Newly appointed C&W Worldwide chief shows faith
7th Dec 2011 13:37
Gavin Darby, the newly appointed chief executive at Cable & Wireless Worldwide has put his money where his mouth is and bought up £337,800-worth of shares in the telecoms firm. Darby, 55, who joined the firm on 28 November to replace John Pluthero, purchased two million shares at 16.89p each. Th
Read moreTopps Tiles hit by consumer squeeze
29th Nov 2011 14:52
Topps Tiles, the specialist tile and wood flooring retailer, saw full year profits fall amid 'very challenging trading conditions'. The firm said adjusted pre-tax profits came in at £13.9m in the 12 months to October, down from £16.3m the year before. Group revenue was £175.5m, down from £182.4m i
Read moreTuesday preview: Autumn statement, ITE, Topps Tiles
28th Nov 2011 15:45
The Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, makes his Autumn statement on Tuesday and, as usual, he will have had no shortage of lobbyists offering him advice on how to kick-start the UK economy and, while he is at it, get the Tories re-elected. The Chancellor is expected to begin his speech a
Read moreWednesday tips round-up: Topps Tiles, Albemarle & Bond, Hammerson
28th Sep 2011 06:34
In the good times, Topps Tiles saw as much as a quarter of sales coming from people moving house and upgrading the kitchen and bathroom. Today, the proportion is well below 10%, so it relies on discretionary purchases by existing home owners. Topps shares have now fallen to a level where, after yest
Read moreLondon close: Stocks soar as euro talks proceed
27th Sep 2011 16:33
The top share index surged in early dealings and continued heading higher towards the close amid optimism that European leaders will get to grips with the euro crisis. Talks are still ongoing about an expansion of the European Financial Stability Fund, with conflicting signals over whether an agree
Read moreLondon midday: Stocks advance on Euro hopes
27th Sep 2011 12:00
Stocks have built on their early morning gains as optimism that some kind of end to the Eurozone crisis is in sight continues. Talks are still ongoing about an expansion of the European Financial Stability Fund, with conflicting signals over whether an agreement is near failing to put investors of
Read moreTopps Tiles to meet expectations
27th Sep 2011 08:50
Shares in Topps Tiles soared after the tile and flooring retailer said it expects to report revenues of £175.7m for the year to 1 October, down from £182.4m the previous year. It also says like-for-like revenues will decrease by 1.9%. These negative figure are however deceptive because the firm ha
Read moreLondon open: London follows Wall Street higher
27th Sep 2011 08:24
London's leading share index is posting big gains following a strong performance from Wall Street overnight. RBS leads the way as banks continue their strong performance from yesterday, while silver specialist Fresnillo leads the mining sector's recovery. Optimism that European leaders are making
Read moreFirst broker round-up of the morning
27th Sep 2011 08:21
Fresnillo: Citi upgrades to 'hold' from 'sell'. Lonmin: Citi cuts target price 9% to £12.37. Burberrys: Credit Suisse says today, "We still see better risk-reward elsewhere in the space (e.g., Hugo Boss) at current levels." Ricardo: RBS stays at 'buy'. Easy Jet: RBS reiterates 'buy' and 450p t
Read moreTopps Tiles warns on profit
25th Aug 2011 07:22
Tile and wood flooring specialist Topps Tiles said group revenue fell 10.4% on a like-for-like basis in the first seven weeks of the fourth quarter and now expects full year earnings to be below the current range of analyst expectations. The group, which operates over 300 stores in the UK, has been
Read moreWednesday tips round-up: BHP Billiton, Serco, Pearson
10th Aug 2011 06:50
Funny how the same ideas come around again. Several decades ago, vertical integration ? owning every step of the production process ? was the norm. Then that gave way to employing contractors and squeezing them to gain efficiencies. Now, in mining, the old model is coming back into vogue: BHP Billit
Read moreLondon close: Big gains after eventful day
13th Jul 2011 16:33
Stocks finished with good gains at the end of an eventful day. A raft of updates sent shares in both directions in early dealings, but the main drama came later in the day when Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation withdrew its bid for satellite broadcaster BSkyB. Stocks were boosted in afternoon tradi
Read moreLondon midday: Supergroup leads the climb
13th Jul 2011 12:12
Stocks are heading in both directions following a raft of updates, but the overall direction is higher, with trendy fashion retailer SuperGroup the standout stock. SuperGroup, famous for the Superdry brand, said full-year underlying pre-tax profit soared by 89% to £50.2m, from £26.5m previously, su
Read moreTopps Tiles sales still falling
13th Jul 2011 11:16
Tile and wood flooring specialist Topps Tiles continued to experience subdued trading in the 13 weeks to 2 July. Revenues were down by 1.9% on a like-for-like basis (excluding the impact of new openings and closures) from the same period the previous year. Total revenues were down by 1.6%. "We do
Read moreLondon close: FTSE 100 slumps after US jobs shock
1st Jun 2011 16:38
After a directionless start, the top share index fell deep into the red ahead of the close, with some unfavourable US economic data denting sentiment. Rio Tinto held out to finish with gains. The mining giant announced today that it is to establish a large-scale presence in commodity hungry China
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