BEST OF THE BROKERS October 18, 2011 LAMPRELL Investec said its target price of 393p is “under review” after the engineer firmed up an order to build two jackup oil rigs for Abu Dhabi’s National Drilling Company. Investec believes the deal will renew investor confidence in the stock. SARANTEL Merchant Securities rates the antennae manufacturer as “hold” maintaining its target price of [...]
ANALYSTS’ VIEWS: WILL SEPTEMBER’S INFLATION HIT 5PC? October 16, 2011 PHILIP SHAW | INVESTEC “September’s inflation will jump to 5.1 per cent, thanks mainly to sharp increase in gas and electricity prices. However, we are hopeful that inflation will fall back below five per cent next month and drop through three per cent in the first half of 2012.” KEN WATTRET | BNP PARIBAS “CPI [...]
ANALYST VIEWS: CAN BURBERRY MAINTAIN ITS SALES MOMENTUM? October 12, 2011 RICHARD HUNTER HARGREAVES LANSDOWN The company intends to continue its expansion plans, whilst remaining flexible in tapping on the brakes should circumstances dictate. Continuing investment in its business will of course weigh on profit in the medium term, whilst the company could become a victim of its own success given increasingly tough comparatives. Even so, [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS October 11, 2011 VODAFONE Investec notes that the Indian authorities published a draft policy for telecoms this week. While lacking in some details, it believes there are many positives to be taken from the policy changes for Vodafone. It says India is an emerging positive catalyst for the Vodafone investment story. It reiterates its “buy” recommendation, maintaining a [...]
YouGov profit surges as its US unit grows October 10, 2011 YouGov saw its full year profits soar as key acquisitions hit the ground running. The online market research company saw its adjusted pre-tax profit rise 43 per cent to £5.8m, boosted by a strong performance in the US, which now represents its largest market. Revenue there rose 230 per cent after the integration of Harrison [...]
CITY STAR FORCES UP MAGNIER’S NEXT BID October 5, 2011 HE MAY yet succeed in snapping up Mitchells & Butlers on the cheap, but there were no bargains for racing tycoon John Magnier at the Tattersalls bloodstock auction in Newmarket yesterday. Forcing Magnier’s hand on Lot 35 was Lawrie Inman, the 30-year-old superstar futures trader, whose bid of 500,000 guineas pushed the Irish billionaire into [...]
Flybe plunges after it warns on its profits October 5, 2011 REGIONAL airline group Flybe yesterday saw its shares plummet by 36 per cent after it slashed guidance for its 2012 profits, due to a slowdown in demand on domestic flights. In its second profit warning this year, Flybe said revenues in the six months to October were one per cent behind management’s expectations while costs [...]
Short sellers aim for Next and Glencore on FTSE 100 October 3, 2011 FASHION retailer Next was the most shorted stock on the FTSE 100 in September as investors bet its share price would be dented by further pain on the high street, data from Data Explorers yesterday showed. Investors, primarily hedge funds, borrowed close to eight per cent of Next’s shares to take short positions as retail [...]
ANALYST VIEWS: WHAT DO THE FIGURES MEAN FOR AVANTI? October 3, 2011 MORTEN SINGLETON | INVESTEC Avanti has posted weak contract order backlog growth. There are positive comments about demand being there and in the pipeline, but the contract order backlog has barely moved in six months. On preliminary reading, we see nothing to get too enthused about. Hold maintained. JULIAN MORSE | CENKOS Avanti has delivered [...]
Eurozone deal fails to breathe new life into markets September 30, 2011 The FTSE 100 opened down today as action to increase the Eurozone’s bailout fund failed to breathe new life into global markets. World stocks fell with European shares set to post their biggest quarterly decline since the collapse of Lehman Brothers three years ago, as investors grappled with a slowdown in global growth and the [...]