What the other papers say this morning January 9, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES GOLDMAN TEAM RAISES MONEY FOR NEW FUND The last big proprietary trading team at Goldman Sachs has begun raising money to start a new hedge fund independent of the bank, for launch in the second quarter of this year. The team – led by two senior members of Goldman Sachs’ Principal Strategies desk, [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS November 8, 2010 JD WETHERSPOON UBS rates the pub chain a “buy” but has reduced its target price to 500p from 525p. The broker points to a one-off increase in spending on staff and repairs that are depressing margins, but adds that earlier opening hours will increase group margins above the firm’s historic 10 per cent trend as [...]
Wetherspoon gives upbeat view for new year as investments pay off November 4, 2010 JD Wetherspoon said it will make a profit this year, thanks to strong sales and investments in new and existing pubs. The pub chain, which has almost 800 pubs in Britain, reported a rise in profit before tax of 7.3 per cent to £71m, with total sales of nearly £1bn. Wetherspoon is making significant investment [...]
Barracuda looks to Costa to fuel sales November 1, 2010 BARRACUDA is to launch Costa coffee at its pub estate – and will now open at 9am for breakfast. Costa coffee is expected to be available in 100 of its 217 pubs by Christmas with the rest launching in 2011. Barracuda, which also has the Smith & Jones brand, is pursuing a more food-focused policy [...]
Wetherspoon shares hit as execs leave October 14, 2010 JD Wetherspoon yesterday surprised investors by announcing the departure of two of its top executives. Finance director Keith Down and chief operating officer Paul Harbottle are to leave the pubs group “in due course” said a statement, which offered no explanation for the sudden shake-up. Wetherspoon’s has weathered the economic downturn well, with Down considered [...]
Wetherspoon sees record profit after breakfast boost September 10, 2010 Pub chain Wetherspoon has reported record results with sales increasing by £41.2m to £996.3m for year to the end of July. Profit before tax and exceptional items increasing by 7.3 per cent to £71m, compared with the same period last year. The company said it was selling more 400,000 breakfasts and 600,000 coffees each week [...]
THE TIPSTER September 8, 2010 BELEAGUERED oil and gas giant BP, which yesterday published a report into the Macondo oil well disaster, received a boost after ratings agency Fitch upgraded it to A status. Will the upgrade offer sufficient impetus for the global energy firm to break its August high of 438p? WorldSpreads offers a spread of 414.4-415.4p. Weakness in [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS July 15, 2010 NOVARTIS Standard & Poor’s Equity Research (S&P) rates Novartis as “buy” due to its strong second quarter results. Sales are up 12 per cent thanks to volume growth, especially in vaccines, according to S&P, which said in its view, the well-managed volume-driven diversification of Novartis will offset foreseeable negatives. WETHERSPOON Seymour Pierce upgrades Wetherspoon to [...]
Wetherspoon’s brekkie boost July 14, 2010 JD WETHERSPOON returned to sales growth in the fourth quarter as its pubs opened two hours earlier for breakfast, and as the warm summer weather lured in more drinkers. The company yesterday posted a one per cent increase in fourth-quarter sales at pubs which had been open for more than a year, compared with a [...]
Depressed mining stocks are finally starting to look attractively valued July 12, 2010 IT WAS a tough second quarter for London-listed miners, which were dealt a severe blow by a toxic combination of general risk aversion, a planned tax on miners’ profits in Australia and a government-orchestrated slowdown in China. After reaching 25,356.51 on 6 April – its best level since July 2008 – the FTSE 350 mining [...]