Editor's Picks
Friday tips round-up: Restaurant Group, Hargreaves Lansdown, Hays
Friday 02 Sep 2011
Restaurant Group operates the Frankie & Benny's, Chiquito and Garfunkel's brands. It showed good form in the half year to early July, growing adjusted pre-tax profits by 7.7 per cent to £24.6m. The group also grew its sales on outlets open at least a year by 3%, adding it had continued this momentum since the period end, despite the riots in August and downbeat consumer spending. On a forward
Friday newspaper round-up: LSE, central banks, BP
Friday 02 Sep 2011
The London Stock Exchange has re-opened talks to buy the Anglo-French clearing house LCH Clearnet in an attempt to protect itself against predators. The exchange, which was forced to abandon a transatlantic takeover of Toronto’s TMX in June, has made a non-binding offer to buy a majority stake in LCH that could value the clearing house at as much as €1bn, says the Times.
London Stock Exchange confirms LCH talks
Friday 02 Sep 2011
London Stock Exchange has confirmed that it has re-opened talks to buy LCH Clearnet, a French clearing house.
Smiths Group buys Power Holdings for $235m
Friday 02 Sep 2011
Medical devices and airport scanners maker Smiths Group announced its Smiths Interconnect division has purchased Power Holdings (PDI), a designer and manufacturer of specialist power systems.
London pre-open: Heavy falls anticipated
Friday 02 Sep 2011
Taking their lead from Wall Street, which closed lower ahead of today's August jobs data, London' leading shares are set to open well in the red, with City traders predicting the Footsie will open 82 points down from yesterday's close of 5,419. Drugs behemoth AstraZeneca has announced generally favourable results of tests of its cholesterol treatment
US close: Nerves set in ahead of jobs report
Thursday 01 Sep 2011
US stocks closed in the red despite earlier strength, as nerves set in ahead of a big jobs report tomorrow.
London close: Stocks close higher after choppy day
Thursday 01 Sep 2011
The FTSE 100 finished in the blue having flitted between positive and negative territory for much of the day. Wealth manager Hargreaves Lansdown was the star performer after its results. Assets under administration climbed 41% in the year ended 30 June. The wealth management firm hiked its dividend by nearly 60%.
DMGT ponders Northcliffe options
Thursday 01 Sep 2011
The closure of the Sunday tabloid the News of the World has given DMGT, publisher of the Mail on Sunday, a big boost.
Market overview: US factory data lifts FTSE 100
Thursday 01 Sep 2011
1520: Stocks are flying high now after some well received economic data. The Institute for Supply Management's factory index fell to 50.6 in August from 50.9 the previous month, but analysts were heartened that the reading remained above 50, indicating continued expansion in the manufacturing sector. Hargreaves Lansdown is still the star performer. Assets under administration climbed 41% in the
Sector movers: Vodafone rises on Greek deal
Thursday 01 Sep 2011
Telecommunications stocks were heading north on Thursday with sector giant Vodafone heading higher, two days after it confirmed that it is talks to merge its Greek telecoms business with privately-owned rival Wind Hellas.
US preopen: Stocks to open slight lower ahead of ISM release
Thursday 01 Sep 2011
US stocks are being called to open 0.2% lower on average today, following news that Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao still does not see any need to alter China’s primary economic policy target, which is to tame inflation. No less important, the poor economic data out today in the Eurozone and the negative news-flow (or rumours, apparently) regarding the Greek crisis.
London midday: FTSE 100 falls but RBS leads banking surge
Thursday 01 Sep 2011
London’s leading share index has drifted into the red following strong gains earlier in the week, but there are still some notable risers.
Premium broker snap: Panmure downgrades Autonomy to sell
Thursday 01 Sep 2011
After raising its target price for Cambridge-based software firm Autonomy by almost 500p (to reflect the Hewlett-Packard’s offer price), Panmure Gordon has cut its recommendation from buy to sell.
UPDATE: UK manufacturing activity slowed in August
Thursday 01 Sep 2011
Activity in the manufacturing sector fell to a 26-month low in August as global market volatility stoked nervousness among British companies.
US midday: Stocks at day's lows ahead of employment report
Thursday 01 Sep 2011
US stocks are now trading somewhat lower (Dow Jones Industrial: -40, Nasdaq Comp.: -13, S&P 500: -4) on a very volatile day and ahead of tomorrow's monthly employment report. Worth commenting, Goldman Sachs wrote to clients this morning indicating that it sees some downside risks to consensus forecasts for the same.
Hargreaves Lansdown raises divi by 60%
Thursday 01 Sep 2011
Assets under administration at Hargreaves Lansdown climbed 41% in the year ended 30 June, as the wealth management firm hiked its dividend by nearly 60%.
Charter opens books after Melrose ups indicative offer
Thursday 01 Sep 2011
Melrose, the engineering firm, has upped the price it is willing to pay for rival Charter International by 18 pence per share, valuing the firm at around £1.43bn.
UK financial reform could be delayed as banks scramble to avoid taxes
Thursday 01 Sep 2011
Rumours are flying that reform of the UK's financial sector could be delayed until 2015 - after the next election. Reports from the Financial Times and the BBC claim legislation could be passed to split banks' retail and investment arms before 2015 but not implemented until later. Banks have been lobbying furiously against recommendations expected
Market overview: FTSE 100 opens in the red
Thursday 01 Sep 2011
0830: The Footsie has started September on a dull note, falling slightly lower in early trading. ITV, Experian and BAE Systems are the worst performers. Meanwhile, the financials are the high risers of the morning, with Lloyds, RBS, Barclays, Standard Life and Aviva all in demand. Wealth management firm Hargreaves Lansdown is also performing well after assets under administration rose 41% in the
UK still a drag on Hays
Thursday 01 Sep 2011
International recruitment firm Hays saw strong growth in profits last year, driven by its overseas interests.
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