FTSE 100 slips lower as investors wait for fresh stimulus from central banks August 15, 2012 TOP shares fell yesterday in sluggish volumes as weakness in index heavyweights such as miners, tobaccos and Vodafone outstripped gains in financials. London’s benchmark FTSE 100 index closed down 31.74 points or 0.5 per cent at 5,833.04, erasing the previous session’s gains and fluctuating in a tight range between 5,800 and 5,900 in volumes just [...]
BEST of the BROKERS August 16, 2012 INTERSERVE N+1 Brewin has upgraded its price target on the support services firm from 347p to 400p and moved its rating from “add” to “buy” after interim results, saying it continues to deliver to plan. ROTORK Panmure Gordon has cut the valve manufacturer from “buy” to “hold” and raises the target price from 2,150p to [...]
Regulator set to tackle London listing loophole October 2, 2012 TOUGH new corporate governance rules are in the pipeline to stop dodgy firms taking advantage of a loophole that allows them to list in London through a reverse takeover, without going through rigorous checks first. But although investors welcomed those proposals, they rejected Financial Services Authority plans to reduce the minimum free-float requirement, arguing it [...]
ENRC settles Congo dispute January 5, 2012 KAZAKH miner ENRC has agreed a $1.25bn (£800m) settlement with Canada’s First Quantum Minerals to end a long-running dispute over ownership of the Kolwezi project in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The London-listed miner said yesterday the deal would enable it to start developing its operations at the copper-cobalt Kolwezi Tailings project. ENRC will pay [...]
LONDON REPORT August 12, 2012 STANDARD Life is set to end the life insurance reporting season tomorrow, following a solid first quarter where assets under administration rose more than expected. The Edinburgh group is hoping for a boost soon from auto-enrolment, where employees will be automatically enrolled into their existing employers’ pension scheme or a new personal account. It is [...]
ENRC to pay out $1.25bn to settle Congo dispute January 5, 2012 Kazakh miner ENRC said it agreed a $1.25bn (£806.4m) settlement with Canada’s First Quantum Minerals to end a long-running dispute over ownership of the Kolwezi project in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The London-listed miner said the deal would enable it to start developing its operations at the copper-cobalt Kolwezi Tailings project. ENRC will pay [...]
BEST of the BROKERS July 12, 2012 TESCO Shore Capital has a “hold” rating on the supermarket giant and a target price of 319p. The broker thinks Tesco is making steady progress improving its performance in the UK, but has downgraded full-year earnings forecasts by nine per cent for the firm’s Europe division, 12 per cent for the US and 9.5 per [...]
LONDON WEEK AHEAD July 29, 2012 RESULTS season continues with a slew of banks, energy and leisure firms due to update this week, while the Bank of England’s monthly decision on interest rates is due on Thursday. Today’s biggest news comes in the form of interims from under-fire banking giant HSBC and household goods behemoth Reckitt Benckiser. The Bank is set [...]
ENRC close to full capacity November 10, 2011 KAZAKH miner ENRC said it would continue to produce at or close to full capacity for the rest of the year and confirmed it would keep cost growth within its expectations, with the unit cost of sales expected to rise 20 per cent for the full year. Ferroalloys account for roughly half the group’s earnings, [...]
FTSE shrugs off Standard Chartered slump to reach a four-month high August 7, 2012 BRITAIN’S FTSE 100 climbed to its highest close in four months yesterday, with heavyweight miners and energy stocks rallying on expectations of global economic stimulus and outweighing a steep sell off in Standard Chartered. The bank’s shares plunged 16.4 per cent in their biggest one-day sell off in four years after New York’s top bank [...]