Investec set to unveil Evo takeover deal September 8, 2011 EVOLUTION Group hopes to announce as soon as today that Anglo-South African bank Investec has won the race to take over the financial group for around £220m. Investec is thought to be paying more than 100p a share to buy the business. Talk of an imminent deal was enough to boost Evolution’s shares three per [...]
ANALYST VIEWS: ARE THINGS LOOKING UP FOR HOME RETAIL GROUP? September 8, 2011 DAVID JEARY | INVESTEC Our initial estimates suggest that Argos is likely to make a small operating loss in the first-half. This is certainly not conducive to more positive sentiment and the debate on its weak performance… will not therefore abate. PHILIP DORGAN | PANMURE GORDON It looks likely that group profits will fall for [...]
Smartphone demand boosts parts maker IQE September 7, 2011 IQE, a supplier of materials for semiconductors, has posted a 28 per cent rise in first-half profit due to surging demand for smartphones, its most important end-market. IQE posted pre-tax profit of £2.8m on revenue up 16 per cent to £38.3m, and said it was on track to meet full-year expectations. Chief executive Drew Nelson [...]
Fenner predicts a year of big growth September 6, 2011 INDUSTRIAL conveyor belt maker Fenner forecast full-year results ahead of market expectations after strong trading in its fourth quarter. The firm said yesterday trading in the final quarter to 31 August had been particularly robust in both the conveyor belting and advanced engineering products divisions. Fenner said it would end the year with net debt [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS September 6, 2011 Emap International Duncan Painter has been appointed as chief executive of the publisher and events business to replace David Gilbertson, who stepped down in May. Painter is currently managing director of the BSkyB subsidiary Sky IQ, which provides customer intelligence services to BSkyB and FTSE 100 firms including Centrica and Zurich Financial Services. Previous roles [...]
European Central Bank faces pressure to cut interest rates September 4, 2011 WORSENING economic data has shifted the European Central Bank’s (ECB) focus towards new interest rate cuts. The headline rate currently stands at 1.5 per cent following increases in April and July. Since then inflation expectations have slightly fallen and growth has ground to a halt. The German economy grew by just 0.1 per cent in [...]
Banks rally but City frets over ringfence August 30, 2011 BRITISH banks’ share prices rallied dramatically yesterday as London played catch up with world markets after Monday’s holiday. Analysts said that investors were pricing in the possibility of further quantitative easing due to the Federal Reserve’s September meeting being extended from one to two days. But UK lenders were also helped by a bullish note [...]
Computacenter half year profits up 25pc August 30, 2011 IT firm Computacenter said it was on track for the year after product sales in Germany and France and continued overall demand for IT services delivered a 25 per cent rise in first-half pretax profit. The company, which counts Lloyds Banking Group as a customer, posted adjusted pretax profit of £26.6n on group revenue, including [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS August 29, 2011 IMI Panmure Gordon rates the engineering group as a “buy” and reduces its target price from 1320p to 1250p, based on a revision of its earnings estimates over the next two years. The broker sees less growth in its fluid power division than previously thought, and reduces 2012 and 2013 forecasts by four per cent. [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS August 25, 2011 JOHN WOOD GROUP Investec rates the oil and gas group as “hold” with a target price of 689p, and has revisited its forecasts for the company following its recent results. The broker anticipates a stronger performance by the engineering division, in addition to lower costs and a lower tax rate, and so raises both 2012 [...]