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 [...]
Diamond is fighting the pay row with rearguard political action April 26, 2012 DO not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance,” Investec analyst Ian Gordon wrote to investors before Barclays chief Bob Diamond unveiled a strong rise in profits yesterday. Thus far, this year, Diamond is on course to deliver. Or, in Bob’s more prosaic American language: “Execute, execute, execute.” Having set ambitious returns [...]
IS SHELL’S STRATEGY WORKING AND WHAT IS THE OUTLOOK FOR 2012? April 26, 2012 TONY SHEPARD | CHARLES STANLEY We expect outperformance to continue providing Shell delivers on its growth strategy. The increased guidance on disposals should be well received and will help to pay for the $1.8bn bid for Cove Energy. STUART JOYNER | INVESTEC Shell’s results were better than expected. Refining continues to be a drag, with [...]
Tidal Bay and Knighton Combe are the value calls in Bet365 Gold Cup April 26, 2012 ANOTHER season of National Hunt racing draws to a damp end at Sandown tomorrow and the Bet365 Gold Cup (3.10pm) looks set to be run on bottomless ground. At the time of writing, the going at the Esher track was described as heavy and I am not sure that the meeting would survive another deluge. [...]
WILL STANDARD LIFE’S SHARE PRICE GO UP DURING 2012? April 25, 2012 BARRIE CORNES PANMURE GORDON The market remains challenging but the company is probably one of the best equipped in terms of the challenges posed by the introduction of the Retail Distribution Review later this year. HOLD. KEVIN RYAN INVESTEC The star was the core UK business which was nine per cent down at £3.6bn. We [...]
BEST of the BROKERS April 25, 2012 ARM HOLDINGS Investec maintains its “buy” rating on the microchip maker because of good long-term prospects. The target price is static at 800p, due to the last quarter’s “uneventful” results and no catalysts on the horizon. Costs were slightly higher than expected, and foreign exchange movements have prompted a modest forecast cut for the full [...]
Shell makes a £1.1bn offer to acquire Cove April 24, 2012 SHELL yesterday announced that it had agreed to sweeten its bid for Cove Energy with a $1.8bn (£1.1bn) cash offer. Cove’s directors have recommended that shareholders accept the bid rather than an equivalent offer from Thai state-controlled oil firm PTTEP. Chief executive John Craven and two other directors are in line for a combined windfall [...]
ARE ARM’S RESULTS AS YOU HAD EXPECTED? April 24, 2012 JONATHAN JACKSON KILLIK & CO Processor royalties were impacted by the industry-wide issues of slower HDD sales in the fourth quarter of last year following supply chain disruptions caused by flooding in Thailand. Management expect revenue for 2012 to be in line with consensus as shipments recover over the course of the year. PAUL MORLAND [...]