Thursday preview: Shell, Unilever, Smith and Nephew
1st Feb 2012 15:29
As usual, Thursday is the busiest day of the week for scheduled company announcements and this week's big day looks busier than most, with big guns AstraZeneca, Royal Dutch Shell, Smith & Nephew and Unilever are all set to announce full-year results. Integrated oil giant Royal Dutch Shell is tipped
Read moreTuesday newspaper round-up: UK construction, Peacock, RBS
17th Jan 2012 06:42
Confidence within the UK's construction industry has "collapsed" with just 5% of small businesses operating in the sector expecting their workloads to increase this year, according to a new report. The Federation of Master Builders' "state of trade survey" found workloads have fallen in each of the
Read moreLondon close: Euro worries pull Footsie lower
11th Jan 2012 16:58
Eurozone debt worries weighed on London's stock market today with some disappointing economic data from the region's largest economy dampening the mood. Energy stocks led the decline on the FTSE 100, tracking oil prices lower. SOVEREIGN DEBT CRISIS RUMBLES ON News that German gross domestic produc
Read moreLondon midday: Stocks retreat, Unilever drops after downgrade
11th Jan 2012 11:49
After trading within a narrow 20-point range for most of the morning, it seems if the Footsie has found its direction, dropping around 40 points by midday, with Eurozone concerns once again in the spotlight. Euro-area gross domestic product growth slowed to 0.1% quarter-on-quarter in the third quar
Read moreWednesday broker round-up - UPDATE
11th Jan 2012 08:56
Unilever: Bank of America Merrill Lynch downgrades to underweight from neutral. Aggreko: Credit Suisse downgrades to neutral from outperform. Capita: Citi upgrades to buy from neutral. Reckitt Benckiser: Morgan Stanley upgrades to overweight from neutral. Rentokil: RBC upgrades to top-pick fr
Read moreMonday broker round-up - UPDATE
5th Dec 2011 08:45
Kingfisher: Credit Suisse raises price target to 310p from 295p, outperform rating kept. Berkeley Group: Credit Suisse raises target to 1,225p from 1,079p, maintains neutral. Berkeley Group: UBS raises target to 1,530p from 1,480p. BG Group: UBS ups price target to 1,635p from 1,600p, stays at
Read moreTuesday newspaper round-up: Virgin, new airport, Unilever
29th Nov 2011 06:18
George Osborne will raise hopes of a new multi-runway airport in the Thames Estuary today when he commits the Government to a global hub in the South East. The proposal, championed by Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London, and the architect Lord Foster of Thames Bank, will receive full consideration ne
Read moreFriday tips round-up: RSA Insurance, Unilever, Wetherspoon
4th Nov 2011 06:37
The Telegraph's Questor column takes a look at RSA Insurance. The firm has fallen 12.6% so far this year and 27% in the last five years. On the surface this doesn't look good, it does however provide an earnings to price ratio of 7.6%, which is set to fall. For a viable business, doing especially w
Read moreLondon close: Company updates impress, Euro-crisis rages on
3rd Nov 2011 16:36
The Footsie finished near its highest levels of the day on hopes that the Greek referendum will be cancelled. Nevertheless, it was a busy day for investors with rumours in the Eurozone dominating the swings in the market throughout the session, and the European Central Bank revealing a surprise deci
Read moreFTSE 100 movers: Updates broadly impress, Tate & Lyle jumps
3rd Nov 2011 16:03
Tate & Lyle jumped over 5% higher after reporting stronger-than-expected first half results with adjusted pre-tax profits of £180m. The sweeteners group said the numbers, which were 10% ahead of what analysts expected, came as a result of strong demand across a number of markets. Panmure Gordon rais
Read moreLondon midday: Back in the blue, Tate & Lyle leads the rise
3rd Nov 2011 12:10
The Footsie was back in the blue by midday after an up-and-down morning, as investors keep a close eye on developments in the Eurozone. However, dampening sentiment closer to home has been a study by National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) which suggested that the UK economic fa
Read moreUnilever sees underlying sales growth
3rd Nov 2011 09:43
Unilever, the giant consumer goods firm behind brands as diverse as TreSemme, PG Tips and Brylcream, has seen turnover hit €12.1bn in the three months to September. On these figures underlying sales growth was 7.8%. Personal Care was at €4.1bn (+.3%), Home Care hit €2.1bn (+9.2%), Savoury, Dressin
Read moreThursday preview: Insurers, Unilever, ECB
2nd Nov 2011 15:42
There are three big players in the insurance sector set to update the market on Wednesday: Aviva, Old Mutual, RSA Insurance. Aviva's interim figures got the thumbs-up from the market back in August, when the company said it is on track to deliver £400m of cost and efficiency savings by fiscal 2012.
Read moreSunday newspaper tips round-up: Unilever, African Barrick, 4imprint
16th Oct 2011 19:26
Anglo-Dutch consumer goods giant Unilever is often seen as an undynamic company but Questor in the Telegraph notes that its shares hit an all-time high on Friday, after it unveiled a deal to buy Russian personal-care company Concern Kalina. The price looks good, at 11.7 times earnings before interes
Read moreFTSE 100 Movers: Unilever rising after strengthened budget
14th Oct 2011 12:39
Consumer goods giant Unilever was on a lot of investors' shopping lists after announcing that it has strengthened its position in emerging markets with the acquisition of Russian beauty company Concern Kalina for RUB21.5bn (£440m). Kalina's main markets are Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan. It employ
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