Friday broker round-up
27th Mar 2015 16:29
Aviva: Jefferies reiterates buy and ups target to 630p from 608p. RBS: UBS keeps at neutral and trims target to 375p from 386p. ITV: Exane reiterates add and lifts target to 288p from 267p. Wolseley: Exane reiterates underperform and lowers target to 2,660p from 2,730p. Hunting: JP Morgan Cazenov
Read moreFTSE 100 movers: Carnival lifted by strong results, airline stocks rebound
27th Mar 2015 13:12
Carnival topped the risers as strong first-quarter results prompted a lift in full year earnings guidance. It boasted that advance bookings for the remainder of 2015 were steaming ahead of the prior year and at higher prices. "We are experiencing an on-going improvement in underlying fundamentals ba
Read moreLondon midday: UK stocks continue to retreat as miners fall
27th Mar 2015 11:38
Mining stocks led UK equity markets lower on Friday as the pull-back from recent records continued, with little in the way of corporate or economic news to drive sentiment. After a 1.4% drop on Thursday, the FTSE 100 was down a further 0.3% at 6,873.30 by midday. London's blue chip index has now fa
Read moreLondon open: Mining stocks drag FTSE 100 lower for fourth day
27th Mar 2015 08:30
UK stocks declined for a fourth straight day on Friday morning as the FTSE 100 continued to pull back from recent all-time highs. The Footsie was down 0.1% at 6,888.66 in early deals with mining stocks among the worst performers. London's blue chip index has continued to fall after hitting a new rec
Read moreRoyal Bank of Scotland says goodbye to Coutts business
27th Mar 2015 08:24
Royal Bank of Scotland on Friday announced that it will be offloading its Coutts private banking business to Switzerland's Union Bancaire Privée for what is rumoured to be a price of at least $600m. RBS said in a statement the sale to UBP included relationships managed from Switzerland, Monaco, Unit
Read moreRBS set to sell Coutts International to Swiss Bank UDP
26th Mar 2015 18:08
Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has agreed to sell its international private arm Coutts International, to Union Bancaire Privee (UBP), the Swiss private bank. The deal is expected to be announced on Friday, with UBP is estimated to pay between $600m and $800m for Coutts' non-UK operations. RBS' plan t
Read moreLondon close: Stocks sink sharply as risk appetite scaled back
26th Mar 2015 16:38
The UK stock market suffered a sharp sell-off on Thursday, dropping to its lowest level in over a week, as geopolitical and macroeconomic fears hammered investor sentiment. The FTSE 100 finished down 1.37% at 6,895.33, as it continues to retreat from a record closing high of 7,037.67 reached on Mond
Read moreLondon midday: Footsie drops 1.4% as retreat from record high continues
26th Mar 2015 12:15
London's Footsie was registering steep losses on Thursday as the index continued to retreat from the record highs reached earlier in the week, as financial and airline stocks fell sharply. Airline stocks in particular were feeling the brunt of a spike in the price of oil after Saudi Arabia launched
Read moreLondon open: LSE and Easyjet lead stocks lower, oil prices spike
26th Mar 2015 08:55
UK stocks dropped sharply on Thursday morning following a steep sell-off on Wall Street, with financial and airline shares providing a drag. The FTSE 100 was down 1% at 6,919.49 early on as it continues to pull back from the fresh all-time closing high of 7,037.67 reached on Monday. The London Stoc
Read moreLondon pre-open: Stocks to track US and Asian markets lower
26th Mar 2015 07:54
UK stocks are expected to open in negative territory on Thursday morning, tracking declines in the US and Asia overnight. City sources predict the FTSE 100 will open 45 points lower than Wednesday's close of 6,990.97. US markets suffered sharp declines on Wednesday as economic data continued to dis
Read moreRBS confirms at least $3.2bn from sale of Citizens Financial stake
26th Mar 2015 07:11
Royal Bank of Scotland has confirmed that it expects to make at least $3.2bn from the partial sale of shares in US subsidiary Citizens Financial. RBS sold 24.7% of Citizens at a public offering price of $23.75 per share, meaning it will be left with between 45.6% and 41.9% depending on how much of a
Read moreMonday broker round-up
23rd Mar 2015 13:51
RBS: Nomura reiterates buy and lowers target to 350p from 370p. WPP: Westhouse Securities reiterates add lifts target to 1732p from 1577p. HSBC: Nomura reiterates neutral and shaves target to 590p. StanChart: JP Morgan upgrades to overweight. Citi reiterates buy and lifts target to 1300p from 1250
Read moreRBS plans to reduce stake in its US Citizens Financial business
23rd Mar 2015 11:43
UK tax-payer owned bank Royal Bank of Scotland on Monday announced through its American bank Citizens Financial that it plans to slash its stake in the US business after its initial public offering. State-owned RBS said it will cut its holding to just below 50% through the sale of 115m shares compar
Read moreLondon midday: FTSE fluctuates around 7,000 as Greek concerns weigh
23rd Mar 2015 11:42
UK stocks retreated slightly from a record high on Monday morning on the back of uncertainty in Greece, though decent gains from banking, oil and mining stocks were providing some support. The FTSE 100 was down 0.09% at 7,016 by midday, pulling back after setting a new all-time closing high of 7,022
Read morePhoenix reports jump in profits but waves goodbye to chairman
18th Mar 2015 08:04
UK investment manager Phoenix Group Holdings reported a jump in full year pretax profit on the back of strong performance of its managed funds business. Pretax profit increased to £336m from £268m as revenue, net of reinsurance payable, rose to £5.32bn from £4.22bn and operating expenses increased t
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