London open: Footsie up early on, pharmas fall
9th Jan 2012 08:18
London's FTSE 100 opened slightly higher on Monday morning helped by banking titans Royal Bank of Scotland and HSBC. Oil stocks Essar Energy, Tullow Oil and Royal Dutch Shell were tracking oil prices higher. Today's big event will be the meeting of German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French Preside
Read moreExperian announces death of CFO
9th Jan 2012 07:08
Experian's Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Paul Brooks has passed away, the credit-checking and information services firm revealed on Monday. According to Experian's statement, Brooks, who joined the group as Finance Director of its former International division back in 1999, died suddenly over the w
Read moreBroker tips: IG Group, Mothercare, Business service stocks
29th Nov 2011 12:58
Prime Markets recommends buying shares in IG Group, saying that the European sovereign debt crisis creates "ideal conditions" for the spread-betting firm. The group said this morning that it has continued to see high levels of client activity during its second quarter and first half revenues will b
Read moreBroker snap: Credit Suisse assesses impact of euro recession on business services
29th Nov 2011 10:22
Credit Suisse has reassessed its ratings and forecasts across the business services sector to reflect a more challenging environment in which it envisages Europe falling back into a recession in the fourth quarter. The broker said: "Our base case FY12-13 EPS estimates fall by an average of 4-5% to
Read moreFriday tips round-up: Rexam, HICL and Serco
18th Nov 2011 07:16
The Independent's Sharewatch column assesses Rexam, the FTSE 100 company which makes beverage cans. It made a decent gain on the FTSE yesterday compared to many of its peers and the Indy thinks it knows why. Rexam has said it is considering selling its personal care division. This would have defini
Read moreLondon open: Retailers dip as consumer confidence dives
17th Nov 2011 09:07
After yesterday's shake-out on Wall Street, London's blue-chips are mostly lower, though trading updates have generated some bright spots. Centrica, which trades under the British Gas brand, is not one of the those bright spots, after it warned that full-year earnings will be a bit lower than the m
Read moreSerco trundling on
17th Nov 2011 07:58
Outsourcing leviathan Serco is on target to deliver a performance in line with expectations in the current financial year, despite continued tough trading conditions on both sides of the Atlantic. "While short-term headwinds remain, particularly those facing the US federal contracting industry, lon
Read moreUPDATE: Wednesday broker round-up
2nd Nov 2011 09:51
G4S: Credit Suisse upgrades from neutral to outperform, target raised from 240p to 285p. Standard Chartered: Evolution Securities downgrades from buy to neutral, target unchanged at 1,800p. Standard Chartered: Nomura maintains buy rating and 1,800p target. Next: Investec places 2,350p target unde
Read moreGlencore non-exec buys first shares
30th Aug 2011 17:19
Non-executive director Peter Coates has opened his account in Glencore, spending £320,000 on shares in the Swiss commodity trading house. He took 82,700 shares at 387.2p a time and has already banked a tidy profit, with the shares closing just short of 400p today. Coates is the chairman of Austral
Read moreLondon close: Results drive stocks higher, Man up after upgrade
24th Aug 2011 16:38
Stocks finished with good gains after an uncertain start, with strong economic data from the US overriding the earlier mixed reception to today's raft of company updates. US orders for goods made to last more than three years, such as planes, cars and washing machines, rose by 4% in July, having fa
Read moreLondon midday: Stocks mixed after stream of updates
24th Aug 2011 12:10
The leading share index is flitting between red and blue amid differing receptions for today's stream of updates. Investors in Admiral are feeling mutinous despite pre-tax profits growing by 27%. However, according to a Thomson Reuters poll, the result was a slight miss. Miner BHP Billiton is hig
Read moreLondon open: Admiral drags Footsie into the red
24th Aug 2011 08:29
Early gains proved short-lived as the blue chip index in London fell into the red by 08.32, dragged lower by Admiral and the miners, who were registering losses on the back of falling metals prices. Admiral was the worst performer on the FTSE 100, losing over 5% after despite pre-tax profits growi
Read moreSerco resilient despite UK and US headwinds
24th Aug 2011 07:18
Outsourcing firm Serco said it overcame UK and US headwinds to deliver a 12.2% rise in adjusted pre-tax profit, driven by its international portfolio. Adjusted operating profit grew to £133.8m in the six months to end June from £124.4m a year before. Revenue increased 4.9% to £2.24bn. Excluding adv
Read moreLondon pre-open: Footsie bandwagon rolls on
24th Aug 2011 07:18
Encouraged by Wall Street's solid showing overnight, UK shares are set to continue their recent revival, with City traders predicting the top-share index will open at around 5,174, up 45 points from last night's close. Car insurer Admiral announced record half-year figures, with profit before tax 2
Read moreWednesday preview: Tullow Oil, Admiral, Serco
23rd Aug 2011 17:32
Broker finnCap thinks there is a good chance that Tullow Oil will cut its full-year guidance, after its partner on the Jubilee field, Kosmos Energy, reported a slower than expected ramp-up of production at the field, located off the coast of Ghana. "Current guidance is 90-94mboepd [million barrels
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