Contractors fined £129.5m for price-fixing
22nd Sep 2009 07:06
More than a hundred of the UK's leading building contractors including Balfour Beatty, Kier and Carillion were landed with fines today by the Office of Fair Trading after a four-year investigation into collusion and price-fixing in the building industry. Balfour Beatty was fined £5.2m, Carillion £5
Read moreAlterian's Johnston sells shares
14th Sep 2009 16:10
Iain Johnston, a director at the marketing software provider Alterian, has cut his holding in the firm, selling 100,000 shares at 150p each. He still has 1.19m shares in the firm, which is more than 2%. Shares in Alterian, whose products include Dynamic Messenger, an email marketing tool, have ra
Read moreHuntsworth's Puttnam doubles holdings
28th Aug 2009 16:06
Huntsworth non-executive director Lord Puttnam has doubled his holdings in the public relations and healthcare communications firm. The group said Lord Puttnam bought 90,000 ordinary shares at 65.5p each, taking his holdings to 180,000 shares or 0.1% of the issued class. Top Director Buys Huntsw
Read moreLondon close: BAE dives after contract setback
27th Aug 2009 17:15
After dithering for much of the day London ended in arrears, falling for the second day in succession. A weak opening by Wall Street sent the Footsie into decline in the afternoon session and a late swoon by BAE Systems ensured there was no way back to the high ground for the blue-chip index. Shar
Read moreLondon afternoon: Back in the blue
27th Aug 2009 14:27
The London stock market continues its see-saw day, moving back into positive territory over the lunch-time session. Some encouragement was drawn from the CBI's distributive trades survey which found that the balance of retailers expecting a deterioration in their general business situation over the
Read moreLondon midday: Footsie sinks into the red
27th Aug 2009 12:08
Having enjoyed a brief sojourn above the 4900 level Footsie is now in negative territory, weighed down by poor performing financial stocks. Banks, insurers and properties are all being given the cold shoulder though Royal Bank of Scotland is an exception after Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted its pri
Read moreLondon open: Diageo a sour note
27th Aug 2009 08:48
The FTSE 100 has limped into positive territory in early trading despite a disappointing set of results from drinks giant and index constituent Diageo. A 4% drop in full-year profit at Diageo was pretty much in line with expectations, but the alcoholic drinks giant has cut current year growth targ
Read moreLondon pre-open: Flat started expected
27th Aug 2009 07:50
Footsie is predicted to open little changed following a choppy session on Wall Street overnight. A 4% drop in full-year profit at Diageo was pretty much in line with expectations, but the alcoholic drinks giant has cut current year growth targets. The group, responsible for the Smirnoff, Captain M
Read moreStrong PPP activity boosts Carillion
27th Aug 2009 07:04
Carillion's large portfolio of Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) helped the support services company post a rise in profits and revenues in the six months to June 30. Pre-tax profits climbed to £51.9m from £27m over the same period the previous year as revenues rose to £2.72bn from £2.41bn. The b
Read moreLondon close: Footsie runs out of steam
26th Aug 2009 16:27
Wall Street's inability to hold onto new home sale-inspired gains was the final nail in the coffin for London, bringing to an end a six-day winning streak. Much of the blame lay with the UK-listed miners who hogged the list of largest losers on weaker metal prices. Antofagasta was among the worst
Read moreLondon afternoon: RBS buoyed by pension moves
26th Aug 2009 14:32
Equity prices are mixed with a lower bias. The Footsie continues to drift lower, weighed down by underperforming resource stocks. Pre-tax profits plunged at Tullow in the first half of the year as the firm felt the pinch of the slide in oil prices. The oil company posted a pre-tax profit of £34.
Read moreLondon midday: Resource stocks a drag
26th Aug 2009 12:09
Given that resource stocks are in the dog-house the Footsie is doing well to be only moderately in the red on a day of mixed results for blue chips. Pre-tax profits plunged at Tullow in the first half of the year as the firm felt the pinch of the slide in oil prices. The oil company posted a pre-t
Read moreCarillion scores a treble
26th Aug 2009 07:59
Support services and construction company Carillion has won three new contractrs worth £121m. The company has been chosen by real estate investment trust Segro for a £50m project in Farnboroigh that will involve the construction of four office buildings in Farnborough. The project is scheduled to
Read moreCarillion JV preferred bidder for £192m BSF
25th Aug 2009 12:48
Carillion and its joint venture partners in the Local Education Partnership (LEP) have been appointed as the preferred bidder for the £192m Rochdale Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme. The LEP, comprising Rochdale Borough Council, Building Schools for the Future Investments LLP (BSFI)
Read moreLondon close: Blue chips at 10½-month high
20th Aug 2009 16:28
A brace of better than expected US data reinvigorated markets early afternoon Thursday, helping London close at it highest since early October. The Philadelphia Fed manufacturing index rose to +4.2 in August from -7.5 in July, while the Conference Board's index of leading economic indicators rose 0
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