Best of the Brokers for 19 September 2014 September 18, 2014 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com ROYAL MAIL Investec has kept at “hold”, but cut the target price to 430p from 490p. The broker thinks the stock is at a crossroads, with Royal Mail hit on several fronts in recent months, but Investec still expects the transformation programme to [...]
Analyst Views: What do you make of the delays to DMGT’s risk management software? September 17, 2014 IAN WHITTAKER | LIBERUM Management now realise they will be under intense pressure to deliver and they have taken the concrete step of impairing the assets and formulating a new timetable. Thus, for investors looking for the longer term, we would recommend buying at these levels. STEVE LIECHTI | INVESTEC The outlook was reconfirmed with [...]
Smiths takes a tumble after 11pc profit fall September 17, 2014 MULTINATIONAL engineering firm Smiths Group saw its shares fall the most of all companies on the FTSE 100 yesterday, as it revealed its pre-tax profits had plummeted 11 per cent in the last year to £445m. Smiths Group shares fell six per cent yesterday to finish on 1,268p, as the engineering firm said the strength [...]
City Moves for 17 September 2014 | Who’s switching jobs September 16, 2014 Killik & Co The stockbroker has appointed Jon Simmons as business development manager. He joins from Schroders, where he was sales manager in its financial institutions and strategic accounts team. Simmons has also held roles at Cazenove Capital Management and Invesco Perpetual. M&G Real Estate Lucy Williams has been appointed director, institutional business for UK [...]
UBS and Goldman Sachs left red-faced by AngloGold Ashanti $2.1bn float flop September 15, 2014 Proposals for a new London-listed mining spin-off worth £3bn hit the dust yesterday, as shareholders at one of the world’s top gold miners revolted over a $2.1bn (£1.3bn) rights issue key to the massive restructuring. South Africa-based AngloGold Ashanti was forced into a U-turn just five days after it announced it would spin off [...]
British software firm Micro Focus acquires US rival The Attachmate Group September 15, 2014 FTSE 250-listed software company Micro Focus International is to buy privately-owned US rival The Attachmate Group in an all-share deal valuing the combined firms at $2.35bn (£1.45bn). Micro Focus said yesterday that following the reverse takeover, its shareholders would own about 60 per cent of the equity in the new group which would be [...]
Best of the Brokers for 15 September 2014 September 14, 2014 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com JD WETHERSPOON Investec has kept its “buy” rating, but upped the target price to 885p from 870p. The broker says full year results were just ahead of expectations, and that cash generation remains strong, while the current year has started well with a [...]
London Report: Scotland and MPC minutes the main focus for the City September 14, 2014 ALL EYES will be on the result of Thursday’s Scottish referendum, with market watchers keen to know whether or not the 300-year-old union will continue. As far as more normal risk events are concerned, the main one will be Wednesday’s release of the latest set of MPC meeting minutes. That will be complemented by the [...]
Boohoo share price soars after reporting accelerating sales growth September 12, 2014 Boohoo's share price soared six per cent this morning after revealing revenues will be up nearly a third for its first half. The etailer, which went public in March, is expecting revenues to rise 31 per cent to £67m for the six months to August 31, it said in a trading update this morning, [...]
London listing to raise $2.1bn for AngloGold September 10, 2014 SOUTH African mining giant AngloGold Ashanti yesterday announced plans to raise $2.1bn (£1.3bn) in a rights issue and spin its international assets into a new London-listed company. The Johannesburg-based mining firm, created by a merger between AngloGold and Ashanti in 2004, revealed it would focus on its core South African operations after the asset spin [...]