UK housebuilders lifted by a rise in profits as market improves May 11, 2011 BRITISH housebuilders Barratt and Bovis Homes both said they expected to report a rise in profit after a pick-up in sales, although activity will remain limited by tight mortgage availability. Barratt Developments, Britain’s largest housebuilder by volume, said yesterday sales rates returned to normal levels from 1 January to 8 May, with private selling prices [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS May 9, 2011 GREAT PORTLAND UBS has downgraded the property firm from “neutral” to “sell” and has raised its target price by 40p to 390p. The broker thinks the current share price is forward-looking, and does not allow for much execution risk in Great Portland’s ambitious development plans in the City and West End. However, it thinks strong [...]
THE WEEK AHEAD in association with GFT May 8, 2011 COMPANY NEWS ● Today, energy company Centrica delivers a trading statement and holds its AGM. ● Also today, HSBC delivers its first quarter trading update. The update includes more financial details than previous quarterly updates. Pre-tax profits are expected to rise. ● Serco also holds its AGM today. The FTSE 100 company was founded in [...]
THE TIPSTER February 27, 2011 FTSE 250 house builder Barratt Developments released a statement that sales have been strong since the start of the year, and losses amounted to £4.6m compared to £178m losses last year. The firm has cut its net debt by 11 per cent to £537m. It is forecast to fall to £400m within a few months. [...]
Barratt upbeat on house sales February 24, 2011 Housebuilder Barratt Developments said sales had picked up since the start of the year, as it posted losses of £4.6m – down from a £178m loss a year ago as the recession hammered house sales. Barratt said that while the tough mortgage market continued to dampen its trading figures, the firm’s focus on prices rather [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS January 18, 2011 Fuller, Smith & Turner The brewer has appointed Lynn Fordham, chief executive of FTSE 250 private investment manager SVG Capital, to its board as a non-executive director. She will join both the remuneration and audit committees in addition to her seat on the board. Fordham has previously held senior financial, strategic and operational roles at [...]
Bullish corporate results bolster FTSE January 18, 2011 THE FTSE rose healthily today and though it gave back some of the gains in the afternoon it closed in the black, up 1.18 per cent or 65.10 to 6,050.80. Banks boosted trading as conditions in the eurozone continued to stabilise, while Burberry was in demand after releasing excellent third-quarter results that showed revenues rose [...]
Barratt sales hurt by lack of mortgages January 12, 2011 HOUSEBUILDER Barratt Develop-ments said sales fell 4.4 per cent in the last six months of the year, a loss the company pinned partly on the lack of mortgage lending. Chief executive Mark Clare said house sales during autumn were disappointing, as potential customers were also deterred by the government’s spending review and later by the [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS January 11, 2011 BARRATT DEVELOPMENTS Panmure Gordon rates the housebuilder “buy” at a 147p target price as it believes the stock is the lowest-valued in the sector. It says Barratt has improved its operating performance, reduced costs and improved the quality of its offering since 2007, and the broker expects Barratt’s share price to rise to reflect this [...]
THE TIPSTER January 10, 2011 THE share price of Tullow Oil continues to eye the £14 mark, a move that would take the stock to fresh all-time highs. Buoyant crude prices are doubtless helping the sector as a whole but with some recent positive drilling updates having also been seen, the company is certainly starting the new year on the [...]