FTSE hits 31-month high on first close of 2011 January 4, 2011 LONDON saw a storming start to 2011 as the FTSE moved above the 6,000 level in the year’s first trading session to close at a 31-month high. The FTSE 100 moved up 1.9 per cent or 113.93 points to close at 6,013.87, its highest level since June 2008, buoyed by rises on US and European [...]
Betfair tanks after falling at first hurdle December 14, 2010 RACING certainty Betfair yesterday dismayed punters after reporting lower than expected half-year earnings. The online gambling firm had ridden a lucky streak since its £1.4bn flotation earlier this year. But its pre-tax profits dipped 18.9 per cent to £7.4m after taking account of one-off items including the cost of its IPO, down from £9.2m the [...]
Numis full-year profits up 87 per cent as it adds new clients and capabilities December 1, 2010 INVESTMENT banker and broker Numis has strengthened its position, reporting improved profits as well as growing its client portfolio, it reported in its full-year results yesterday. Operating revenues rose nine per cent to £51.9m, from £47.5m the previous year, and profit before tax grew 87 per cent to £7.9m from £4.2m, excluding one-off charges relating [...]
Northern and Greencore agree merger November 17, 2010 FOOD retailers Greencore and Northern Foods revealed plans to merge yesterday, in a deal that will produce one of the biggest chilled food players in the UK. The firms, responsible for Goodfella’s pizzas, Fox’s biscuits and the Weight Watchers range, will be rebranded Essenta once the proposed tie-up is complete in March 2011. Management said [...]
Newly-listed firms beat the FTSE index November 14, 2010 COMPANIES that entered the London stock market this year have outperformed the FTSE 100 by more than 16 percentage points, research out yesterday showed. Newly-listed firms have gained an average of 19.5 per cent on their share price in the year to date, compared to a 3.4 per cent rise in the FTSE 100 and [...]
Supergroup November 10, 2010 WHEN investors look back over 2010, they’ll see a graveyard of failed IPOs. Merlin, New Look and Travelport couldn’t even get away; those that did, such as Ocado and Promethean, haven’t lived up to expectations. One of the flotations that stands out from the crowd is Supergroup, which appears to be living up to its [...]
CITY SUPER WOMAN BEATS THE BIG BOYS November 3, 2010 CITY SUPER WOMAN BEATS THE BIG BOYS THIS past year hasn’t exactly been a walk in the park for corporate financiers, with company IPOs dropping like flies – particularly in the first half of the year – as nervous investors quaked in their boots. But in that kind of climate, of course, the best really [...]
PIMCO’S GROSS ISSUES WARNING OVER A BRAZEN PONZI SCHEME: QE October 27, 2010 PIMCO’S resident bond expert Bill Gross yesterday, in his usual verbose fashion, issued a stark warning over the upcoming second round of quantitative easing (QE) in the US – dubbing it no less than a “Ponzi scheme” on the part of the Federal Reserve. “Check [sic] writing in the trillions is not a bondholder’s friend; [...]
Ocado to expand delivery area in England and Wales October 24, 2010 RECENTLY-listed online grocery firm Ocado is set to begin delivering to homes in south-west England and south Wales from March, adding 1.5m extra households to its delivery capacity. The company has bought a distribution centre near Bristol to facilitate the expansion, which will create 100 new jobs in the area. The move comes after Ocado [...]
Laing to float fund on LSE to raise £270m October 14, 2010 Infrastructure group John Laing yesterday unveiled plans to list an infrastructure fund in London raising up to £270m. Laing, owned by asset manager Henderson Group, will sell up to £256m of infrastructure schemes to the newly formed John Laing Infrastructure Fund (JLIF), in a move flagged up earlier this month. The fund will use the [...]