FTSE rebounds but Wall St fall goes on May 24, 2011 UK stocks rebounded today as miners regained ground after grim falls yesterday, though final gains were small. The FTSE 100 ended the session 0.4 per cent higher at 5,858.41 but recorded a high of 5,884.66 in the day’s trading as investor confidence returned. Bargain hunters moved in on miners, which recovered along with metals prices [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS April 4, 2011 SERCO Morgan Stanley rates the outsourcing group “equal-weight” with a target price of 650p. The broker is disappointed by the small number of work and pensions contracts the firm picked up last week, and expects Serco’s revenues from welfare-to-work programmes to drop in the second-half of the year. While the impact on overall forecasts will [...]
HSBC drags FTSE back as investors eye inflation forecasts May 11, 2011 Banking giant HSBC sapped some of the confidence from the blue chip index today as it announced that it was aiming to slash costs by £2.1bn. The news followed a bruising start to the week for banks who have already earmarked billions for potential payouts over dubious insurance protection sales. HSBC fell 1.3 per cent [...]
FTSE rallys on commodities but Eurozone doubts linger May 24, 2011 BRITAIN’S top shares rose yesterday as rallying commodity stocks helped the index recover some of its poise, but the advance may be short-lived as investors find themselves hemmed in by Eurozone debt concerns. The FTSE 100 closed up 22.52 points or 0.4 per cent at 5,858.41, having hit a two-month closing low on Monday after [...]
Fresh Eurozone debt fears see FTSE plunge to two-month low May 23, 2011 RENEWED concerns about the Eurozone debt crisis triggered a steep sell-off of Britain’s top shares yesterday, led by commodity stocks, with some analysts and investors seeing little on the horizon to tempt investors back into the market. The FTSE 100 index ended at its lowest closing level since 23 March, off 112.60 points, or 1.9 [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS April 18, 2011 Ladbrokes Ladbrokes has appointed Ian Bull as chief financial officer, effective from 4 July, when he will report to Ladbrokes chief executive Richard Glynn. Bull joins Ladbrokes from Greene King, where he was group finance director from 2006, contributing to the expansion of the business through organic growth and the acquisition of 2,500 pubs across [...]
Burberry in deal to launch sales in Saudi March 28, 2011 LUXURY UK brand Burberry has agreed a joint venture with Saudi-based retailer Fawaz Abdulaziz Alhokair to market and sell its products. Alhokair will hold a 40 per cent stake in the new company, though the value of the deal was not disclosed yesterday. Shareholders reacted well to the news, with Burberry one of the best [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS March 16, 2011 G4S Citi rates the security services company “buy / medium risk” with a target price of 270p. The broker expects later cycle recovery in G4S’s markets through the year, with its European business starting to accelerate in 2011. Citi applauds the firm’s focus on smaller firms in its acquisition strategy, given its track record with [...]
M&S profits up but warns over future October 7, 2010 MARKS & SPENCER said yesterday that its sales were rising but that “it is far from clear” what impact forthcoming government cuts would have on its customers. Like-for-like sales in the UK, which strip out the impact of sales from new stores, rose by 5.3 per cent in the three months to the beginning of [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS October 7, 2010 Jefferies The investment bank has hired Simon Hampton from Bank of America Merrill Lynch as its new European head of real estate, gaming and lodging investment banking. Hampton spent over 13 years at BoA Merrill Lynch, including eight as head of the real estate, gaming and lodging investment banking group for the EMEA region. Prior [...]