Hampson looks to raise £60m February 2, 2010 Aerospace and automotive manufacturing group Hampson Industries yesterday announced a proposal to raise £59.5m via a share placing and open offer to reduce net debt and revamp the group’s financial structure. Over 119m new ordinary shares will be on the table at a share price of 50p which represents a 22.8 per cent discount to [...]
Investors line up ahead of law firm IPOs March 10, 2010 INVESTORS are queuing up to buy stakes in City law firms ahead of a series of planned flotations in the sector next year. Lyceum Capital and Investec are among a handful of businesses already interested in the legal sector once the government’s Legal Services Act comes into operation. City A.M. understands that Lloyds Development Capital [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS February 22, 2010 INVESTEC Numis is bullish on the South African bank, claiming its well capitalised, highly liquid balance sheet will allow it strong growth opportunities in specialist high margin assets while its larger peers rebuild and focus on their standardised lending core. The broker considers the bank to be low-risk and raised its rating to “Buy”. THORNTONS [...]
Whatever you fancy in the long-term, there’s an ISA for it March 23, 2010 With tax hikes on the horizon as the general election looms, sheltering more cash in an ISA is a sensible move. The investment choices you make will depend on how long you wish to invest and how much risk you are prepared to take. But every new year there brings a new fad investment and [...]
We’re being too gloomy on outlook for retail March 28, 2010 SO the clocks have changed, there’s now more daylight than darkness and spring is here. It’s time for some optimism, unless you happen to be a retailer. In the last week some of the biggest names in the high street have been queuing up to tell us how fearful they are about the consumer. Of [...]
ECONOMIST VIEWS: WHERE DO YOU THINK INFLATION IS HEADING LATER THIS YEAR? February 16, 2010 PHILIP SHAW | INVESTEC We are not especially fazed by the jump in inflation this month. There are clearly special factors involved. It is important to note that wage growth is very restrained and various measures of inflation expectations remain well behaved. The likelihood is that the UK is undergoing a period of inflation volatility. [...]
THE NAME GAME IS ON FOR MANCHESTER UNITED’S RED KNIGHTS March 4, 2010 IS A setback in the offing for the self-styled “Red Knights”, the group of City businessmen plotting to seize control of Manchester United from current owners, the Glazer family? The Capitalist only asks having chanced upon another, very different, group bearing the same name while trawling the Internet yesterday. Actually, the moniker belongs to a [...]
City cheers as economy rebounds March 3, 2010 RELIEF trickled through global markets yesterday as a series of polls showed the strongest growth in the services sector since the financial crisis began, fuelling hopes of recovery. Shares rose on both sides of the Atlantic after the UK service purchasing managers survey surprised analysts by jumping 3.9 points to 58.4 for February – its [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS January 11, 2010 TOMKINS Numis has upgraded its 2009 and 2010 estimates by 15 and 20 per cent respectively on the basis of rising automotive production and benefits feeding through from restructuring initiatives. However, the broker issued a target price of 180p – below yesterday’s closing price of 210.4p – in the belief 15.8x 2010 EPS is looking [...]
Unemployment dips but claimants surge February 17, 2010 UNEMPLOYMENT has fallen slightly but the number of benefits claimants has gone up, official figures have shown. Total unemployment stood at 2.46m for the three months to December, down 3,000 on the figure for the previous quarter. The rate of unemployment was unchanged at 7.8 per cent, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said yesterday. [...]