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 [...]
ANALYST VIEWS: WERE BHP’S RESULTS IN LINE WITH EXPECTATIONS? August 24, 2011 CHRIS HEYHOE | INVESTEC BHP was marginally ahead of consensus figures due to strong iron ore and petroleum results, with attributable profit seven per cent above consensus, partly down to positive change in tax provisions and liabilities. Although we expect prices and earnings will be volatile, BHP looks strongly positioned for 2012. DOMINIC O’KANE | [...]
Miners and energy firms push FTSE to week’s highest close August 24, 2011 Strong miners and energy stocks helped drive Britain’s top share index to its highest close in a week yesterday in choppy trade as investors jostled for position ahead of a speech by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Friday. Traders pointed to continued speculation that the Fed could unveil a further round of US quantitative [...]
Market crash a boon for IG Group profits August 22, 2011 EXTREME market volatility over the past two months pushed revenues up almost a fifth higher than last year at spread-better and derivatives trader IG Group, it said yesterday. IG said its customers had spent the summer months trading rather than holidaying as normal, which had pushed its client activity to “record levels” since the start [...]
The lucky few that gain from stock falls August 22, 2011 IG Group is one of the few to emerge pleased from the turbulence in financial markets. The spread-better and contracts-for-difference trader said it saw the same number of trades in the first two weeks of August alone as in the whole of August last year, as client took time out from their holidays to cash [...]
Evo faces bid war as fresh offers pour in August 16, 2011 A BIDDING war for City broker and wealth manager Evolution Group looked increasingly likely yesterday after it admitted it had received a number of approaches. Evolution has been viewed as up for sale since it received an approach from South Africa asset manager Investec two weeks ago. The news sparked the interest of a number [...]