London midday: Stocks fall despite retail data and stimulus hopes
16th Aug 2012 11:46
- UK retail sales beat estimates in July - Investors eye US data - Chinese stimulus hopes increase After a pretty subdued start, the Footsie had fallen further into the red by Thursday lunchtime in spite of some better-than-expected UK retail sales data. Sales volumes rose by 0.3% during July, up
Read moreBroker snap: Jefferies hails injectables performance at Hikma
16th Aug 2012 11:25
Jefferies has maintained its 'buy' rating and 860p target price for pharmaceuticals group Hikma after the firm's first-half results came in above forecasts, driven by a better-than-expected performance from the Injectables division. Group sales gained 34.8% to $532.3m in the first six months of the
Read moreThursday broker round-up
16th Aug 2012 10:06
Aegis: UBS downgrades to neutral. Babcock: Espirito Santo downgrades to neutral. Balfour Beeatty: HB Markets downgrades to hold; Deutsche Bank downgrades to hold. BG Group: Morgan Stanley downgrades to equal weight. Capital Shopping Centres: Oriel Securities upgrades to hold. Carclo: N+1 Brewin
Read moreLondon open: Mixed start; African Barrick jumps
16th Aug 2012 08:39
- African Barrick up as China Gold shows interest - Markets continue to sift through global economic data - Wen sees 'growing room for policy operation' London's benchmark index was broadly flat on Thursday morning as investors continue to digest a raft of economic data that has been released over
Read moreLondon pre-open: Stimulus hopes to boost Footsie
16th Aug 2012 07:26
City sources predict the FTSE 100 will open up 17 points from yesterday's close of 5,833, boosted by hopes of further economic stimulus from central banks across the globe. Overnight China revealed that its foreign direct investment declined 8.7% to $7.6bn in July, compared to the same month the p
Read moreHikma reiterates revenue guidance
16th Aug 2012 07:11
Revenue from generic drugs fell in the first half at Hikma Pharmaceuticals but branded products more than picked up the slack. Overall, revenue in the first half of 2012 rose 34.8% to $532.3m from $394.8m the year before, helped by contributions from recent acquisitions. Organic revenue growth was
Read moreThursday preview: Hikma, PV Crystalox, retail sales
15th Aug 2012 17:57
Acquisitions are set to put a gloss on the interim results of pharmaceuticals firm Hikma on Thursday. Peel Hunt is expecting the group to report sales of more than $500m, up 25% on the first half of last year when, admittedly, results had been negatively affected by the so-called Arab Spring. Sale
Read moreWednesday broker round-up
8th Aug 2012 09:57
AstraZeneca: Jefferies raises target from 2,975p to 3,100p, hold rating kept. Avon Rubber: Investec reiterates hold rating and 315p target. BTG: Jefferies maintains hold rating and 410p target. Cobham: Jefferies reiterates buy recommendation and 230p target; Investec keeps sell rating and 200p ta
Read moreASOS director reduces stake
25th Jun 2012 13:18
Robert Bready, the Product Director of ASOS, the online clothes retailer, has slimmed down his stake in the firm with the sale of 44,299 shares. The transaction, which was carried out on Monday, earned Bready £724,289 and reduced his holding to 143,125 ordinary shares, equal to 0.18% of the total
Read moreHikma boss makes a fair few pennies from share sale
21st Jun 2012 16:24
Said Darwazah, the Chief Executive Officer of Hikma Pharmaceuticals, the FTSE 250 multinational pharmaceutical group, has pocketed over one million pounds through the sale of company shares last week. Darwazah sold 195,447 shares at 649p each on June 15th for a total of £1,268,451, the company reve
Read moreHikma reiterates guidance despite generics hiccups
17th May 2012 09:48
Things appear to be proceeding to plan at Hikma Pharmaceuticals as it has reiterated its revenue growth guidance for 2012, despite a few setbacks in its generic drugs business. "We are making good progress towards delivering our targets for this year and surpassing the important milestone of $1bn i
Read moreLondon close: Stocks snap four-day winning streak
30th Apr 2012 16:30
- Chicago PMI, US consumer spending disappoints - Spain joins the UK in recession - Global stock markets in the red With economic data missing expectations Stateside and Spain continuing to dampen the outlook for the Eurozone economy, London's FTSE 100 index slumped on Monday, snapping a four-day w
Read moreFTSE 250 movers: Essar rebounds while Aquarius plummets
30th Apr 2012 15:37
Essar Energy saw its share price jump by nearly a tenth today with analysts pinning the stock's performance to a simple correction following its recent slump. Even after taking today's rise into account, the stock is still worth less than half off its six-month high of 312.1p. Platinum producer Aqu
Read moreMonday broker round-up
30th Apr 2012 08:29
Anglo American: AlphaValue downgrades from neutral to reduce, target cut from 7,115p to 6,970p. AstraZeneca: Jefferies upgrades from hold to buy, target cut from 3,050p to 2,975p; JP Morgan Cazenove upgrades from underweight to neutral, target hiked from 2,800p to 3,050p. British Sky Broadcasting:
Read moreBroker tips: Burberry, M and S, Hikma
17th Apr 2012 14:27
Merchant Securities has cut its rating for luxury brand Burberry from buy to hold on valuation grounds, but has maintained its positive stance on the group. "We continue to believe that Burberry is a beneficiary of growing demand from global luxury travellers, especially in Asia, Middle East and Ru
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