Burberry leads FTSE 100 up October 11, 2012 The blue chip index was up in early trading, led by fashion retailer Burberry and UK banking shares. The collapse of the merger talks between BAE and EADS and Direct Line’s £2.62bn float were the main talking points this morning. Nat Rothschild’s Bumi rose 15.35 per cent in early trading on the mid-cap index, as [...]
Burberry leads FTSE 100 up October 11, 2012 The blue chip index was up in early trading, led by fashion retailer Burberry and UK banking shares. The collapse of the merger talks between BAE and EADS and Direct Line’s £2.62bn float were the main talking points this morning. Nat Rothschild’s Bumi rose 15.35 per cent in early trading on the mid-cap index, as [...]
Best of the Brokers September 13, 2012 KINGFISHER Morgan Stanley rates the retailer “overweight” with a price target of 325p. Analysts have set out 10 questions for management to answer following lacklustre interim results, including why B&Q’s profitability has fallen and whether Screwfix could expand into new markets. Morgan Stanley also flags up the prospect of a long-term buyback strategy given Kingfisher’s [...]
DS Smith chairman steps down January 4, 2012 DS Smith’s chairman Peter Johnson is standing down after almost 12 years at the firm. Johnson left his post temporarily in October to care for his ill wife. He will be replaced by non-executive director Gareth Davis, who also chairs Wolseley and William Hill and was previously chief executive at Imperial Tobacco.
DS Smith in £1.3bn deal for packager January 17, 2012 DS Smith is buying the recycled packaging operations of Svenska Cellulosa Aktiebolaget for €1.6bn (£1.3bn) in a move to secure more business from the world’s top consumer goods companies. The company said the acquisition, which excludes two mills in Sweden that use virgin pulp, would be financed by a combination of debt and £466m from [...]
UK focus on ECB meeting outcome September 2, 2012 THURSDAY will be the highlight of the week for economists, with all eyes on results of the European Central Bank policy meeting. While the market waits to hear the latest plans to fix the Eurozone’s debt problem, the Bank of England will also be announcing its latest interest rate decision and asset purchase plan. However, [...]
DS Smith sees second-half growth December 7, 2011 Packaging company DS Smith yesterday posted higher first-half pre-tax profit on improved volumes, better selling prices and an acquisition, and said it expected further volume increases in the second half. For the six months to 31 October, the company’s pre-tax profit rose to £42.8m from £35.6m last year. Revenue rose 26 per cent to £1.03bn.
DS Smith cheers rising turnover October 27, 2011 Shares in recycled packaging company DS Smith climbed more than five per cent yesterday after it said like-for-like sales of its key corrugated products in the first half of its current financial year had climbed three per cent on a year ago. The company said the improvement was against tough comparatives from last year and was [...]
DS Smith sells another paper mill September 19, 2011 Office products manufacturer DS Smith announced yesterday that its paper business is selling one of its UK paper mills to Asia File Corporation Berhad for £4.6m. The mill, located in Devon, produces educational and filing papers and makes 34,000 tonnes of paper each year. Earlier this year DS Smith said it was closing its larger Hollins paper [...]
DS Smith says trading positive September 6, 2011 BRITISH packaging and office products company DS Smith said its first-quarter trading was good, driven by a successful acquisition and resilience in the fast-moving consumer goods market, and said it was confident in trading outlook for the year. The producer of recycled packaging said like-for-like volumes in corrugated packaging were up three per cent and [...]