Analyst Views | What do you think of unilever’s results? January 23, 2013 GRAHAM JONES PANMURE GORDON With two recent disposals in US foods, we expect Unilever to continue its favourable skew to faster growing categories in 2013. It is encouraging to see cash flow improving…The outlook remains the same; further sales growth ahead of the market and continued steady and sustainable margin expansion. MARTIN DEBOO INVESTEC Unilever’s [...]
Unilever and Tullow Oil help drive FTSE briefly over key 6,200 level January 23, 2013 BRITAIN’S FTSE 100 share index hit the 6,200 level for the first time since May 2008 yesterday after Unilever got the UK earnings season off to an encouraging start, sending its stock to a record high. Shares of the Anglo-Dutch consumer goods company rose 3.1 per cent to top 2,500p for the first time ever [...]
Unilever boosts FTSE 100 as it edges towards 6,200 January 23, 2013 The leading share index edged up towards the 6,200 level this morning, led by consumer goods group Unilever. The stock was the strongest riser on the FTSE 100 this morning, on the back of a buoyant trading statement. Turnover jumped 10.5 per cent in 2012, boosted by growth in emerging markets. Martin Deboo at Investec [...]
Unilever sales propelled by emerging markets January 23, 2013 Consumer giant Unilever this morning posted a 10.5 per cent jump in turnover, boosted by growth in emerging markets. The Anglo-Dutch group said sales for the full year came in at €51.3bn (£43bn), in line with forecasts. Emerging markets sales, which represent 55 per cent of turnover, soared 11.4 per cent, Unilever said. “These results [...]
New London head at Baker & McKenzie January 22, 2013 PARTNERS at City law firm Baker & McKenzie have chosen intellectual property partner Paul Rawlinson as the next head of the London office, replacing Gary Senior who will step down this summer after 10 years in the role. Rawlinson, a Bakers lifer who joined the firm as a trainee in 1986, is serving his second [...]
Best of the brokers January 21, 2013 ADMIRAL GROUP Goldman Sachs yesterday upgraded Cardiff-based insurer Admiral from “neutral” to “buy”, sending the company’s share price up five per cent. The banking giant said the stock had underperformed over the last six months due to “softening premium rates and regulatory intervention” but it now presents an investment opportunity, as there is “potential for [...]
FTSE 100 soars to a 4 1/2-year high as investors take heart from the US January 21, 2013 BRITAIN’S FTSE 100 scaled fresh 4-1/2 year peaks yesterday, with signs of progress in US budget talks encouraging investors’ shift from low-yielding government bonds into higher risk, higher return equities. US Republican leaders signalled they would allow the government to raise the debt ceiling and borrow to prevent a default in the next three months [...]
Figures to show the state of the UK economy as Davos meeting begins January 20, 2013 FIGURES this week from the Office for National Statistics will reveal whether the UK economy shrank in the fourth quarter of 2012 and over the year as a whole. “We expect the economy to have contracted by 0.2 per cent quarter-on-quarter in the fourth quarter of last year which would limit year-on-year growth to 0.2 [...]
Property firm Hammerson hires Sainsbury’s head as chairman January 14, 2013 DAVID Tyler, the chairman of Sainsbury’s, is to take on another FTSE 100 role, after it was announced yesterday he will replace John Nelson as chairman of property giant Hammerson. Tyler, who has also been a non-executive director at luxury group Burberry for more than a decade, will join the board with immediate effect on [...]
M&S’s board still backs Marc Bolland but its patience will not last forever January 9, 2013 THIS was no ordinary trading statement. If Marc Bolland, the Marks & Spencer chief executive, had sold an item from his womenswear ranges last autumn every time the retailer’s advertising slogan had been parroted back at him, he’d have wiped the floor with the rest of the high street. Last night’s hastily-released quarterly trading update [...]