Barratt Developments shares fall despite 20 per cent jump in sales November 11, 2015 Shares in Barratt Developments fell this morning despite Britain’s biggest housebuilder reporting a strong start to the autumn selling season thanks to “high levels of consumer demand” across all regions. Forward sales (including joint ventures) jumped by 20.7 per cent to £2.5bn across 11,033 plots in the 19 weeks to 8 November compared with £2.07bn [...]
Rightmove sees off threat from OnTheMarket.com as it increases market share November 11, 2015 More proof Rightmove is rising above estate agent bickering, after research by analysts Liberum found it's grabbed market share from new rival OnTheMarket.com. It was feared the property portal would be hit by the launch of OnTheMarket in January. One of the conditions of listing on the site, an estate agent-owned mutual designed to increase competition among [...]
AstraZeneca issues $6bn of bonds to fund ZS Pharma acquisition November 11, 2015 AstraZeneca has issued $6bn worth of bonds so that it can finance its acquisition of biotech company ZS Pharma. The British drugmaker said the move would have no material impact on its financial guidance for the year, and that it will help it to meet certain repayment obligations. The bonds will be released in a series [...]
John Lewis opens its first European store as it expands into the Netherlands November 11, 2015 John Lewis may be the chattering classes' favourite department store at home – but so far, it hasn't ventured into Europe. But that's about to change: today the retailer announced plans to open its first European offerings – in the Netherlands. The company said it will open three "shop-in-shops" in de Bijenkorf department stores. The first three [...]
Tullow Oil share price flat on slashed 2016 capex as plunging oil prices chip away at profits November 11, 2015 Embattled Tullow Oil has slashed next year’s expenditure by a third to tackle plunging oil prices that continue to eat away its profits. The figures The oil and gas producer said it expected full-year pre-tax operating cash flow to land at $1bn, while net debt will hit $4.2bn. Its capex forecast for 2015 remains unchanged at [...]
TalkTalk share price up as firm estimates cyber attack could cost £35m but raises dividend 15 per cent November 11, 2015 Embattled telecom firm TalkTalk has estimated that the massive cyber attack against it in October has cost it £35m, but the firm has surprised shareholders by raising its dividend. That pushed shares up more than 12 per cent to 244p in early trading. The figures Forget about the cyber attack for a minute: TalkTalk's revenues rose 4.7 per cent to £912m for the six months to 30 [...]
Miners weigh down the FTSE for second day – London Report November 11, 2015 The FTSE 100 finished down yesterday as miners continued to suffer losses. The blue-chip index closed the day 0.32 per cent down at 6,275 points. Yesterday’s largest faller was Anglo American, which saw its share price fall 4.54 per cent to 492.22p per share. Glencore also shed 4.24 per cent to close at 105.05p per [...]
Best of the Brokers for 11 November 2015 November 11, 2015 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com COMPAGNIE FINANCIERE RICHEMONT RBC Capital Markets has reiterated its “outperform” rating and €90 target price despite the broker reducing its 2016-17 earnings per share forecasts by around five per cent, reflecting a more difficult outlook in the second half of the year [...]
Co-op is the most complained about energy company per 100,000 customers between July and September November 11, 2015 It was Co-op that had the most number of complaints per 100,000 customers between July and September, according to the Energy Ombudsman. The figures show Co-op received 135.92 complaints per 100,000 customers during this period, while Scottish Power came second with 89.2 followed by Npower with 71.39. There were 13,212 energy complaints received during this period, taking the total [...]
Barclays chairman John McFarlane: London risks losing its status as a global financial centre November 11, 2015 The City risks losing its status as the world’s leading financial centre, Barclays chairman John McFarlane will warn in a speech tonight. Speaking at TheCityUK’s annual dinner at Mansion House, McFarlane will say that Britain’s attractiveness as a financial centre is reaching a “tipping point” due to disadvantages in taxation, levies, regulation and infrastructure. “London [...]