ANALYST VIEWS DOES MARKS & SPENCER’S STATEMENT AFFECT YOUR FORECASTS FOR NEXT YEAR ? April 17, 2012 BETHANY HOCKING INVESTEC Fourth quarter trading figures are weak but cost savings appear to have saved the day, with no change to full year expectations… For 2013 we have the first guidance – net this is negative, with cost growth worst than our forecast. The only good news is the downgraded capex guidance. Overall, however, [...]
CITY MOVES WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS April 17, 2012 Symvan Securities The corporate finance house has announced that Shamim Mansoor has joined as a mining analyst. Mansoor arrives from HSBC, where she served as vice-president global metals and mining. She previously worked for five years at Investec. CapQuest CapQuest, specialists in the purchase, management and collection of consumer debt, has appointed Bill Flynn as [...]
BEST of the BROKERS April 17, 2012 HIKMA UBS has upgraded the pharma group from “neutral” to “buy” with a target price of 755p, saying that a recent fall in the share price seems to already reflect expected changes to 2012-13 consensus. The broker still sees downside risk of 10 per cent and six per cent for 2012/13 respectively, but sees the [...]
CITY MOVES WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS April 16, 2012 Fleming Family & Partners The private equity firm has appointed two new investment directors. Llewellyn John joins from Nova Capital Management, where he was associate partner. He previously worked at Deloitte from 1999 to 2006, and reached the position of assistant director within corporate finance. Dan Walker has been promoted to investment director, following four [...]
BEST of the BROKERS April 16, 2012 ABERDEEN ASSET MANAGEMENT JP Morgan says that the asset manager remains its top pick in the sector, but notes that its strong performance in the year to date has been driven by estimate upgrades rather than a re-rating. The share price is now 18 per cent higher than at the start of the year – [...]
BEST of the BROKERS April 15, 2012 BURBERRY UBS rates the fashion brand “neutral” with a target price of £15.80. The broker expects constant currency sales growth of 16.5 per cent for the quarter when the firm reports tomorrow, down from 23.7 per cent in the rest of the financial year thanks to tougher comparatives. DEBENHAMS Deutsche Bank has a “hold” rating [...]
Startup Britons: Pitch to Branson April 15, 2012 RESEARCH released to launch the Nectar Business Small Business Awards suggests that over a quarter (28 per cent) of Brits claim to have an idea for a completely new invention or service. Of course, every idea isn’t a winner, but for those that would like to see if they have what it takes there are [...]
ANALYST VIEWS IS THERE HOPE FOR MOTHERCARE REVIVING ITS UK BUSINESS? April 12, 2012 JOHN STEVENSON PEEL HUNT Mothercare left no surprises, with full year profit expectations unchanged. On strategy, Mothercare announces incremental cost savings and store closures. Mothercare UK is not loss making solely due to its store base; we believe the problems centre on product and price, which are not mentioned today. ANDREW WADE NUMIS The update [...]
Melrose execs sell on shares after windfall April 12, 2012 DIRECTORS at manufacturing buyout firm Melrose sold shares worth nearly £69m yesterday in order to raise cash to pay tax on their long-term incentive awards. Stock amounting to four per cent of the firm’s total share capital was placed with institutional investors through an accelerated bookbuild managed by Investec. Directors were given stock worth £126m [...]
ADVISERS INVESTEC April 12, 2012 KEITH Anderson and Chris Baird of Investec advised Melrose on yesterday’s secondary share placing. Anderson is co-head of corporate broking at Investec and has advised a range of top clients on their finances. He and Baird were recently appointed as a broker to Halma, a FTSE 250 UK technology provider, having advised the firm in [...]