Best of the Brokers for 19 February 2013 February 18, 2013 ASSOCIATED BRITISH FOODS UBS has a buy rating on the clothing-to-sugar conglomerate and has raised its target price from 1,705p to 2,000p as currency tailwinds lift the firm. The broker also expects Primark to accelerate further this year, which combined with lower restructuring costs in grocery and ingredients should help deliver double digit earnings growth [...]
British Land in £143m bet on Ealing shoppers February 11, 2013 BRITISH LAND has snapped up a portfolio of London properties from Dutch investment firm Wereldhave for £183.8m, the property giant confirmed yesterday. The biggest asset in the portfolio is Ealing Broadway shopping centre in west London, which is anchored by retailers including Marks & Spencer and Primark and attracts 15m visitors each year. British Land [...]
Best of the Brokers February 4, 2013 ASSOCIATED BRITISH FOODS Shore Capital has downgraded the food and retail group Associated British Foods to “hold” with a target price of 1,762p following several years of sustained share price growth. This is “thoroughly merited given the outperformance of Primark, and the high valuation such a fast growing international retailer should demand” but the broker [...]
FTSE 100 up as Chinese growth recovers January 18, 2013 The FTSE 100 was firmly up in early deals this morning, as it was lifted by headline natural resources shares on the back of a rebound in Chinese growth. The Chinese economy expanded by 7.9 per cent in the fourth quarter, coming in above expectations and marking an uptick from the 7.4 per cent recorded [...]
Primark helps boost AB Foods’ revenues January 17, 2013 PRIMARK, the budget clothing retailer, has outsmarted its rivals on the high street after reporting a 25 per cent increase in sales yesterday. Its parent company Associated British Foods (ABF) said the launch of 14 new stores in Spain, the UK, Austria, Germany and the Netherlands helped to lift sales in the 16 weeks to [...]
FTSE hits another 4.5 year peak as afternoon session scares off bears January 17, 2013 BRITAIN’S blue-chip shares reversed early losses to hit a four and a half year high yesterday after several big fallers bounced back to expunge sellers from the market. Banks gained 0.9 and are now up around 2.5 per cent since the previous session’s lows, boosted by forecast-beating earnings from JP Morgan Chase and Goldman Sachs [...]
Rio Tinto drags FTSE 100 down January 17, 2013 Mining giant Rio Tinto weighed heavily on the FTSE 100 this morning, trading down around 3.5 per cent. This morning it said chief executive Tom Albanese would step down following a $14bn impairment charge relating to several acquisitions. Charles Gibson, head of mining at Edison Investment Research, said this morning: “When a company writes off [...]
Little Christmas cheer for retail January 14, 2013 Chief Market Strategist, Cantor Index THE official retail activity figures, which are posted monthly or at specific times like Christmas, are accurate but often indecipherable to the layman. The small print is where the message is. And the most recent figures suggest that Christmas was great for some, but brutal for others. The situation was [...]
Flailing high street has worse to come in the year ahead January 6, 2013 AFTER holding their breath for the last few weeks, some retailers can at last allow themselves a cautious sigh of relief. Positive sales numbers from the likes of John Lewis and Next have given the sector a much-needed dose of optimism, resulting in a slight hike in share prices for some of the larger players. [...]
What the other papers say this morning December 17, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES Insurers warn regulators on reforms Insurers are conducting a war of words with regulators trying to prevent a repeat of AIG’s collapse, as the industry makes a last-ditch effort to avoid capital surcharges. US banks call for easing of Basel III US banks are making a last-minute push to ease new global liquidity [...]