London midday: Shares seeking direction
29th Mar 2011 12:23
The top share index is struggling to find any sense of direction for the second day in a row. Building supplies group Wolseley's results found favour, but BP is under pressure. BP is also under pressure after major shareholder Standard Life told it to walk away from its troubled deal with Russian s
Read moreBroker snap: Downside UK risk at Thomas Cook
29th Mar 2011 10:33
Credit Suisse thinks that Thomas Cook's mixed second quarter trading update is already priced-in, as the travel firm has underperformed the sector by 8% since mid-January. The statement confirmed an unchanged £20m cost impact from Egypt/Tunisia whilst capacity for the summer is adjusted principall
Read moreLondon open: Blue chips mark time again
29th Mar 2011 08:52
London is marking time this morning with investors keeping a wary eye on events in Japan and Libya. BP is also under pressure after major shareholder Standard Life told it to walk away from its troubled deal with Russian state oil company Rosneft. BP wants to push ahead with the share-swap that w
Read moreLondon pre-open: Small gains for Footsie
29th Mar 2011 07:32
London is expected to creep higher Tuesday, according to the latest futures prices. Travel company Thomas Cook has kept its estimate of disruption from the uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia to £20m and says, overall, the business is performing well. Bookings, capacity and booked load factors across a
Read moreThomas Cook 'performing well'
29th Mar 2011 07:06
Travel company Thomas Cook has kept its estimate of disruption from the uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia to £20m and says, overall, the business is performing well. Ahead of interim results on 9 May, it said travel restrictions to Egypt and Tunisia resulted in about 150,000 cancellations, of which 1
Read moreTuesday preview: Thomas Cook, Wolseley
28th Mar 2011 18:08
Thomas Cook is the first of the two big travel companies to bring out trading updates this week and it is fair to say that events in 2011 so far have not been kind to them. Thomas Cook noted in its first quarter statement that the political unrest in Tunisia and Egypt would have an impact on the f
Read moreWeek Ahead: Thomas Cook, TUI Travel, Mothercare
25th Mar 2011 11:07
The UK's top two listed travel companies. Thomas Cook and TUI Travel are set to bring out trading updates, and both face much the same problems: rising oil prices, political uncertainty in some popular travel destinations and consumer concern about whether the budget will stretch to a holiday this y
Read moreFTSE 250 movers: Lamprell and Croda lead the risers
22nd Feb 2011 14:47
Engineering services provider Lamprell is a big mover today after announcing a new contract award from Singapore company Greatship Global Energy Services. Not far behind is speciality chemicals group Croda International which more than doubled its 2010 pre-tax profits. Also higher are oil prices a
Read moreBroker tips: Thomas Cook, HSBC, Drax
22nd Feb 2011 13:41
Panmure Gordon has downgraded travel firm Thomas Cook as the broker struggles to identify any near-term catalysts to the share price following the recent turmoil in the Middle East. Thomas Cook noted in its first quarter statement that the political unrest in Tunisia and Egypt would have an impact
Read moreBroker snap: Thomas Cook downgraded as turmoil escalates
22nd Feb 2011 13:16
Panmure Gordon has downgraded travel firm Thomas Cook as it struggles to identify any near-term catalysts to the share price following the recent turmoil in the Middle East. Thomas Cook noted in its first quarter statement that the political unrest in Tunisia and Egypt would have an impact on the f
Read moreThomas Cook wants faster merger review
15th Feb 2011 16:12
Thomas Cook and the Co-operative Group have called on the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) to 'fast-track' the anti-trust approval process over the proposed merger of their travel agent outlets. Thomas Cook said that the two companies would like the OFT to send the case directly to the Competition Comm
Read moreFriday tips round-up: Rio Tinto, Rolls-Royce, Diageo...
11th Feb 2011 06:59
Rio Tinto, which in the bad days of spring 2009 had debts of $39bn (£24.2bn) after the badly timed purchase of Alcan in 2007, exited last year with just $4.3bn of borrowings, or gearing of 6%. It generated a record $23.5bn of cash last year, up 70% on 2009. This is by any standards a staggering tu
Read moreThomas Cook chairman takes more shares
9th Feb 2011 16:18
Thomas Cook's chairman Michael Beckett has splashed out more than £100,000 on shares in the travel company. He took 55,000 shares at 195.5p a time, taking his stake to 100,000 shares. Shares in Thomas Cook have fallen since Beckett last took shares, buying 20,000 at 216p a time in May. In an updat
Read moreFTSE 250 movers: C&W's Caribbean update weighs on shares
9th Feb 2011 15:44
Among the worst performers is Cable & Wireless after a mixed third quarter statement. RBS retained its 'hold' rating on the stock and slightly reduced forecasts as its Caribbean business continues to face "challenging trading conditions". A shareholder revolt is brewing at Thomas Cook after the tra
Read moreOutrage at Thomas Cook bonus plan
9th Feb 2011 11:50
A shareholder revolt is brewing at Thomas Cook after the travel agent proposed changes to its executive bonus scheme that could hand hundreds of thousands of pounds to top brass. Chief executive Manny Fontenla-Novoa is in line for an extra £200,000 if a decision to treat last year's volcanic ash in
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