Best of the Brokers for 06 January 2015 January 5, 2015 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com HIKMA PHARMACEUTICALS Jefferies has upgraded its rating to “buy” from “hold”, and said that, while fundamentals appear robust for the mid-term, “regulatory bottlenecks appear to be the biggest risk factor to growth”. The broker stated that it expects Hikma “to be a momentum [...]
H&M dresses up warm as strong winter collection boosts its sales January 15, 2015 Hennes & Mauritz, the world’s second-biggest fashion retailer, yesterday reported higher-than-expected sales growth in December, helped by strong collections and colder weather after an unusually mild autumn in Europe. For Sweden-based H&M, it was the ninth consecutive month that the company, which is also benefiting from a recovering North American economy, achieved sales clearly or [...]
Bank’s super Thursday could cause fireworks – London Report November 1, 2015 HSBC was this morning the latest UK bank to report results, with Standard Chartered rounding off third quarter earnings season tomorrow. There are concerns the emerging market focused Standard Chartered will have taken a hit over the past three months due to the slowing economy in China and fears surrounding emerging market growth. The bank’s [...]
German food discounters Aldi and Lidl enjoy premium branding buzz – Brand Index January 13, 2015 In another blow to traditional British grocers in the ongoing supermarket price war, budget food retailers Aldi and Lidl are the highest performing brands in YouGov’s BrandIndex Buzz score rankings for 2014. But there is still good news for some more of Britain’s most loved retailers, such as John Lewis and Marks & Spencer. The [...]
From HSBC and Greece to Opec and the Bank of England: What got us talking this week February 13, 2015 There was really only one story this week. HSBC was at the centre of a scandal that only progressed along with the week. By Friday it was facing a grilling from one select committee and an investigation by another, while the possibility of police involvement was also hanging in the air. There was even [...]
Bank of England chief economist Andy Haldane will answer questions on Twitter today September 14, 2015 A member of the Bank of England's rate-setting committee, chief economist Andy Haldane, will be answering questions about how the central bank should regulate financial markets in the UK on Twitter today. Haldane, who has been touted as a possible replace to ousted Financial Conduct Authority boss Martin Wheatley, will conduct the Twitter Q&A from the [...]
Mining giants bounce back to push up FTSE 100 – London Report November 5, 2015 The FTSE 100 ended yesterday’s session slightly higher, boosted by gains in mining companies and Marks and Spencer. The UK’s blue-chip index ended the day 0.46 per cent up at 6,412 points. The day’s biggest riser was Glencore, the embattled mining giant, which has been struggling to reassure investors worried about the size of its [...]
Retail supplier Li & Fung hit by slow shopping August 21, 2015 SLOWING consumer demand in Europe and the US triggered a fall in retail supplier Li & Fung’s profits this half-year, the company said yesterday. The Hong Kong-based exporter, which supplies stores in the UK such as Primark and Marks and Spencer, said core operating profits fell by a fifth to $182m (£130m) from $227m for [...]
Tesco’s rising share price leads FTSE 100 higher January 8, 2015 Tesco became the biggest riser on the FTSE 100 this morning, with its shares jumping more than 11 per cent in lunchtime trading after it posted encouraging Christmas trading figures. By close of trading, Tesco's share price had soared 16.4 per cent. The rally helped the FTSE 100 to rise almost 2.3 per cent. Other [...]
Commodities and banks drag FTSE 100 lower – London Report February 10, 2015 BRITAIN’S top equity index drifted lower yesterday, hit by a drop in banks and commodity stocks, although improved sales for battered supermarkets lent support to the market. Fresh signs of economic weakness in China, the world’s biggest consumer of metals, hit mining companies, with the FTSE 350 Mining Index down 2.8 per cent. It closed [...]