BEST OF THE BROKERS December 13, 2011 CSR Morgan Stanley rates the chipmaker as “equal-weight” with a target price of 250p, following the company’s announcement yesterday that it is halting its investment in the digital television and tuner side of its business. As a consequence, the broker lowers its 2012 and 2013 revenue forecasts by $50m and $100m respectively, and operating expenses [...]
US retail sales growth weak in November December 13, 2011 US retail sales grew less than forecast in November, tempering some of the expectations for a strong holiday season that had been raised by signs of bumper Thanksgiving weekend sales. Total retail sales increased 0.2 per cent after rising by an upwardly revised 0.6 per cent in October, as less spending on food and beverages [...]
Eurozone bond yields fall at auction December 13, 2011 Eurozone government bond yields have fallen today at auctions of new debt by Spain and Belgium, but investors remain nervous as fears mount that sovereign credit ratings will be downgraded soon. Spain’s Treasury easily sold €4.9bn (£4.1bn) of 12- and 18-month Treasury bills, above the top end of the targeted range, at rates of almost [...]
Petrofac ups profits guidance to 20pc December 13, 2011 British oil services firm Petrofac upped its profit guidance for this year and said a $10.6bn (£6.7bn) order backlog gave it the confidence to predict strong growth in 2012. Petrofac, which designs and builds oil and gas infrastructure and also invests with producers in oil fields, said it expected to report like-for-like 2011 net profit [...]
Inflation falls to 4.8pc December 13, 2011 The (CPI) inflation figure in the UK fell to 4.8 per cent in November, down from five per cent the month before, according to the Office for National Statistics. Retail Prices Index (RPI) inflation – which includes mortgage interest payments – fell to 5.2 per cent from 5.4 per cent. The fall was partly due [...]
Whitbread sales growth slows in tough economy December 13, 2011 Britain’s biggest hotel operator WhitbreaD said its sales growth had slowed in the third quarter as tough economic conditions kept customers away from its Premier Inn hotels and Costa Coffee shops, which had previously proved resilient. The group, which also owns the Beefeater and Brewers Fayre pub restaurant chains, said on Tuesday sales at outlets [...]
Thomas Cook sells Spanish chain for £61m December 13, 2011 Thomas Cook said it had sold its Spanish hotel chain Hotels Y Clubs De Vacaciones (ICV) to Grupo Iberostar for 72.2 million euros (£61m) as part of its plans to cut debt. HCV is being sold with net debt of 22.4m euros so the transaction will reduce Thomas Cook’s net debt by 94.6m euros. “We [...]
Switzerland cuts growth forecast December 13, 2011 The Swiss government has reduced its 2012 growth forecast, saying the Eurozone crisis had taken its toll. The forecast growth rate was cut from 0.9 per cent to 0.5 per cent. But the country is not expected to lunge into recession.
Deutsche Boerse and NYSE send EU case for merger December 13, 2011 NYSE Euronext and Deutsche Boerse have sent proposals to European competition authorities to address their concerns over a merger of the two exchange operators, they said in a statement. “The parties have strengthened their original proposal with respect to European single equity derivatives by increasing the assets to be included in the divestiture, and to [...]
MARKETS HIT AS EURO HOPES FADE December 12, 2011 GLOBAL markets were shaken yesterday as fears returned that governments will not manage to save the Eurozone. The honeymoon period that followed last week’s euro deal proved all too brief, making way yesterday afternoon for a show of bitter disappointment from traders. Stocks fell sharply, peripheral Eurozone economies saw their bond yields soar towards the [...]