BRIGHT SPARK November 10, 2009 IMPERIAL Tobacco yesterday named Alison Cooper as its next chief executive, making her the youngest woman to run a FTSE 100 company. She will take over from current chief executive Gareth Davies, who is retiring after 37 years at the firm. The promotion for Cooper, 43, means that there are now five female chief executives [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS October 15, 2009 BURBERRY GROUPEvolution Securities said that Burberry’s first-half trading update beat expectations once again, supporting the broker’s view that the brand is likely to continue to outperform in the currently environment. Evo upgraded its full year earnings per share forecast by almost four per cent, and upgraded the shares to “buy”. CONNAUGHTNoble said that, behind the [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS October 12, 2009 BURBERRY GROUPDeutsche Bank raised its target price for Burberry to 620p, with a “buy” recommendation, ahead of the retailer’s second quarter sales update tomorrow. The broker said that expectations appear to be reasonably high, but that it believes that, most significantly, excess inventory will have been cleared through. DUNELM GROUPInvestec said that the recent placing [...]
LVMH sales remain slow October 19, 2009 LVMH, the French luxury goods firm, said its third-quarter sales fell by 0.6 per cent after demand remained poor. But the firm, which produces brands like Moet champagne and Louis Vuitton fashion, said destocking of its top-end labels should come to an end soon. It reported sales of €4.14bn (£3.8bn), versus €4.16bn a year earlier. [...]
LVMH sales remain slow October 19, 2009 LVMH, the French luxury goods firm, said its third-quarter sales fell by 0.6 per cent after demand remained poor. But the firm, which produces brands like Moet champagne and Louis Vuitton fashion, said destocking of its top-end labels should come to an end soon. It reported sales of €4.14bn (£3.8bn), versus €4.16bn a year earlier. [...]
Brit talent returns to Fashion Week September 20, 2009 LONDON Fashion Week kicked off with the usual smatterings of fresh new talent over the weekend, but all minds were fixed on the return to the UK of iconic brands Burberry, Pringle and Matthew Williamson. Williamson, who earlier this year unveiled a fashion line for high-street giant H&M, yesterday returned after seven years in New [...]
Miners gain the most in 2009 so far September 22, 2009 MINING stocks have seen the biggest recovery in value of all FTSE 100 constituents so far this year, according to Thomson Reuters Datastream figures. An increased demand from the construction sector and improved confidence in a global economic recovery have driven mining shares higher, meaning that seven companies from within the sector are in the [...]
THE TIPSTER DUBAI FEARS ARE BATTERING BRITISH BANKS November 29, 2009 THE shock announcement that Dubai World was unable to meet its debt obligations last week put intense pressure on stocks and currencies worldwide. Investors were concerned that British banks might have significant exposure to Dubai and the UK financial institutions got a battering. But with the uptrend of the latest bull run still intact, the [...]
West End delivers boost for London sales growth October 18, 2009 LONDON retail sales in September had their strongest growth since August last year due to a wave of renewed consumer confidence, according to figures out today from the London Retail Consortium. Retail sales in central London were 7.5 per cent higher on a like-for-like basis in September than a year ago, when sales nosedived to [...]
FOR BRITISH STARS, LOOK TO THE 250 November 2, 2009 MARTIN SLANEYHEAD OF DERIVATIVES, GFT THE FTSE 100 index CFD has always been one of the most popular CFDs for UK traders. It is, after all, the blue chip index that gets the most media coverage. Yet if you really want to trade a UK index, it’s not the FTSE 100 you should be following [...]