Goals Soccer Centres lines up new pitches as sales increase January 15, 2014 GOALS Soccer Centres hopes to open more five-a-side football pitches this year after reporting a strong end to 2013. Overall sales for the year increased by three per cent to £33.5m and like-for-like sales were up by two per cent, in line with market expectations, the company said. Goals had delayed further new centre openings [...]
General Motors cautious about the year as new team takes reins January 15, 2014 GENERAL Motors’ new executive team expects a slight uptick in pre-tax profits this year, but said margins likely would remain flat until 2015. A new management team led by chief executive Mary Barra and president Dan Ammann took the reins yesterday, issuing a cautious outlook for the coming year ahead of a Deutsche Bank auto [...]
Rises in completions and orders build Taylor Wimpey’s confidence January 15, 2014 TAYLOR Wimpey yesterday became the latest housing firm to report a jump in the number of properties it built in the last year, buoyed by rising prices and the government’s Help to Buy policy. Total home completions increased by seven per cent to 11,696, of which 18 per cent were affordable housing completions. “We saw [...]
Firestone secures £136m funding January 15, 2014 Aim-quoted diamond miner Firestone Diamonds yesterday said that it has secured $222.4m (£136m) project financing to build and commission a main treatment plant at the Liqhobong diamond mine. The new funding includes an $82.4m loan from Africa’s Absa Bank. “Raising [the funds] is an outstanding achievement for a company of Firestone’s size, particularly given the [...]
HICL reshuffles its portfolio January 15, 2014 HICL Infrastructure Company yesterday said that it has acquired extra stakes in three existing investments – the Derby Schools, Newport Schools and Medway Police projects – and sold interests in the Dorset Police and Swindon Police projects, resulting in proceeds of £5.8m. The London-listed infrastructure investment firm will use the proceeds to reduce drawings under [...]
Good test results for African Barrick January 15, 2014 FTSE 250 miner African Barrick Gold yesterday said that exploratory drilling for gold at the Bulyanhulu project in Kenya had produced positive initial results, opening the potential for a significant expansion of the project. “With a number of potential growth projects effectively on hold, being able to add potentially mineable ounces at current projects would [...]
City Moves for 16 January 2014 | Who’s switching jobs January 15, 2014 Seddons The law firm has recruited James Ward as a partner in its private client team. He was most recently at Lee Bolton Monier-Williams, where he was a partner in its private client division. HSBC Private Bank The private bank has made two senior appointments. Paul O’Donnell joins as head of UK domestic. He has over 25 [...]
Best of the Brokers for 16 January 2014 January 15, 2014 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com WETHERSPOONS Brokers at Numis have increased their target price on the stock to 925p and put an “add” rating on the stock due to a faster rate of expansion at the pub chain and falling swap costs. The pub plans to open eight [...]
London Report: Upbeat investors help drive FTSE to eight-month high January 15, 2014 THE UK’S top equity index rose yesterday to set its highest closing level in eight months, as the World Bank’s upward revision of global growth forecasts buoyed the market. The blue-chip FTSE 100 index finished up by 0.8 per cent, or 53 points, at 6,819.86 points – marking its highest closing level since late May [...]
New York Report: S&P climbs to fresh record January 15, 2014 US stocks rose yesterday, with the S&P 500 climbing to an all-time closing high after strong earnings from Bank of America and data signalled that the economy was improving. Bank of America climbed 2.3 per cent to $17.15 and gave one of the biggest boosts to the S&P 500 after the second-largest US bank said [...]
