreLondon afternoon: Centrica claims victory
24th Aug 2009 14:33
The Footsie regained some of its momentum over the lunch-time session, helped by expectations of a firm start on Wall Street. Centrica is wanted after it declared victory in its battle to take over Venture Production. The British Gas owner bought another 8.4% of Venture shares this morning, taking
Read moreTechMARK movers: Contract wins provide lift
24th Aug 2009 13:07
QinetiQ rose on news that the defence technology group secured a AUS$23m contract from the Australian Department of Defence for TALON robots and replacement parts to support Australian Defence Forces deployed on operations. Developed by QinetiQ North America in Waltham, Massachusetts, TALON robots
Read moreLondon midday: Footsie backs off from 4900
24th Aug 2009 12:06
London's blue-chips are off the top but still predominantly in the blue. Strong miners and financials helped push the FTSE 100 index above 4900 shortly before 11:00am but this just encouraged profit-takers to make their move. Advertising firm WPP was the morning's best performer ahead of results o
Read moreLondon open: Miners on the rise
24th Aug 2009 08:21
Miners are leading the way in early dealings on Monday, with silver miner Fresnillo the best performer. Fresnillo is up almost 3%, with Eurasian Natural Resources, Randgold Resources and BHP Billiton also going well. Oil services group Petrofac lifted its dividend for the six months to June 30 as
Read moreQinetiQ sells robots to Australian Defence Force
24th Aug 2009 07:49
Defence technology group QinetiQ has secured a AUS$23m contract from the Australian Department of Defence for TALON robots and replacement parts to support Australian Defence Forces deployed on operations. Developed by QinetiQ North America in Waltham, Massachusetts, TALON robots can be configured
Read moreQinetiq JV wins MoD contract
17th Aug 2009 08:11
Metrix, a joint venture between defence technology group QinetiQ and facilities management group Sodexo, has won a £31m contract from the Ministry of Defence (MoD). The contract is part of the Ministry of Defence’s Defence Training Review (DTR) Package 1 PFI Project. The DTR Package 1 Project ai
Read moreStobart bosses pocket £5m
7th Aug 2009 17:24
Two directors at Stobart walked off with a combined total of £5m today as they trimmed their stakes in the transport and logistics group. Chief executive Andrew Tinkler sold 3.65m shares at 100p a time and now about 30.5m shares, just over 12% of the company. William Stobart, chief operating offic
Read moreFTSE 250 movers: GKN driven higher
4th Aug 2009 12:37
GKN is to axe a further 1,200 jobs, but the engineer is higher despite a slump in automotive-related business, as losses were smaller than expected. Some 2,500 people left GKN in the first half, but 'as markets have weakened, restructuring has been extended and accelerated,' it said. '3,600 employ
Read moreMid-cap round-up: Cookson, Spirent, Rotork...
4th Aug 2009 11:27
Industrial materials firm Cookson is at a 9-month high despite slipping into a half-year loss as it raised recovery hopes after a decent start to the second half. The company posted a £3.3m pre-tax loss for the first half of 2009 versus a profit of £99.1m in 2008. Revenue fell 27% at constant exch
Read moreReed's Prozes in the money
27th May 2009 17:09
Reed Elsevier director and boss of the firm's LexisNexis business, Andrew Prozes, has pocketed over £400,000 from share sales. Prozes sold 10,600 Reed Elsevier American Depository Receipts (ADRs), equal to 42,400 ordinary shares, at $32.33 each. He also offloaded 14,600 Reed Elsevier NV ADRs, equi
Read moreFriday tips round-up: JJB Sports, Shanks, Investec
22nd May 2009 06:43
JJB Sports executive chairman, Sir David Jones, reckons the only thing now standing in the way of a return to health for JJB is if he and his team "cock it up". Sir David, who says it will take at least a year before JJB gets the right stock on its shelves, does not rule out a rights issue to furt
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