O’Brien considers Camelot in fine fettle for his joust on the Downs May 14, 2012 SINCE saddling High Chaparral to win the 2002 Derby, Aidan O’Brien has had 39 unsuccessful attempts at landing flat racing’s biggest prize and has got used to leaving Epsom somewhat humbled in recent years. However, the master of Ballydoyle has, in the shape of recent 2000 Guineas winner Camelot, a horse talented enough to end [...]
BEST of the BROKERS May 14, 2012 LOGICA Deutsche Bank has upgraded the business and technology service company from “hold” to “buy” with an target price of 100p after stable first quarter growth and guidance that full year revenue is on track. PEARSON JP Morgan Cazenove has kept its “overweight” rating on the publisher and upped its target price from 1,440p to [...]
Rank to be UK’s top casino firm after Gala deal May 13, 2012 RANK Group has agreed to buy a string of casinos from rival firm Gala Coral just six weeks after walking away from initial negotiations. The £205m cash deal will mean Rank becomes Great Britain’s largest casino operator, with its 35-strong Grosvenor brand enhanced by an additional 23 venues from Gala. The discussions were publicised in [...]
FTSE lurches higher after a volatile day of bank and commodity swings May 10, 2012 A BOUNCE back by risk-sensitive banks and commodity stocks hauled Britain’s stock index higher yesterday after a roller-coaster session, with worries over the global growth outlook easing following benign US jobless claims. At the close, the FTSE 100 index was up 13.90 points, or 0.3 per cent at 5,543.95, holding above key technical support at [...]
Balding’s Bonfire can light up Chester in the Dee Stakes May 10, 2012 THE wet weather continues to cause havoc with the racing calendar and the atrocious ground all over the country makes betting pretty unattractive at present. There are so many non-runners at the meetings that do survive meaning constant rule fours and changing each-way terms. That said, Andrew Balding’s BONFIRE looks a rock-solid proposition in the [...]
CITY MOVES WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS May 9, 2012 Assura Group The primary healthcare group has announced that Jenefer Greenwood has been appointed non-executive director with immediate effect. Greenwood is currently director of sales and lettings for Grosvenor Britain and Ireland and is also member of the board for the Crown Estate, where she chairs its remuneration committee. She will replace Claire Hollingsworth as [...]
BEST of the BROKERS May 8, 2012 BALFOUR BEATTY Investec rates the construction firm “sell” but has raised its target price from 185p to 210p. While trading remains weak, and the broker expects earnings “significantly below” last year’s results, Investec has revised its cash and pension deficit forecasts, giving the shares a higher fair value. AIR FRANCE-KLM UBS rates the airline “neutral” [...]
French can upset Ballydoyle hotpots in this weekend’s opening Classics May 3, 2012 THE QIPCO British Champions Series, now in its second year, is designed to throw the spotlight on Britain’s best flat races and the first of the 35-race programme is tomorrow afternoon’s 2000 Guineas. Even though Aidan O’Brien hasn’t saddled the winner of the opening Classic of the season since Henrythenavigator back in 2008, the Ballydoyle [...]
HOW DO YOU RATE SHARES IN ABERDEEN ASSET MANAGEMENT? April 30, 2012 DAVID MCCANN NUMIS The 4.4p interim dividend is better than consensus 4.1p, but behind our 5.2p estimate. However, we still expect to maintain our 11p total dividend forecast for this year (i.e. a higher final compensating for the lower interim) given the strong earnings momentum… Aberdeen remains a top pick. ARUN MELMANE INVESTEC We raise [...]
BEST of the BROKERS April 30, 2012 RANDGOLD RESOURCES Nomura has downgraded the gold miner from “neutral” to “reduce” and cut its target price from 7115p to 6970p, surprised that despite a structural shift in political risk due to a recent coup in Mali, Randgold’s de-rating has only been generally in line with wider market sell-off. CARPHONE WAREHOUSE UBS has left its [...]