Persimmon to pay dividend on sales rise August 24, 2010 HOUSEBUILDER Persimmon resumed interim dividend payments on the back of a return to pre-tax profit yesterday, while the chief executive remained confident the firm can ride out turbulence in the market. “We are 95 per cent sold up on our targets for the year, so I’m reasonably happy about our position,” said chief executive Mike [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS July 29, 2010 EASYJET easyJet revealed strong revenue trends for the third quarter, according to Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), which said it was, however, lower than expected. Profit guidance was unchanged as the volcano impact was confirmed at the top of the range. RBS reiterates its “hold” rating, noting operational instability is leading to incremental costs. CENTRICA [...]
Barclays dismisses bank break-up threat September 8, 2010 BARCLAYS executives have privately dismissed the idea that UK banks will be forced to break up their retail and investment banking operations, even though the government’s independent banking commission still has a year left to deliberate its options. Those close to the bank said yesterday that Barclays would not have appointed its investment banking chief [...]
Barclays dismisses bank break-up threat September 8, 2010 BARCLAYS executives have privately dismissed the idea that UK banks will be forced to break up their retail and investment banking operations, even though the government’s independent banking commission still has a year left to deliberate its options. Those close to the bank said yesterday that Barclays would not have appointed its investment banking chief [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS July 1, 2010 HMV GROUP Citigroup said that the combination of further modest HMV market share gain progress, the ongoing product mix shift, and margin recovery at Waterstone’s should allow HMV to retain a stable group earnings before interest and taxes platform. Citi issues a “buy” rating for the music retailer and said the Mama acquisition should add [...]
GDF and International Power agree tie-up August 10, 2010 GDF Suez is offering International Power shareholders a cash sweetener of $2.2bn (£1.39bn) in a reverse takeover of the British firm that will create the world’s largest independent power producer in terms of revenue. The move will also give GDF, Europe’s second-biggest utility, a greater presence in the United States, Middle East and Asia, as [...]
International Power in GDF merger talks July 19, 2010 BRITISH energy firm International Power (IP) confirmed it had revived merger talks with GDF Energy yesterday, sending its share price soaring. The companies have restarted long-running talks over France’s GDF buying up new shares in IP. Previous talks collapsed in January after the firms failed to agree terms. GDF, already one of the world’s largest [...]
Don’t bet on strong bank earnings July 18, 2010 REACTIONS were mixed as the first of the season’s US bank earnings rolled in last week. Some analysts – like GFT’s David Morrison – were blaming poor revenue growth reported by Citigroup and Bank of America-Merrill Lynch (BoA-ML) on Friday for the subsequent dip in the S&P 500 as it plunged 2.09 per cent in [...]
United Biscuits on the block July 21, 2010 UNITED Biscuits, the snack food firm whose products include Jaffa Cakes and Hula Hoops, is up for sale. Private equity firms Blackstone and PAI Partners, who bought the company for £1.6bn in 2006, are looking for offers of £2bn and above. Banks including Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan, are said to be competing for the [...]
FTSE 100 gets a US boost to close at a four-month high September 20, 2010 Britain’s leading share index extended early gains to close strongly yesterday, after US market bulls helped London to its highest close since late April. The FTSE 100 closed up 94.09 points, or 1.7 per cent, at 5,602.54, more than reversing the 0.6 per cent decline in Friday’s session after risk appetite made a strong return. [...]