London Report: FTSE falls as tobacco stocks are burned by $23.6bn US fine July 21, 2014 BRITAIN’S top share index fell yesterday, with tobacco stocks hit by a multi-billion-dollar fine against RJ Reynolds in the United States and retailers slipping after a profit warning from Tesco. The prospect of further sanctions by the West against Russia over last week’s downing of an airliner over Ukraine also discouraged investors from making big [...]
Strike a light as BAT is pounded July 30, 2014 BRITISH American Tobacco (BAT) has become the latest UK company to have its performance hit by sterling’s rise in value as it reported a drop in revenue and profit during the six months to 30 June. Both the strength of the pound and a slight decline in volumes took a toll. Excluding the impact of [...]
Quindell suffers – despite profits quadrupling August 21, 2014 Quindell, the Aim-listed insurance firm whose shares plummeted 60 per cent in April following a scathing blog post by US short seller Gotham City Research, came out fighting yesterday when it reported an 119 per cent increase in half-year revenue. Despite the bullish results, Quindell’s shares still fell 12.4 per cent following the update to [...]
Tobacco firms Reynolds American and Lorillard light up a £16bn takeover July 16, 2014 Reynolds American, the second largest US tobacco firm, yesterday announced it would buy the number three US tobacco firm, Lorillard, in a $27.4bn (£16bn) deal. The deal, which gives Reynolds control of Lorillard’s Newport menthol cigarettes, strengthens the combined company’s hand and sets up a battle with Marlboro-maker Altria Group for the e-cigarette market. FTSE [...]
Vype poster is banned by ASA June 11, 2014 A POSTER for British American Tobacco’s electronic cigarette brand Vype, which featured a woman in mid-air and the text “experience the breakthrough”, was banned yesterday by the advertising regulator for being misleading. “Given the presentation… we concluded that the ad misleadingly implied Vype could be used as a smoking cessation device,” the Advertising Standards Authority [...]
Tobacco stocks fall after $23bn Reynolds ruling July 21, 2014 Big tobacco stocks stumbled yesterday as investors expressed caution in the aftermath of the $23.6bn (£13.8bn) damages award levelled against Reynolds American by a US judge on Saturday. The US’s second-biggest tobacco company was told that it must pay the sum to Cynthia Robinson from Florida for the death of her husband Michael Johnson, alongside [...]
London Report: FTSE slips from five-day rise as ex-div firms fall August 20, 2014 BRITAIN’S top share index yesterday retreated from a three-week high, halting a five-day winning streak, with companies trading without the attraction of their latest dividend putting pressure on the broader market. The benchmark index finished down 0.35 per cent, or 23.83 points, at 6,755.48 points. Despite markets pausing for breath after recent rises, Standard Chartered [...]
Reckitt to float pharmaceutials arm in London July 28, 2014 Reckitt Benckiser, the owner of Nurofen painkillers and Dettol cleaning products, is to spin-off its pharmaceuticals business as it focuses on growing its core consumer brands. The FTSE 100 company said yesterday that a demerger of its RBP unit would take place over the next 12 months with a separate listing on the London Stock [...]
Woodford backs British pharma sector with fund July 6, 2014 NEIL Woodford, one of the best-known fund managers in the City, has backed the under-siege UK pharmaceutical sector with his new fund. Woodford’s £1.6bn equity income fund, launched last week, has ploughed 8.3 per cent of the fund into Astrazeneca and 7.1 per cent into Glaxosmithkline, the UK’s biggest drug maker, making the companies the [...]
How Blu’s sheriff Jacob Fuller plans to conquer the ecigarette wild west August 10, 2014 Jacob Fuller tells Oliver Smith why eCigs have big tobacco smitten. The electronic cigarette market is booming. In just seven years since they first arrived in the UK, ecigarettes have grown into an industry with sales of £193m last year and £340m sales forecast for 2015. But you would be mistaken in thinking [...]