Morning roundup

UK Corporate Announcements

  • SuperGroup states that it remains committed to measured growth as it reports an underlying pre-tax profit of £42.8m from £50.2m on revenues of £313m
  • Ashmore Group announces AUM fell 3.3% from Q3 to $63.7bn
  • Lavendon states that it has performed ahead of the targets
  • Associated British Foods states that its trading outlook for the full year is in line with the forecasts
  • Telford states that its full year profits remain on track, and stays confident on developing in London
  • 888 states that it sees EBITDA in H1 significantly exceeding expectations, and that the strong trading has continued into H2
  • Statpro announces that it is trading in line with the expectations
  • Fenner also states that it remains confident that it will meet its full year targets
  • Oxford Instruments details that sales and profits have been ahead of last year and the it has continued to make good progress
 

UK Market News

  • The CBI chief has criticised the UK government stating that ministers were ‘dazzled in the headlights’ and states that the government is failing in its pledge to stimulate the economy
  • HSBC stays in focus as it is expected to apologise in the US for failures to comply with money laundering regulations from 2004 through to 2010, and may need to pay a settlement of around $1bn
  • The Telegraph suggests that Sir Michael Rake is preparing to step down from the boards at BTand easyJet to become the new chairman at Barclays
  • Rio Tinto announces that its CFO is to retire the end of next year
  • The Australian Financial Review suggests that Aegis may announce a takeover bid from an Asian buyer, with a deal seen to be worth around AUS4bn, this has just been announced, a £2.40 move from Dentsu, valuing the group at around £3.16bn
  • Vodafone NZ announces that it is buying Telstra’s local unit for NZ$840m
  • Premier Oil announces it is paying $231m in cash for 60% of Rockhopper’s interests in the Falkland Islands
  • Shell announces it has extended its offer on Cove Energy to July 25th
  • Centrica announces that it is paying $110m in cash to buy Energetix
  • The UK is to sell £3.5bn 1.75% 10 year bonds today at 10:30
 

UK Analyst Upgrades

  • Buy Britvic, Share Price Impact Overdone, Citi Says
  • C&W Communications Raised To Buy Vs Underperform At Bofaml
  • ICAP Removed From UBS’s Least Preferred List
  • Ladbrokes Raised To Buy From Hold At Numis
  • Old Mutual Raised To Buy From Neutral At Nomura
 

UK Analyst Cuts

  • Britvic Cut To Underperform From Neutral At Bofa
 

UK Insider Buys

  • Dixons Retail Plc, (DXNS), 1 insider(s) bought 59,390 shares, £0.18
  • NCC Group Plc, (NCC), 1 insider(s) bought 5,000 shares, £7.93
 

UK Insider Sells

  • Brewin Dolphin Holding, (BRW), 1 insider(s) sold 13,592 shares, £1.49
  • Euromoney Instl Invest, (ERM), 1 insider(s) sold 7,803 shares, £7.83
  • F&C Asset Management P, (FCAM), 1 insider(s) sold 281,124 shares, £0.81
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