The winner of the Investec Derby will join racing greats May 8, 2011 THE INVESTEC Derby is one of the highlights of the social and sporting calendar. Watched live by 125,000 people, it is not for nothing that the Investec Derby is known as the world’s greatest flat race. The Derby, of which City A.M. is the official paper, is open to three-year old thoroughbred colts and fillies, [...]
FlyBe becomes latest victim of curse of the London floats May 5, 2011 REGIONAL airline group FlyBe yesterday saw its shares fall more than 20 per cent after scaling back guidance for its 2012 profits. The airline, which raised £60m at the end of last year for European expansion as part of its London flotation, said it had been hit by “an extremely challenging macro-economic backdrop” in its [...]
ANALYST VIEWS: CAN DIAGEO SUSTAIN ITS TREND OF RISING SALES? May 5, 2011 IAN SHACKLETON | NOMURA We believe growth of five per cent in 2011 is achievable, and could accelerate in 2012. This combined with a more aggressive attitude to building in emerging markets and in M&A continues to make Diageo shares look attractive. There was further improvement in price/mix in markets. KEITH BOWMAN | HARGREAVES LANSDOWN [...]
Lloyds leads slide in banking stocks as FTSE loses ground May 5, 2011 SLIDING commodity prices thumped energy stocks and miners while Lloyds Banking Group led financials down, pulling Britain’s top share index lower yesterday, with technicals pointing to further weakness. Bearish investors came to the fore as heavyweight commodity stocks Royal Dutch Shell and Lonmin fell 1.8 and 4.1 per cent respectively on lower crude and metal [...]
Stick with Tweed on the Roodee May 5, 2011 WHEN ST Nicholas Abbey won the Racing Post Trophy at Doncaster in 2009, he was hailed as racing’s new Messiah and was fully expected to win last season’s 2,000 Guineas, Derby, Arc, Breeders’ Cup and anything else connections could squeeze in along the way! Sadly, his bubble burst in the Guineas (his only run as [...]
ANALYST VIEWS: IS SAGE OUT OF THE WOODS? May 4, 2011 JULIAN YATES | INVESTEC The results were overall in-line, driven by slightly better revenues but due to higher financing costs, earnings per share were just one per cent ahead. The US remains a concern with underperformance at both the top and bottom line. PAUL MORLAND | PEEL HUNT Growth momentum has continued, but investment in [...]
Frankel to miss Derby but Cecil still favourite May 3, 2011 WORLD DOMINATION has been installed as the new favourite for the Investec Derby after trainer Henry Cecil revealed much-fancied Frankel will not run. Cecil is reluctant to step up 2000 Guineas winner Frankel to a mile and a half next month at Epsom, leaving his stablemate to take top billing. “I think the Derby would [...]
HSBC to sell off $30bn of assets in strategic overhaul May 3, 2011 HSBC is set to announce some $30bn (£18.2bn) in asset sales as part of chief executive Stuart Gulliver’s strategic rebalancing of the bank. Insiders have confirmed the $30bn figure to City A.M., which was estimated by Barclays Capital analyst Rohith Chandra-Rajan in a note to investors. The sales will form part of implementing what Gulliver [...]
ECONOMISTS’ VIEWS: WILL THE BANK OF ENGLAND HIKE INTEREST RATES THIS WEEK? May 2, 2011 MICHAEL SAUNDERS | CITIGROUP “On one side, we believe recent data and surveys do not invalidate the logic of the Bank’s February Inflation Report, which judged that a rate rise around mid-year would be consistent with returning inflation to target over time. On the other hand, we do not actually expect a hike at the [...]
Shell profit jumps on oil price rise April 28, 2011 Royal Dutch Shell has beaten forecasts with a 22 per cent rise in first-quarter profit, thanks to higher oil and gas prices and fatter refining margins. Europe’s largest oil and gas company by market value said the current cost of supply (CCS) net income rose to $6.9bn (£4.2bn) in the first three months of the [...]