Promethean falls as it is hit by US school cuts October 4, 2012 SHARES in interactive whiteboard maker Promethean World plummeted yesterday, wiping more than 25 per cent off the company’s value, as the firm issued a fresh profit warning. Promethean, which generates most of its revenues from whiteboard sales to US schools, said it had not seen the boost it had expected during the start of the [...]
Premier splits bread into a separate unit October 3, 2012 PREMIER FOODS said yesterday it had hired Geoff Eaton, the former boss of puddings manufacturer Uniq, as its new chief operating officer while also announcing a further shake-up of its business. Eaton, who left Uniq after it was taken over by Greencore, will replace Tim Kelly, who left the company following a management reshuffle last [...]
Is Lamprell’s profit warning a bad omen for the company? October 3, 2012 ANDREW WHITTOCK | LIBERUM CAPITAL It’s a management change after another profit warning. More cost overruns will lead to a further (unquantified) downgrade to 2012 expectations. John Kennedy states very clearly that there will be changes in the senior management team to make the best of a fundamentally sound business. MALCOLM GRAHAM-WOOD | VSA CAPITAL [...]
Best of the Brokers October 3, 2012 RBS Investec has changed its rating from “sell” to “hold”. It said the stock appeared overpriced following a slow return on earnings recovery. The stock now has a target price of 255p CAPITA Shore Capital has retained its “sell” rating on the firm after Capita lost a contract from the Criminal Records Bureau, previously delivering [...]
Best of the Brokers October 2, 2012 HAMMERSON Investec has upgraded the group to “hold” from “sell” and raised its target price to 465p from 415p, given Hammerson’s “improved prospects” as it exits the office market to become a pure retail REIT. QINETIQ UBS raised its target price from 180p to 190p but kept its “neutral” rating, saying the uncertainty around the [...]
Gifford named as the new lord of the Mansion October 1, 2012 IT was all change in the City yesterday as Alderman Roger Gifford was elected as the 685th Lord Mayor of the City of London. Gifford got his shout out, quite literally, as tradition dictates eligible Sheriffs are paraded in front of the liverymen at the Guildhall before being voted in by the archaic tradition of [...]
Has Ite group’s update changed your view of the company? October 1, 2012 MALCOLM MORGAN | PEEL HUNT Like-for-like growth of 10 per cent is encouraging, but the guidance on budgeted exchange rates is less so and we will downgrade our annual profit forecast by five per cent. Underlying growth remains encouraging and hence we retain our “buy” recommendation and 274p target price. STEVE LIECHTI | INVESTEC The [...]
Analyst Views | How did Tate & Lyle fare in the first half? September 27, 2012 MARTIN DEBOO INVESTEC Tate’s second quarter represents something of an amuse-bouche ahead of feasts to come. But with the first half now in the bag, this reads as an upbeat statement to us, subject to the proviso that we are at the bottom end of consensus. ALICIA FORRY CANACCORD GENUITY Difficult market conditions in Europe [...]
Imagination falls on Texas fears September 26, 2012 Shares in British chip designer Imagination Technologies took an 8.6 per cent hit yesterday after key partner Texas Instruments said it would stop making processors for smartphones and tablets. Investec said the move from Texas Instruments – which uses Imagination designs for chips in devices such as Amazon’s Kindle Fire – could hit profits by [...]
Best of the Brokers September 26, 2012 DRAX Credit Suisse has upgraded the power station operator from “underperform” to “neutral” and upped the company’s share price target to 475p, saying its recent price drop has improved the value of the UK’s worst-performing utility stock. “We think we are getting close to tight reserve margins, hence higher power prices in the UK, and [...]