FTSE opens flat ahead of Jackson Hole speech August 31, 2012 The blue chip index opened modestly up this morning, as investors were cautious ahead of Fed chairman Ben Bernanke’s Jackson Hole speech later, where he is expected to signal more stimulus for the US economy. Rental equipment supplier Lavendon Group led the risers, up more than nine per cent in early deals. Investors were buoyed [...]
BEST of the BROKERS August 12, 2012 CINEWORLD Numis rates the cinema group as “add” with a target price of 240p and expects a 10 per cent rise in pre-tax profit to £13.6m when it posts half-year results on Thursday, based on a 4.1 per cent boost to box office revenue. HIKMA PHARMACEUTICALS Shore Capital rates the pharma group as a “buy” [...]
BEST of the BROKERS August 9, 2012 DIGNITY N+1 Brewin has upgraded the funeral services firm from, “add” to “buy” with a target price of 1096p after strong interim results, labelling the company “more than just a defensive buy”. OCADO UBS has downgraded the grocery delivery firm from “neutral” to “sell” and slashed its target price to 51p from 110p, pitching its [...]
Doing the UK supermarket sweep July 2, 2012 THE jubilant spending during the Queen’s diamond jubilee may have given the high streets a boost, and inflation is being slowly reined in, but UK supermarkets are still facing a difficult year ahead. According to the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee boosted retail sales in June, but shop sales were down [...]
Ocado sees shares slide as it lacks Jubilee cheer June 26, 2012 SHARES in Ocado crashed by 20 per cent yesterday after the online supermarket admitted that the Jubilee celebrations had disrupted trading and it could see a similar effect during the Olympics. The share sell-off came even as the retailer reported a four per cent increase in pre-tax profit to £181,000, in the six months to [...]
IS OCADO’S STATEMENT A SIGN OF BLEAKER THINGS TO COME ? June 26, 2012 DARREN SHIRLEY SHORE CAPITAL Whilst we recognise that we may have a reputation for perceiving Ocado from a position of caution, these are poor results with a far from compelling outlook statement. Further downgrades could be down the line, albeit we will take the luxury of waiting for Q3 before we dust off our well-used [...]
Ocado says sales hit by Jubilee June 26, 2012 Online supermarket Ocado said trade in its third quarter was disrupted by celebrations to mark Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee as it posted a 4.5 per cent rise in underlying first half earnings. “The third quarter is particularly hard to forecast as we have already seen some disruption from the Jubilee events, and there is [...]
Ocado to name Tatton-Brown as finance chief June 24, 2012 DUNCAN TATTON-BROWN, the former finance boss of debt-laden gym chain Fitness First, is this week set to be named as the new finance director of online supermarket Ocado. Tatton-Brown was fired along with other top Fitness First executives in February as part of a radical boardroom shake-up by the troubled gym group’s private equity backers, [...]
Sainsbury and M&S chiefs see bonus slashed June 7, 2012 SAINSBURY chief executive Justin King and Marks & Spencer boss Marc Bolland have both seen their bonuses cut after failing to meet targets, as the recession forced them to slash growth plans. The cuts come amid a recent wave of shareholder upheaval against excessive executive pay which has swept across boardrooms including Aviva and Inmarsat. [...]
THE GREAT PAY DROP: HOW RETAIL BOSSES ARE FEELING THE PINCH June 7, 2012 Was £3.7m Now £3.4m Sainsbury chief Justin King takes a 9pc cut to total pay package from £3.7m to £3.4m Was £1.02m Now £663k Marks & Spencer chief Marc Bolland sees bonus cut by 50pc from £1.02m to £663,000. Was £574k Now £354m Ocado chief Tim Steiner was paid £354,000, down from £574,000 last year. [...]