UK banks benefit from housing upturn as corporate lending remains weak October 23, 2013 Citi Research has released a report concluding that there is an increasing upside to UK banks. Analysts cite several positive indicators leading to a positive assessment of the sector. There was a significant increase in mortgage volumes in July and August, with gross mortgage lending for the eight months to August 2013 amounting to £99bn, [...]
De La Rue FTSE250’s biggest faller after profit warning October 23, 2013 British currency printer De La Rue is currently the biggest faller on the FTSE250 this morning, down 8.5 per cent cent after it warned it would miss its profit target for this year because of the challenging market. De La Rue's performance in the first half of the financial year was in line with its [...]
Asos on track to hit £1bn of sales by 2015 as profits beat analyst expectations October 23, 2013 Online retailer Asos has posted a whopping 23 per cent rise in full year pre-tax profit to £54.7m in the year to 31 August. Analysts had expected the company to post a profit of just £44.5 to 54m. That's not stopped Asos shares dropping on the open though. Shares are now trading about 4.7 per [...]
Internet sales boost results for Argos as Home Retail reports positive results October 23, 2013 Argos and Homebase parent company Home Retail has today announce a positive like-for-like sales performance, despite highlighting limited customer spending, owing to lessened disposable incomes. Profit before tax for the period was £14.2m in the 26 weeks to 31 August. (Release) Argos did particularly well when it came to sales via smart devices – internet [...]
What you need to know before the open – 23/10 October 23, 2013 US markets continued to climb yesterday after US job numbers missed expectations, sending the S&P500 to new record highs for the third day in a row. Despite the upward revision to the jobs data, markets seem to be interpreting this as a staving off of tapering. European markets seem more restrained this morning, following a [...]
Strong results for Sports Direct as clothes shop Republic catapults profit October 23, 2013 Sport Direct International has announced a 15.1 per cent sales increase for the nine weeks to 29 September, with gross profit up 19.4 per cent to £199.8m (from £167.4m like-for-like). (Release) The buying up of clothes shop Republic back in February saw Premium lifestyle sales soar in the period – sales and gross profit from [...]
Bottom Line: Giving up the drug is the right move but one that’s hard to price October 23, 2013 WITH a portfolio comprising everything from mosquito repellents to hair removal cream and dishwasher tablets, Reckitt’s position as a branded consumer goods company is undisputable. But for years now it’s had a bit on the side – a pharmaceutical arm that produces one thing only, a drug called Suboxone that’s used as a replacement in [...]
How to spot the pension fund dogs October 22, 2013 A new report finds that £31bn is sat in poor performing funds WITH annual and lifetime allowances for attracting tax relief at £50,000 and £1.5m respectively (due to fall to £40,000 and £1.25m in 2014-2015), pensions are the most tax-efficient way to save for retirement. But with over £30bn of pension savings languishing in under-achieving [...]
Ongoing labour disputes may not hurt Royal Mail shares October 22, 2013 But the stock still faces serious risks after its initial rise in price The surge in the price of Royal Mail shares since trading began on 11 October has been as spectacular as it’s been controversial. After listing at 330p, Royal Mail shares rose almost 60 per cent to push beyond 530p on Monday, before [...]
Apple launches a barrage of new hardware products while offering a host of free software updates October 22, 2013 Tech giant Apple is launching a stream of new products and boasts that its users are taking to its recent releases. 64 per cent of customers are now using the latest operating system for mobile devices – iOS7 – and a new update to its desktop software OS X – OS X Mavericks – will [...]