Thursday tips round-up: GlaxoSmithKline, Prudential, BG

29th Oct 2009 06:02

Andrew Witty, the chief executive of GlaxoSmithKline, said in July that he did not know whether the drugs giant expected to make a lot of money from swine flu. The company's third-quarter results and outlook have banished any doubt that it has. Yet looking beyond the pandemic, Glaxo is making prog

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London close: Triple-digit losses for FTSE 100

28th Oct 2009 16:26

A poor performance from mining and financial stocks ensured that Footsie ended with triple-digit losses. Insurer Prudential, which saw a surge in US business but posted a fall in UK sales, was a heavy faller. The Pru lifted group-wide retail sales by 10% to £699m in the third quarter thanks largel

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London afternoon: Stocks steady at lower levels

28th Oct 2009 14:10

Miners and financials remain a dead weight around Footsie's neck, but elsewhere, leading shares are slowly beginning to claw back losses. Prudential, which saw a surge in US business but posted a fall in UK sales, is still among the heaviest fallers. The Pru lifted group-wide retail sales by 10% to

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London midday: Miners join financials on the slide

28th Oct 2009 12:05

Miners have joined financial stocks in the dog house as the Footsie dives below 5200 and threatens to carry on going to sub-5100 levels. With metal prices in retreat miners such as Xstrata, Lonmin and Kazakhmys have muscled aside insurer Prudential in the race to be worst performing Footsie stock.

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London open: Shares start down

28th Oct 2009 08:21

London's blue chips have opened lower as investors consider a slew of big corporate announcements and rumours surrounding the British banking sector. The European Commission is expected to approve plans to break up and sell Northern Rock, according to press reports. The Independent is quoting a Br

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London pre-open: Drab start expected

28th Oct 2009 07:42

London is set to open moderately lower, though traders will be kept busy analysing a slew of big corporate announcements. BG Group has reported a drop in third quarter pre-tax profit to £838m from £1.53bn a year ago, with nine-month profit down to £3bn from £4.20bn. The oil giant said net income fe

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Carpetright expects strong first half

28th Oct 2009 07:18

Floor coverings retailer Carpetright expects half-year results to be ahead of expectations after sales growth put on a spurt in the last six weeks. Group sales in the 12 weeks to 24 October were 10.3% than in the corresponding period of 2008. Sales in the UK and Republic of Ireland (ROI) were up 1

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FTSE 250 movers: Dunelm gives back gains

16th Sep 2009 12:32

Shares in Dunelm Group give back some of the strong gains they posted yesterday when the homewares retailer said it had seen a big rise in sales in the early part of the new financial year. Carpet group Carpetright is also lower, adding to recent losses. Weir Group is lower after the engineer anno

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Broker tips: Game, general retailers, Safestore

1st Sep 2009 13:24

Charles Stanley has reiterated its cautious stance on the UK general retail sector and warned against reading too much into what are likely to be good fourth quarter year-on-year sales figures, as most retailers will be going up against soft comparatives. DIY retailer Kingfisher is the highest scor

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Broker snap: General retailers not cheap

1st Sep 2009 13:07

Charles Stanley has reiterated its cautious stance on the UK general retail sector and warned against reading too much into what are likely to be good fourth quarter year-on-year sales figures, as most retailers will be going up against soft comparatives. 'We would caution against any extrapolation

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FTSE 250 movers: Ladbrokes recoups some losses

7th Aug 2009 10:12

Ladbrokes recovers some of the losses it posted yesterday when it dropped its half-year dividend by 31% following a slip in profits and spoke of an "uncertain" outlook. Conversely, shares in Carpetright fall back after some good gains on the back of a return to sales growth in the UK. Big Yellow i

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London close: Financials spark good gains

6th Aug 2009 16:22

Footsie fell back in the afternoon session after the Bank of England increased its quantitative easing programme, but still finished healthily in the blue. Banks continued to rise with Royal Bank of Scotland, Lloyds Banking and Barclays all up. RBS reports its interim figures tomorrow. It is being

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London afternoon: Footsie eases back from day's highs

6th Aug 2009 14:35

Footsie fallen back in the wake of the £50bn increase to £175bn in the Bank of England's quantitative easing programme. Interest rates, as expected, remained on hold at 0.5%. Banks continue to rise with Royal Bank of Scotland, Lloyds Banking and Barclays all up. RBS reports its interim figures tomo

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London midday: QE increase boosts Footsie

6th Aug 2009 12:13

Footsie has reacted calmly to a surprise £50bn increase to £175bn in the Bank of England's quantitative easing programme. Interest rates, as expected, remained on hold at 0.5%. Insurer Aviva is the best performer and leads a life sector rally despite a 31% cut in the interim dividend. A plan for a

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London close: Stocks pushed lower

5th Aug 2009 17:00

London's top stocks finished in the red as a poor start in the US and ex-dividends eventually ate into the early gains. US shares made a dull start on worse than expected job losses in July according to the private firm ADP. It said 371,000 people were laid-off compared to estimates of 350,000. L

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