Gerald Corbett to join Betfair December 7, 2011 CITY veteran Gerald Corbett, who has been chief executive of both Railtrack and Woolworths during his lengthy career, has been appointed as deputy chairman of struggling betting group Betfair. Corbett is currently currently chairman of Britvic, the the Royal National Institute for the Deaf and Moneysupermarket.com. He was chairman of Woolworths until a year before the [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS November 23, 2011 FULLER, SMITH & TURNER Numis rates the pub group “add” with a target price of 775p, up from 725p to reflect its enlarged managed pub acquisition scheme. The broker thinks Fuller will report a three per cent rise in pre-tax profits when it reports tomorrow, and believes the firm is well-placed to continue its outperformance. Numis [...]
Britvic hit by rise in costs May 27, 2011 Soft drinks maker Britvic posted a small decline in first half profit as input cost inflation remained high, but said it was confident about the second-half. Britain’s second biggest soft drinks maker behind Coca-Cola Enterprises said underlying pretax profit for the six months to 17 April was £27.7m compared with £27.8m the year before. The [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS December 15, 2011 CAIRN ENERGY Investec rates the energy explorer “hold” with a target price of 291p. Despite the “early Christmas present” of a 154p per share dividend in the wake of Cairn’s deal with Vedanta, the broker remains cautious about the firm’s prospects, pointing to a lack of success in Greenland and weak growth in India. Investec [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS December 5, 2011 PETRA DIAMONDS Goldman Sachs initiates coverage of the Africa-focused miner with a “buy” rating and a target price of 200p, seeing its recent underperformance as a compelling entry point. The broker sees Petra as having a strong growth profile, and says the diamond market is set to enter a period of prolonged tightness. Goldman forecasts [...]
THE WEEK AHEAD November 27, 2011 COMPANY NEWS ● London headquartered conference organiser ITE Group will announce its preliminary earnings for 2011 tomorrow. ● Britvic will announce its preliminary earnings results on Wednesday. The Chelmsford-based soft drinks manufacturer will be hoping that its earnings have a bit of fizz. ● Marston’s Brewery is also set to announce its full-year results on [...]
All this pub firm needs is some stability October 27, 2011 TO BE honest, my eight-year old nephew could become executive chairman of Mitchells & Butlers and the pubs firm would enjoy more stability than it has in recent years. This is the ninth change in either chief executive or chairman in the last four years. Hopefully Bob Ivell will stick around for longer than his [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS September 19, 2011 Britvic Simon Litherland has been appointed as managing director of Britvic Soft Drinks, and a member of the group executive committee, effective from 4 October. Litherland joins from Diageo, where he was MD of the GB business, responsible for brands including Guinness, Smirnoff and Johnnie Walker. Litherland started at Diageo as finance director in European [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS September 19, 2011 Britvic Simon Litherland has been appointed as managing director of Britvic Soft Drinks, and a member of the group executive committee, effective from 4 October. Litherland joins from Diageo, where he was MD of the GB business, responsible for brands including Guinness, Smirnoff and Johnnie Walker. Litherland started at Diageo as finance director in European [...]
Britvic hit by rising tide of costs February 24, 2011 SOFT drinks maker Britvic yesterday forecast higher raw material inflation than it previously expected as the cost of products it uses to make soft drinks, cans and bottles rises, though it still expects to post a higher profit this year. Shares in Britvic, which have lost about 14 per cent over the past three months, [...]