London pre-open: Stellar gains ahead
26th Feb 2010 07:37
London's blue chips are expected to open sharply higher, with banking shares likely to be in focus after Lloyds reported full-year figures. Traders anticipate a 60 points gain when the market opens. Lloyds Banking joined sector peers Barclays and Royal Bank of Scotland in reporting better than expe
Read moreSerco profits up 30%
26th Feb 2010 07:04
Outsourcing group Serco has increased the dividend by a quarter as it ramped up profits by almost a third in 2009 and ended the year with a record order book. Profit before tax for the 12 months ended 31 December hit £177.1m, up from £136.1m in 2008, on revenue up 27.1%, or 20.8% excluding currency
Read moreSerco to run Business Link in South East
7th Jan 2010 09:05
Outsourcing group Serco has signed a contract with the South East England Development Agency (SEEDA) to provide Business Link services across the region. The group, which was chosen last year to run the London cycle hire scheme, was named in August as preferred bidder for today's deal, expected to
Read moreWednesday tips round-up: Serco, Informa, Robert Walters
16th Dec 2009 06:42
Serco is usually billed as the company that runs London's Docklands Light Railway, but it does everything from business process outsourcing to defence to education. Outsourcers of Serco's ilk stand to be among the few winners from the slash and burn in the public sector over the next five years. b
Read moreLondon close: Losses narrow
15th Dec 2009 16:33
Top shares fought back late afternoon to halve losses, but most financial issues stayed lower, while oil plays also ended friendless. Turmoil in the Greek banking sector since credit ratings agency Fitch downgraded the country's sovereign debt last week continued to hurt. Barclays and HSBC were am
Read moreLondon afternoon: Banks continue to weigh
15th Dec 2009 14:51
London is off its worst levels of the day, but remains deep in the red as finance plays suffer on fears about the strength of European peers. Barclays and HSBC are among the worst performers as Greek rivals slump on worries about their country's budget deficit. Reports, later denied, that Austria'
Read moreLondon midday: Footsie drifts back
15th Dec 2009 12:12
Footsie has drifted slightly lower as banks and miners join British Airways among the heaviest fallers. The airline is in focus amid expectations of a 12-day strike over Christmas. BA said it is mulling "all options" to cope with the planned action by cabin crew over the Christmas period. BA is
Read moreLondon open: Dull start as BA suffers
15th Dec 2009 09:02
London's top stocks have turned lower as investors take a breather following recent gains. British Airways has generated most headlines this morning. The embattled airline is drawing up contingency plans to cope if the planned 12-day strike by cabin crew goes ahead. An injunction is one option, but
Read moreLondon pre-open: Flat start ahead
15th Dec 2009 07:34
London's top stocks are expected to open largely flat as investors take a breather following the previous sessions gains. Costa Coffee owner Whitbread has offered to buy Eastern European coffee shop operator CoffeeHeaven for about £36m. The recommended offer of 24 pence in cash represents a premium
Read moreSerco maintains confident outlook
15th Dec 2009 07:01
Serco is confident enough about prospects to repeat forecasts for 2009 ahead of meetings with analysts prior to its financial year end on 31 December. The outsourcing group predicts double-digit revenue growth this year and a 30 basis point increase in adjusted pre-tax profit margin, excluding SI I
Read moreWednesday tips round-up: Enterprise Inns, Serco, Wellstream
18th Nov 2009 06:36
It has been a fairly depressing year for the pub industry and one of the sector's biggest operators, Enterprise Inns, did little to lift the gloom yesterday. The UK's second-biggest pub operator, which has 7,399 leased and tenanted pubs, said pre-tax profits tumbled by 95% to £11m for the year to
Read moreFriday tips round-up: Euromoney, Serco, Synergy Healthcare...
13th Nov 2009 06:37
Publisher Euromoney has cut costs by imposing pay freezes, forced holidays and redundancies on its staff, but is now seeing the benefit. Subscriptions are down, but it is looking to renewed advertising - led by the emergence of new banks such as the confusingly monikered Bank of America Merrill Lyn
Read moreLondon close: Footsie retreats after new high
12th Nov 2009 17:00
Footsie hit a new intra-day high for the year in mid-afternoon, but buyer interest tailed off near the close as US markets retreated on a mild resurgence by the dollar. British Airways was the top performer after the airline confirmed it is holding meetings with Spanish airline Iberia to discuss th
Read moreLondon afternoon: Footsie hits new 2009 peak
12th Nov 2009 15:21
Footsie has hit a new intra-day high for the year as the majority of blue-chips head higher. British Airways is the top performer after confirming that it is holding meetings with Spanish airline Iberia to discuss the possibility of a merger. 'The British Airways and Iberia boards are holding sepa
Read moreLondon midday: FTSE flat
12th Nov 2009 12:05
It is back to square one for Footsie, which is virtually unchanged on the day despite a warm reception to results from BT and confirmation from British Airways that the long awaited merger with Iberia is close to consummation. British Airways has confirmed that it is holding meetings with Spanish a
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