FTSE 100 opens higher as Brent crude oil price rallies March 17, 2016 Markets opened cautiously higher this morning, as investors cheered a decision by the Federal Reserve's Open Markets Committee to hold interest rates – and oil rallied. The FTSE 100 crept up 0.62 per cent, to 6,212 points, pushed up by miners again. Anglo American jumped 9.8 per cent to 541.1p, while Glencore rose 7.6 per cent to 155.4p [...]
Ted Baker raises dividend 18.6 per cent as profits jump 20 per cent March 17, 2016 The figures: Group revenue rose 17.7 per cent to £456.2m in the 52 weeks ended 30 January, up from £387.6m a year earlier. Pre-tax profit jumped 20.3 per cent to £58.7m during this period, up from £48.8m in the year to January 2015. This was helped by e-commerce sales which swelled 45.8 per cent to £53.5m, up from £36.7m. The board hiked Ted Baker's [...]
FTSE 100 edges up ahead of Budget and Fed meeting – but pound falls for the third day in a row March 16, 2016 Calloo, callay, it's Budget day – but equities investors kicked the day's trading off on a cautious note, ahead of George Osborne's big reveal, as well as a crucial meeting of the Federal Reserve later today. The FTSE 100 edged up 0.4 per cent to 6,166 points in early trading, pushed up by miners including [...]
Smiths Group share price falls as first half profit drops as oil rout bites March 16, 2016 Smith Group's total profit was dragged down by a drop in its energy services division. The figures: Engineer Smiths Group's headline revenue fell three per cent to £1.4bn in the six months ended 31 January, down from £1.4bn a year earlier, but in line with expectations. The FTSE 100-listed firm's pre-tax profit shrank nine per [...]
Circle Oil share price tumbles as it announces a strategic review March 15, 2016 Circle Oil shares fell 20.2 per cent to 2.10p this afternoon, after the embattled oil and gas explorer said it had appointed a Investec Bank to conduct a strategic review. The Aim-listed firm said it had extended the redetermination of its $57.5m reserve based lending facility with the International Finance Corporation to 15th April, with [...]
Cairn Energy boosts estimates at its Senegal oil field March 15, 2016 Oil and gas explorer Cairn Energy has bumped up the resource estimate for its oil field off the coast of Senegal by 20 per cent. The FTSE 250-listed company increased its estimated oil reserves at the field to 385m barrels of oil after positive drilling results. "We are delighted with the results to date of [...]
Balfour Beatty share price soars as investors cheer chief executive Leo Quinn’s turnaround plan March 15, 2016 Investors have applauded a turnaround plan put into place by construction giant Balfour Beatty’s new boss. Shares in Balfour Beatty closed up 3.93 per cent to 261.6p this afternoon. It came despite the company posting a pre-tax loss of £150m in the six months ended 26 June earlier today. "Six months in, our … transformation programme [...]
Ocado’s share price climbs as sales rise – but order sizes slip March 15, 2016 Ocado may have lost out on a lucrative tie-up with Amazon, but sales are still surging ahead, its latest update shows. The figures Gross group sales at the delivery business – which includes its Morrisons agreement – rose 15.3 per cent to £312.4m in the 12 weeks to 21 February, while retail sales – which includes Fetch and Sizzle [...]
Sainsbury’s share price falls despite posting a sales rise in the fourth quarter as deadline looms for Argos bid March 15, 2016 Sainsbury's is continuing to prove itself the strongest of the big four supermarkets, with total and like-for-like sales up in the fourth quarter as it moves to phase out multi-buy offers entirely. But the business has warned of ongoing challenges in the market as the price wars continue. The figures Total retail sales excluding fuel [...]
Brent crude and WTI: Oil prices extend losses as oversupply concerns weigh March 15, 2016 Oil prices extended losses from the previous session today, as oversupply concerns clipped the wings of a six-week rally which had stemmed from optimism that the market had bottomed. Rising US stockpiles and Iran's refusal to join an a deal to freeze output at January levels, led by de facto Opec leader Saudi Arabia and [...]