Miners lead FTSE up as China injects confidence July 13, 2011 The FTSE 100 bounced back today despite the deepening Eurozone crisis which has seen Ireland’s credit rating downgraded to junk by ratings agency Moody’s. Miners led the fight back on the blue chip index while investors across Europe were given a boost by positive economic data from China. Its GDP rose 9.5 per cent in [...]
FTSE extends gains as talk of takeovers boosts the market July 5, 2011 THE FTSE 100 rose for an eighth straight trading day yesterday, as earnings hopes lifted Tullow Oil and bid talk boosted Reckitt Benckiser. Tullow, up 3.8 per cent, said it expected to post record first-half revenues as it ramped up output in Ghana and also said it was a few weeks away from completing a [...]
FTSE digs in after gains July 5, 2011 The FTSE started solidly today after breaking the 6,000 barrier yesterday but bleak service sector data cast a shadow across European markets. Growth in the eurozone’s service sector slowed for a third straight month in June — sending negative signals to investors. The UK Markit/CIPS services PMI came in at 53.9 for June, down from [...]
Reckitt’s Becht joins plane firm June 28, 2011 Bart Becht, the outgoing chief of Cillit Bang maker Reckitt Benckiser, said yesterday that he will join the board of ICON Aircraft, a US sports plane company in which he became a key investor earlier in the year. The company aims to make its first plane models in 2012. Becht retires as Reckitt chief executive [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS June 13, 2011 DP WORLD HBSC rates the port owner “neutral” and has raised its target price to 850p or $13.93. The broker has updated its forecasts on the firm following its dual listing from the London stock exchange, but reiterates its upbeat outlook over the next few years. HSBC sees the firm as a broad exposure play [...]
Why company chairmen face an increasing level of investor scrutiny May 22, 2011 THE 2011 AGM season is already delivering some stinging blows for company boards. Recent meetings at the UK’s biggest companies have seen shareholder ire directed at remuneration reports and occasionally directors. But chairmen have also taken flak for their company’s direction and performance over the past year. Prudential shareholders rapped Harvey McGrath last week for [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS May 11, 2011 RECKITT BENCKISER Goldman Sachs rates the consumer goods producer “buy” but has taken the firm off its “conviction buy” list, and has cut its 12-month target price by 160p to £41.70. The broker thinks the firm contains an increased execution risk following a change in management, though recent quarterly results were encouraging. Goldman is still [...]
Commodities drag on FTSE but high street names rally May 4, 2011 COMMODITY stocks pulled Britain’s top share index lower yesterday, ending the FTSE 100’s recent rally as disappointing US manufacturing data spoiled investors’ appetite for risk. The FTSE 100 closed down 98.81 points, or 1.6 per cent, at 5,984.07, with the FTSE volatility index up 11.4 per cent, hitting a near five-week high. The FTSE 100 [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS April 25, 2011 RUSHYDRO Goldman Sachs has upgraded the hydroelectricity company to “buy”, seeing its underperformance in the year to date as an opportunity to invest. The broker thinks the market has overreacted to the news flow on regulatory pressure on electricity tariffs and the risks associated with M&A activity, and expects an 18 per cent increase in [...]
Reckitt profit rises despite Becht’s exit April 20, 2011 RECKITT Benckiser beat first-quarter earnings forecasts – boosted by its recent SSL acquisition – after last week’s shock news that chief executive Bart Becht was to retire sent its shares tumbling. The British maker of Cillit Bang cleaners and Nurofen painkillers, which took over Durex condoms and Scholl sandals maker SSL late last year, said [...]