Panmure Gordon has kept its 'hold' rating and 3,000p target price for pharmaceuticals giant AstraZeneca after the firm's final results, saying that figures were not as bad as they could have been.

"Overall Q4 2012 results were more resilient than expected, continuing the trend seen across the sector of a much better Q4 than Q3 previously," said analyst Savvas Neophytou. He did however point out that consensus estimates for 2013 are likely to come down.

Investec has put its 'hold' rating for Royal Dutch Shell under review after a "substantial" net income miss by the oil producer in the fourth quarter.

Meanwhile, another negative surprise came from the company's higher-than-expected capital expenditure guidance in a separate statement. "Spending is set to be higher, for longer," the broker said.

Credit Suisse has retained its 'outperform' rating and 1,900p target price for Diageo after an in-line set of first-half results from the drinks company.

"Overall, we think that Diageo is where it expected to be at the interim stage, albeit with some give and take between the regions, and as a result the company is reiterating its medium-term guidance," the broker said.

BC

Related share prices
AstraZeneca (AZN) share price
Diageo (DGE) share price
Royal Dutch Shell 'A' (RDSA) share price