Food will help Marks & Spencer post fourth quarter sales rise April 15, 2012 MARKS & SPENCER is expected to post a modest rise in fourth quarter sales tomorrow, as strong food sales help to offset more subdued growth at its general merchandising division. Analysts predict Britain’s biggest clothing retailer, whose clothes are modelled by the ‘60s supermodel Twiggy, to reveal a 1.6 per cent lift in like-for-like food [...]
BEST of the BROKERS April 10, 2012 PETROFAC Liberum has cut its rating on the engineering group from “buy” to “hold” but leaves its target price on the stock unchanged at 1822p. As the shares are now within five per cent of the target, and ahead of new contract awards, the broker says Petrofac looks fair value. PETROPAVLOVSK Nomura remains positive on [...]
FTSE pulled down by poor showing from energy stocks March 15, 2012 Britain’s leading share index slipped yesterday, weighed down by weakness in heavyweight energy stocks after recent gains, with investors also looking ahead to futures and options expiries. At the close, the FTSE 100 index was down 4.71 points or 0.1 per cent at 5,940.72, having shed 0.2 per cent in the previous session following five [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS February 27, 2012 HAMMERSON Deutsche Bank has maintained its “buy” rating on the property group and raised its target price by 20p to 520p after consensus-beating results from the company last week. The broker estimates that Hammerson will deliver its planned dividend increase in 2012, and increases its earnings per share outlook for 2012 and 2013. It does [...]
Stuart Rose says fury at jobless scheme is baffling February 26, 2012 THE FORMER executive chairman of Marks & Spencer has voiced disdain at the businesses withdrawing from the government’s unpaid work experience scheme for jobless people. Sir Stuart Rose told Dermot Murnaghan, “One or two of them have shown a little less than backbone.” Calling the outrage provoked by the scheme “baffling”, Sir Stuart said: “We’ve [...]
Weir stock is most shorted on FTSE 100 February 15, 2012 ENGINEERING firm Weir has become the most shorted stock on the FTSE 100, as investors bet the company’s share price will be dented by weak demand for specialist mining equipment. Information provided by Data Explorers showed that 13.48 per cent of shares are out on loan – double the amount that were shorted only three [...]
Debenhams and M&S sales enjoy Christmas boost January 10, 2012 SHARES in Marks & Spencer and Debenhams rallied yesterday after the two British retailers revealed strong December trading, despite economic and consumer headwinds. Debenhams rose more than 10 per cent after the department store group posted flat like-for-like sales in the 18 weeks to 7 January, or 6.5 per cent growth including VAT, slightly above [...]
Commodities spur FTSE 100 gains as banks bounce bank January 10, 2012 COMMODITY stocks led the FTSE 100 top share index higher yesterday, after Alcoa kicked off the US earnings season with an upbeat outlook and data from China lifted sentiment, while retailers rallied after some encouraging updates. London’s blue chip index rose 84.44 points, or 1.5 per cent to 5,696.70, making up for the 1.5 pe [...]
M&S sales rise fuelled by discounts January 10, 2012 Marks & Spencer posted a slim rise in underlying Christmas sales as deep discounts helped to lure cash-strapped shoppers, and said it expected trading conditions to stay challenging. Britain’s biggest clothing retailer said it was making additional cost savings to offset a fall in profit margins due to the discounting. Sales at British stores open [...]
Tesco set to unveil bleak Christmas January 8, 2012 TESCO is set to deliver its worst Christmas trading performance for decades this week after the supermarket’s £500m price cutting campaign failed to gather pace in the fierce battle for supermarket sales. Deutsche Bank, a house broker to Tesco, is forecasting a two per cent decline in like-for-like sales from UK stores in the six [...]