Best of the Brokers for 11 September 2014 September 10, 2014 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com ROYAL BANK OF SCOTLAND Investec has upgraded to “hold” from “sell”, and raised the target price to 355p from 340p. Investec expects a no vote in the Scottish referendum to ease recent share underperformance, and continues to expect a gradual recovery across RBS’s [...]
Best of the Brokers for 08 September 2014 September 7, 2014 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com BP Investec has kept its “Hold” rating, but cut the target price to 440p from 460p. Investec thinks the market has moved quickly to factor in the likelihood of higher than expected fines as a result of the recent Deepwater Horizon ruling, but [...]
Analyst Views: What did you think of Supergroup’s recent trading performance? September 4, 2014 KATE CALVERT | INVESTEC SuperGroup’s slightly better-than-expected first quarter performance should reassure that the UK is solid and the long-term growth story intact. Encouragingly like-for-likes are positive in the second quarter to date…we believe the company is on the right trajectory to achieve our forecasts. JOHN STEVENSON | PEEL HUNT Like-for-like sales were in line [...]
Bank of England MPC votes to keep interest rates at record low September 4, 2014 The Bank of England's monetary policy committee has done just what everyone was expecting, and held rates where they are at 0.5 per cent. The minutes of last month's meeting revealed the nine-person panel had been split seven to two in favour of leaving rates at their historic lows, and it is considered unlikely that [...]
Eurozone PMI in graphs: Spain and Ireland report strong services growth, while France and Italy lag behind September 3, 2014 More economic problems for France and Italy. Both countries slipped in to contractionary territory in the Markit PMI stakes, recording composite (manufacturing and services) scores below the 50 point that indicates growth. The Eurozone overall posted at 52.5, revised down from 52.8. BNP Paribas has suggested that the downward revision points to mid-month events affecting [...]
Bank veteran Liz Airey to orbit Jupiter Fund Management as chair steps back September 2, 2014 Jupiter Fund Management swapped one investment banking veteran for another yesterday after its chairman was forced to retire due to ill health. Former SG Warburg financer Liz Airey was appointed chairman after incumbent Jamie Dundas, a former Morgan Grenfell banker, was forced to step down. Dundas, who is 63 and also a non-executive [...]
Barclays’ Spanish sell-off gets positive response despite loss September 1, 2014 BARCLAYS was given a generally positive response from analysts and shareholders yesterday to the sale of most of its Spanish arm, as the bank pursues a major restructuring including disposal of non-core assets. Spain’s third largest bank Caixabank will pay €800m for parts of Barclays Spanish business, but Barclays revealed it will make a £500m [...]
Beer of the realm: Cobra founder Lord Bilimoria talks creativity, GM crops and cracking pubs August 31, 2014 If you haven’t enjoyed a Cobra beer yourself, you’ve probably had a curry with someone who has. Karan Bilimoria founded Cobra Beer in 1989. It’s a well-documented story by now: the entrepreneur and life peer saw the need for a beer that was less gassy than lager but not as heavy as ale. Cobra claims [...]
All is well at Spire Healthcare as shares rise on thriving revenues August 28, 2014 Spire Healthcare saw its shares jump up 7.7 per cent yesterday, as it reported a solid rise in revenues in the first half of the year, in its first results since floating last month. Revenue at Spire, which runs 39 private hospitals and 13 clinics in the UK, rose 10.5 per cent in the first [...]
Best of the Brokers for 29 August 2014 August 28, 2014 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com N BROWN GROUP Investec has kept a “buy” rating, but cut the target price to 520p from 550p. The broker thinks while there are a plethora of new initiatives, the benefits from the implementation of a more retail and marketing-led trading strategy are [...]