Inchcape profit motors ahead March 11, 2014 BOOMING car sales in Chile and Peru have helped lift profits 11 per cent at dealership group Inchcape. The FTSE 250 firm yesterday unveiled annual pre-tax profit of £274.6m on revenues that rose 7.7 per cent to £6.5bn. Like-for-like new car sales in the UK jumped 8.7 per cent.
Earnings fall at Computacenter March 11, 2014 SHARES in data centre group Computacenter dropped three per cent yesterday after it revealed that profits last year fell 22 per cent to £50.5m due to poor performance in France, where it lost £7.3m. Revenues rose 5.4 per cent to £3bn, the highest in the group’s 33-year history.
Hansteen’s property values rising March 11, 2014 Warehouse owner Hansteen said its investment in new properties in the last year has helped to push its rent takings up 59 per cent to £134.9m, while pre-tax profits were up 41 per cent to £65.3m. The firm, chaired by James Hambro, said yesterday the outlook for its European portfolio will keep improving this year.
Cape soars on Motherwell deal March 11, 2014 London-listed energy and resources support services firm Cape yesterday said it has bought Motherwell Bridge for £37.65m, sending its share price up over six per cent. Motherwell Bridge provides storage tanks and heat exchangers to the energy and steel markets. The deal is expected to be earnings enhancing this year.
Iata expects air cargo growth March 11, 2014 Air cargo should see stronger growth this year with demand picking up in most regions, the global airlines body Iata said yesterday. In a review covering the first quarter of 2014, it said positive cyclical developments had brought a pickup in freight demand. However, it gave no specific figures.
City Moves for 12 March 2014 | Who’s switching jobs March 11, 2014 MHA MacIntyre Hudson The accounting firm has announced the appointment of Sarah Jarvie as a manager in its restructuring and recovery team. She has over 15 years’ experience, and was most recently at KPMG. PwC The professional services firm has appointed two data analytics partners to its financial services risk and regulation team. Nick Bouch joins [...]
Best of the Brokers for 12 March 2014 March 11, 2014 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com AVIVA RBC Capital has moved its target price on the insurer from 400p to 550p and upgraded the stock from “underperform” to “neutral” following last week’s results, saying that a return to top-line growth in its life business and management drive to improve [...]
London Report: FTSE nudges down to near month-long low after banks fall March 11, 2014 THE UK’S top equity index steadied yesterday after hitting a three-week low, with some investors seeing value in beaten-down stocks, although the market remained vulnerable to further declines in the near term. The blue-chip FTSE 100 index closed 0.06 per cent lower at 6,685.52 points after falling to 6,660.59, its lowest since the middle of [...]
New York Report: Wall St hit by profit taking March 11, 2014 US STOCKS fell yesterday, with selling picking up late in the session, as investors cashed in some of the recent market gains, but the S&P 500 finished less than one per cent away from a record high set last week. Indexes had swung between gains and losses in the first half of the session, as [...]
Why the government will need to cut more “green crap” to save British industry March 11, 2014 The pressure for the government to cut more green levies is growing, ahead of next week’s Budget. Major trade bodies such as the Confederation of British Industry, the manufacturers’ organisation EEF and the Institute of Directors have already warned that charges such as the carbon price floor – that taxes fossil fuel emissions – are making [...]