FTSE slips lower but profits from StanChart help cheer March 2, 2011 RALLYING banks boosted by results from Standard Chartered helped Britain’s top share index pare losses yesterday, but the index still closed lower as geopolitical concerns continued to dog sentiment. The FTSE 100 closed down 20.87 points, or 0.4 per cent, at 5,914.89, as lingering political concerns in the Arab world continued to dent confidence and [...]
FTSE finishes in the red despite late rally March 2, 2011 The FTSE slumped below the 5,900 mark this morning on continued Middle East unrest fears, but recovered ground after a boost to Wall St. The FTSE 100 still closed the day below 6,000, though, 0.35 per cent down at 5,914.89. It has lost ground in eight of the last nine sessions. Michael Hewson said the [...]
Serco profit rises but warns over UK headwinds March 2, 2011 British outsourcing group Serco posted a 21 per cent rise in full-year profit, helped by strong revenue growth in the Americas, while it admitted government cuts were hitting the UK market. Serco, which runs London’s cycle-hire scheme, several prisons in Britain and Dubai’s metro, said pre-tax profit rose to £214m. Shares in the FTSE 100 [...]
Oil supply fears cause further FTSE fall March 1, 2011 Fears of oil supply disruption due to Middle East unrest hit the FTSE in afternoon trading, pushing the FTSE 100 down 0.97 per cent to 5.935.76. Concerns that the political unrest could spread to major world oil exporter Saudi Arabia caused crude prices to rise still higher and sent oil-sensitive travel stocks lower. Brent crude [...]
Energy stocks rally but RBS leads the FTSE downwards February 24, 2011 UNREST in the Middle East and North Africa hit Britain’s top shares again yesterday, though rising crude prices and upbeat comment from oil major BP on its Indian activities lifted energy stocks. The FTSE 100 closed down 3.55 points, or 0.1 per cent, at 5,919.98, pinned just below a seven-month technical support level of 5,920. [...]
Late rally fails to push FTSE up to 6,000 February 22, 2011 The FTSE rallied valiantly this afternoon on the back of strong US consumer confidence data, after incurring a morning of losses from concern over the ongoing Libya crisis. Banks and commodities suffered from concerns that crude oil prices would spike and knock the global recovery, and the FTSE 100 closed down 0.3 per cent at [...]
Airlines are wary over NATS plan February 6, 2011 AIRLINES do not want the government to reduce its dominant stake in the country’s air-traffic control system below 25 per cent, it is understood. The government is considering reducing its 49 per cent stake in the air-traffic control system NATS as part of measures to pay off the ballooning public debt. But the Airline Group, [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS January 31, 2011 SMITHS GROUP RBS rates the technology group as a “buy”, and raises its target price from 1,300p to 1,600p. The broker says that if the Group was broken up and its businesses sold, it would estimate a value of 1,804p in the absence of any tax liabilities. It therefore says that a break-up valuation is [...]
Serco walks from bid for US spy firm January 23, 2011 TALKS of a $2bn (£1.2bn) bid by outsourcing giant Serco for US spy firm SRA International were last night downplayed by the company. The contracting firm, which runs many of Britain’s public services, had reportedly considered a takeover bid for SRA in a deal that would have propelled it to become one of the biggest [...]
RMT sets DLR strike dates January 13, 2011 TRANSPORT union RMT yesterday announced 48 hours of strike action on the Docklands Light Railway between 03.59 hours next Thursday 20 January 2011 and 03.58 hours on Saturday 22 January 2011 in a dispute with Serco Docklands. RMT blamed a “breakdown” in industrial relations for the move. The planned strike comes after the government warned [...]