Luxfer’s New York flotation shines light on London’s listing problems October 4, 2012 Another day, and another company that has its roots firmly in the UK decides to float in the US. In the past few weeks two companies normally associated with the UK market, Manchester United and Salford-based speciality metals group Luxfer, have chosen the US financial markets to list and raise new capital. The latest figures [...]
Ocado blames slowdown on Olympic effect September 20, 2012 OCADO yesterday blamed a slowdown in sales on the disruption caused by the Jubilee and this summer’s sporting events, but said it expects sales to pick up in the last quarter of the year. The online supermarket said sales rose 9.9 per cent to £163m in the 12 weeks to 5 August, down from first-half [...]
Public finances put chancellor in the spotlight September 16, 2012 CHANCELLOR George Osborne will be under the spotlight again this week, with the release of the UK’s public finance figures for August. Last month’s shock news – that the deficit grew by £600m rather than falling by £2.8bn in July – means Friday’s figures will give an even clearer indication of whether the government can [...]
FTSE 100 down as blue chip Burberry leads fallers September 11, 2012 The leading share index opened down this morning, tracking falls in the US and Asia, as investors waited for key decisions over European Central Bank bond buying and US quantitative easing. Fashion retailer Burberry led the fallers, down almost 19 per cent as the firm warned of a sales slowdown. It said annual profit would [...]
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 [...]