Float fever to shake up FTSE indices in reshuffle December 9, 2013 THE ROYAL Mail could break into the FTSE 100 tomorrow, one of several newly listed companies which are candidates to join the FTSE in its quarterly reshuffle. The postal group is set to knock Vedanta Resources out of the blue chip index after its bumper share price rise since its float made it one of [...]
Best of the Brokers for 02 December 2013 December 1, 2013 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com DAILY MAIL & GENERAL TRUST UBS keeps its “neutral” rating but hikes its target from 780p to 920p following the media group’s full-year results. The broker thinks the strength of the firm’s Zoopla website will continue to drive the share price, even if [...]
JD Sports shares climb as sales continue to rise November 29, 2013 JD Sports saw a 5.8 per cent increase in like-for-like sales between August and November, it said in an interim statement this morning. Shares have risen over five per cent this morning, following the news. The sports retailer had reported the same rise in sales in the 26 weeks to 3 August. The board says [...]
London Report: Water firms to show how well profits flowing November 24, 2013 THE FTSE 100’s latest female executive, Liv Garfield, will get an idea of what she’ll face when she joins Severn Trent next year as her new employer announces interim results, along with Pennon and United Utilities. The three, who have been called on by regulators to stop planned price hikes, are expected to have increased [...]
JD Sports profits up but outdoor stores in the red September 18, 2013 BRITISH retailer JD Sports yesterday posted a surge in first-half profits, with a strong performance in the firm’s core sports offering offsetting continued losses from its fashion and outdoor stores. Pre-tax profits excluding exceptional items rose to £10m from £2.9m in the first half of 2012. The firm posted a record performance in its core [...]
Bottom Line: Results are also a game of two halves September 18, 2013 LUCKY for JD Sports that rival JJB went into administration at the end of last year. That helped it to score a 7.5 per cent increase in like-for-like sports sales in the UK and Ireland in the first half, with group profit before tax up 111 per cent to £6.1m. Without it, these results could [...]
JD sports sees profit more than double September 18, 2013 Sports retailer JD sports has reported profit before tax up 111 per cent for the 26 week period to 3 August, at £6.087m from 2.879m in the same period of 2012. (Release) Like for like sales in the UK and Ireland were up 7.5 per cent. Basic earnings per ordinary share were at 10.19p – [...]
London Report: Drop in inflation unlikely to help consumers long September 15, 2013 CONSUMERS are likely to receive a small piece of good news this week, with the inflation rate edging down for August. But the upbeat data is likely to come before more rising prices, as analysts predict consumer price inflation will reach three per cent soon. The inflation news, out tomorrow, is part of a slew [...]
London Report: UK retailers set to reveal if tills ringing again September 8, 2013 RETAILERS are set to reveal this week how big an impact the UK recovery is making as consumers return the shops. Reports from Dunelm, Home Retail, Morrisons, Next, Ocado and Sports Direct will show how confident buyers are in the improving economy. Ocado, which will update the market on Thursday, was rated a “buy” by [...]
Business contests aren’t just vanity February 3, 2013 ERNST & Young has just opened nominations for its UK Entrepreneur of the Year competition. Previous category winners have included Hilary Devey of BBC’s Dragon’s Den (and more impressively, founder of Pall-Ex, the freight company), and the former boss of JD Sports Peter Cowgill. Certainly, of the many competitions out there, Ernst & Young’s has [...]