Record profit for Plexus October 23, 2013 Oil and gas engineering services business Plexus Holdings saw both profit and revenue rise by a record amount for the full year to 30 June driven by strong growth at its wellhead supply business. The firm, listed on London’s junior market, saw pre-tax profit rise 38.3 per cent to £4.27m with revenue up 29.7 per [...]
Meggitt wins jet deal October 23, 2013 Meggitt yesterday announced a multi-million dollar contract win for a braking and control system with Dassault. Dassault, which makes Rafale combat planes, has selected the British aerospace engineering business to develop the systems for the all-new Falcon 5X business jet. Meggitt’s chief executive Stephen Young said the award was “a significant milestone”.
Best of the Brokers for 24 October 2013 October 23, 2013 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com WPP Liberum Capital has reiterated its “buy” rating for advertising and public relations firm WPP and raised its target price from 1300p to 1450p. WPP is expected to post solid third quarter organic growth in its results today and remains Liberum’s top advertising [...]
London Report: Bank falls stop FTSE’s nine-day winning streak October 23, 2013 THE UK’S benchmark equity index fell yesterday to end a nine-session winning streak, as a drop in heavyweight banking shares dragged the stock market down from five-month highs. Nevertheless, several traders felt any pullback would be relatively short-lived and saw the UK stock market rallying into the end of 2013. The benchmark FTSE 100 index [...]
New York Report: Wall St hit as mixed results worry investors October 23, 2013 US stocks fell yesterday as shares of heavy-equipment maker Caterpillar and semiconductor companies tumbled after they reported earnings, ending the S&P 500’s four-session streak of record high finishes. Results from Caterpillar and Boeing, two Dow components, illustrated the quarter’s mixed picture of corporate results and outlooks, which have some investors worried. Caterpillar was one of [...]
There’s something in the Air October 23, 2013 Apple’s updated devices are slimmer and faster than ever. Here’s what to expect from this year’s Christmas essential BEZEL The first thing you notice about the new iPad Air is the size of the bezel surrounding the screen. It is far smaller (43 per cent) than the previous models, which makes it less intrusive when [...]
And a few more things we learned from Apple’s launch October 23, 2013 THE MAC PRO IS A BEAST Mac’s oddly-shaped new desktop computer (pictured right) is a powerhouse. If you’ve got cash to spend (the lowest-priced version will cost £2,499), it will make video editing, heavy Photoshop use or intensive design programs run like a breeze. The cylindrical casing is just an eighth of the volume of [...]
Eurozone consumer confidence creeps up to highest reading since July 2011 October 23, 2013 Consumer confidence improved marginally in the Euro area in October, with a flash estimate of -14.5, after September's -14.9. This is the 11th month on the trot to see a gain, and the reading is its highest since July 2011. It remained unchanged in the EU at 11.7. Berenberg's Christian Schulz says: "the indicator is [...]
Regulator chief Martin Wheatley says that reform means challenges will give way to fairness October 23, 2013 Chief executive of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) Martin Wheatley will speak tonight about lessons learnt and challenges ahead for the financial world, highlighting the importance of fairness and cultural reform in preventing future crises. The regulator will say that there is no room for complacency, despite an improving situation: “poor conduct is still a [...]
Ex-ARM boss joins BT as non-exec October 23, 2013 Warren East, the former CEO of Cambridge based chip designers ARM Holdings, will BT as a non-executive director. That appointment will take effect from 1 February (release). East led the creation of ARM's Design Consulting and Development Tools business, and when it went public in 1998 he took up the role of vice president of [...]