UK dividends to soar to £100bn October 20, 2013 A BUMPER payout from Vodafone will boost UK dividends to a record £101.8bn in 2014 from FTSE350 firms, according to estimates out today from Capita Asset Services. The figure is an enormous 28.7 per cent rise on the year, far outstripping the previous record level of £80.6bn set in 2012. Much of the boost comes [...]
BP to close Australia refinery and cut jobs April 2, 2014 BP YESTERDAY said it plans to halt operations at a small-scale refinery in Australia, slashing more than 350 jobs. The FTSE 100 oil major will shut down the 102,000 barrels per day Brisbane refinery by mid-2015, due to commercial pressure from larger plants in the Asia-Pacific region. “The best option for strengthening BP’s long-term supply [...]
Dividends under threat as firms struggle with slump in earnings October 2, 2013 NEW RESEARCH by the Share Centre has found that dividend cover, which measures earnings against dividends paid to shareholders, has fallen to a three-year low. A lower dividend cover ratio suggests that profits have fallen, making a cut in dividends more likely. A higher ratio indicates a healthier profit level. Though FTSE 350 firms have [...]
Barclays wins Amec as latest broking client September 25, 2013 BARCLAYS continued the growth of its corporate broking business by winning the mandate to act as joint broker to Amec, the FTSE 100 listed engineering group, alongside Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BofAML). The appointment comes just days after Amec abandoned plans to make a £700m bid for Kentz, the oil services group. Amec was [...]
EU bank shares dive on tough stress test plan October 23, 2013 BANKS across Europe took a beating from investors yesterday as the authorities announced a higher than expected capital target for lenders. Even British banking stocks tumbled, despite this round of tests not being applied to UK institutions. The European Central Bank (ECB) is testing the biggest 130 banks in the Eurozone to study the quality of [...]
Profits plummet one third for top UK businesses August 18, 2013 DESPITE a rise in revenues, some of the UK’s top companies saw profits plunge in the year to March, slumping by a total of 33.8 per cent in comparison to 2012. In the 12 months up to the end of the first quarter, 62 of the country’s biggest firms earned £16.6bn in profit after tax, [...]
London Report: Retail gloom and US gridlock weigh on FTSE October 8, 2013 THE UK’S top share index slipped to three-month lows yesterday as weak data and downbeat analyst comments hit retailers and the fiscal deadlock in the United States kept broader sentiment subdued. In contrast to buoyant recent British data, retail sales growth slowed for a second month in September, according to BRC numbers. Analyst notes on [...]
Corporation tax collected via HMRC probes falls to six year low September 8, 2013 EXTRA corporation tax collected through HMRC investigations fell to a six year low last year, fresh figures released today show. The fall in corporation tax collected by HMRC’s large business division, which handles FTSE 350 companies, is due to a lower rate of tax and less aggressive tax planning by corporates. The large business division, [...]
Why one analyst loves construction firm Carillion April 9, 2014 Construction services firm Carillion’s share price has soared over five per cent today, after an upgrade from Cantor Fitzgerald. The research note put a “buy” recommendation on the FTSE 250 firm and increased its target price to 420p from 350p, in part due to a strengthened order book and downsizing of the struggling UK construction [...]
London Report: Housing pickup sparks rise in blue chip stocks August 13, 2013 F RESH signs of a recovery in the UK housing sector helped nudge Britain’s benchmark share index higher yesterday, with several traders expecting more minor gains over the coming month. The blue-chip FTSE 100 index closed up 0.6 per cent, or 37.60 points, at 6,611.94 points. A survey by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors [...]