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 [...]
ANALYST VIEWS: WHAT IS THE OUTLOOK FOR SMITHS GROUP? September 28, 2011 JONATHAN JACKSON | KILLIK & CO The outlook remains weak, given the continued constraints on government spending, and the group will continue to focus on efficiency… Management hopes to further improve margins through R&D-driven product innovation, acquisitions and further expanding into emerging markets. SCOTT CAGEHIN | NUMIS The message is a consistent story of margin improvement, [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS September 28, 2011 Kleinwort Benson Mouhammed Choukeir has been appointed as chief investment officer at the private bank, effective from October. Choukeir moves from Morgan Stanley, where he was head of multi-asset class investing in the wealth management division. Prior to that, he was a fixed income and foreign exchange portfolio manager with Morgan Stanley, having originally joined [...]
PUB CHAIN TYCOONS IN CONCERT AT THE RACES September 27, 2011 ON Monday, the issue of concert parties on the shareholder register of Mitchells & Butlers resurfaced, after racing tycoons John Magnier and Derrick Smith issued a statement disclosing the size of their combined shareholding. Behind the scenes, the long-standing business associates – who have co-owned a string of racehorses – will get the chance to catch [...]
ANALYST VIEWS: WHAT DID YOU TAKE FROM DMGT’S RESULTS? September 27, 2011 LORNA TILBIAN | NUMIS The tone of DMGT’s conference call was one of cautious optimism. Management’s downgrading of guidance to the ‘lower end of the range’ was due to cover price discounting at the Mail on Sunday following NotW’s closure. JONATHAN JACKSON | KILLIK & CO The group has delivered a solid revenue performance, driven [...]
ANALYST VIEWS: ARE IMPERIAL TOBACCO SHARES GOOD VALUE? September 21, 2011 TINA COOK | CHARLES STANLEY The firm benefits from cost savings, supportive £500m share buyback and a commitment to progressively raise the dividend payout ratio from 50 per cent in 2011. Volumes have stabilised and pricing momentum remains intact. We remain comfortable with our accumulate recommendation. MARTIN DEBOO | INVESTEC Imperial needed to post a [...]
ANALYSTS’ VIEWS: IS THE BANK OF ENGLAND LEANING TOWARDS MORE QE? September 18, 2011 PHILIP SHAW | INVESTEC “We envisage the MPC restarting QE and see little reason to wait until November’s forecasting round. Expect the go ahead next month.” SAMUEL TOMBS | CAPITAL ECONOMICS “This week’s public debt figures should show the fiscal consolidation process being hampered by weak growth. That underlines the need for QE.” PHILIP RUSH [...]
Banks granted liquidity boost September 16, 2011 A POTENTIALLY unlimited amount of dollar liquidity is to be injected into banking markets throughout the world, five central banks announced yesterday. It is hoped the measure will boost money markets in the wake of the Eurozone debt crisis. The Bank of England, European Central Bank (ECB), US Federal Reserve, Bank of Japan and Swiss [...]