The age of austerity should not hurt stocks June 28, 2010 A WEEK has passed since the emergency Budget set the UK on a path of fairly aggressive fiscal consolidation. Public spending will be cut in real terms, Vat is scheduled to rise and new rules are in place to ensure that the debt-to-GDP ratio will fall back to more sustainable levels in the coming years. [...]
THE TIPSTER June 22, 2010 IT WAS easy yesterday to focus only on what was happening to sterling but there was activity in plenty of other currency pairs too. The Australian dollar-New Zealand dollar has retraced ever since the Aussie dollar failed to maintain momentum above NZ$1.3000. The latest retracement to the NZ$1.2400 level equals the 38.2 per cent Fibonacci [...]
BRIGHT STARS GATHER AT CITY’S ANNUAL OSCARS June 15, 2010 THOMSON Reuters rolled out the (imaginary) red carpet yesterday for the annual Extel awards, commonly known as the “Oscars” of the City. This year’s affair, hosted by perky Today presenter John Humphrys, was decidedly more upbeat than in 2009, when “credit crunch” presenter Axel Threlfall of Thomson Reuters’ multimedia platform Project Insider quipped that he [...]
THE TIPSTER June 6, 2010 THE FTSE 100 index was vacillating around the 5,200 level at the end of last week, eventually closing at 5,126 on Friday. But this is still some 10 per cent below the blue-chip index’s 2010 highs. However, the German Dax 30 index is only 3 per cent off its highs for the year so the [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS June 2, 2010 FERROVIAL Citigroup issues Ferrovial with a “buy” recommendation and said that since January 2009 Ferrovial has sold €3bn (£2.5bn) of assets. Citi said new greenfield projects which require less up-front equity are the preferred target for new investments and management noted higher returns due to more limited competition. DIAGEO Evolution Securities said Diageo is increasingly [...]
Banks drag FTSE down even lower June 2, 2010 BRITAIN’S top share index fell yesterday, led down by banks, but finished well off session lows on fresh hopes for economic recovery after strong US pending home sales data. The FTSE 100 closed 11.98 points or 0.2 per cent lower at 5,151.32, having dropped as low as 5,072.53. The index fell 0.5 per cent on [...]
Banks drag FTSE down even lower June 2, 2010 BRITAIN’S top share index fell yesterday, led down by banks, but finished well off session lows on fresh hopes for economic recovery after strong US pending home sales data. The FTSE 100 closed 11.98 points or 0.2 per cent lower at 5,151.32, having dropped as low as 5,072.53. The index fell 0.5 per cent on [...]
Rose leaves Diageo May 11, 2010 Diageo chief finance officer Nick Rose is leaving the company, the drinks giant said yesterday. The surprise announcement came as Rose entered his 18th year with the company – 13 in his current role. Deirdre Mahlan, currently his deputy, will take on the role. She has held a number of senior finance positions in Diageo [...]
Diageo toasts profits rise in new markets May 6, 2010 DIAGEO has smashed profit forecasts with a sales bounce back led by strong emerging market growth. The producer of Smirnoff vodka and Captain Morgan rum said Latin America, Asia and Africa were performing well while traditional markets like the US had been slow to improve. The world’s biggest spirits maker saw third quarter sales jump [...]
ANALYST VIEWS: WILL DIAGEO’S REVIVAL LAST? May 6, 2010 JONATHAN JACKSON | KILLIK & CO “On first glance, the 12 per cent growth in organic net sales during the quarter appears impressive. However the comparatives against the same period last year were fairly easy. The timing of Easter also helped.” SAM HART | CHARLES STANLEY “These are an impressive set of figures. Things are [...]