Best of the Brokers February 22, 2013 CARILLION Liberum Capital has reiterated its “Sell” rating on construction business Carillion ahead of next week’s interim results, with a target price of 322p. The analysts expect to a see reduced order book for future work in the face of a tough UK construction market, as well as a disappointing outlook in the Middle East. Overall [...]
FTSE 250 Results Round-up – 27/02 February 27, 2013 Barratt Developments, the residential property development company, released results for the six months to December (results) with profits increased by 113.4 per cent to £46.1m. Chief executive Mark Clare said that: Although we remain cautious as to whether the thaw in lending conditions will be sustained, improvements in mortgage lending and the success of the [...]
Steel maker eyes £50m rights issue February 19, 2013 STRUCTURAL steelwork maker Severfield-Rowen yesterday said it was looking at a £50m rights issue, as it said it would take a £20.1m hit thanks to spiralling costs on a number of contracts. In a review of 70 of the company’s contracts, Severfield-Rowen said it would take close to a £10m charge in relation to the [...]
St Modwen raises £50m in New Covent Garden share placing February 26, 2013 ST MODWEN yesterday raised £49m in a share placing to help fund the £2bn regeneration of Britain’s biggest flower and vegetable market. The developer and joint venture partner Vinci were chosen last year to redevelop New Covent Garden Market in Nine Elms on the South Bank. The project will see the complete overhaul of the [...]
Only real school choice for parents can inspire an education revolution April 19, 2013 IN THE past century, most parts of the economy have seen a fundamental transformation in how things are produced and delivered. Yet schools today function pretty much as they did 100 years ago. The radical progress characterising modern societies simply does not apply to education. And there’s a reason for this. A fundamental difference between [...]
Best of the brokers January 23, 2013 BARCLAYS Investec upgraded the bank yesterday on the back of new investment bank job cuts. Although the market knew some staff were being trimmed, the scale took the analysts by surprise. “Consensus still appears to underestimate the material benefit that will flow through the Barcap cost line as headcount and pay are rebased to the [...]
Best of the Brokers February 13, 2013 PETROFAC UBS yesterday upgraded oilfield services group Petrofac from “neutral” to “buy”, with the target price increased from 1,575p to 1,875p. “We think Petrofac has a solid business model within the onshore engineering & construction end market,” the note said. UBS recommends “deploying cash organically” within other parts of the business in order to avoid [...]
Best of the Brokers January 7, 2013 DIRECT LINE Numis cheers the insurer as one of its key picks for 2013, and has a “buy” rating and an increased target price of 265p. The broker sees Direct Line’s price to earnings ratio as modest at 9.4 times, in spite of a 22 per cent share price rise since October’s float. Numis also [...]
Centrica pulls out of UK new nuclear plans February 4, 2013 BRITISH GAS owner Centrica yesterday pulled out of plans to build up to four new nuclear power stations in collaboration with EDF, blaming rising costs and the construction timetable slipping. Centrica has spent around £200m on the project, which will be written off in this year’s results. EDF is in discussions with a number of [...]
Shell hikes dividend as weak oil and gas prices hit earnings January 31, 2013 OIL GIANT Royal Dutch Shell unveiled a 4.7 per cent jump in its dividend payout yesterday despite posting a slump in full-year earnings. Annual earnings on a current cost of supply basis dropped six per cent to $27bn (£17.07bn) compared with $28.6bn in 2011 – as it was hit by weaker oil and gas prices [...]