11-01-2012

Unilever: Bank of America Merrill Lynch downgrades to underweight from neutral.

11-01-2012

May Gurney, a support services company, has been awarded Harrow Council's highways maintenance contract, valued at up to £50m.

15-12-2011

A round-up of the biggest director deals today so far.

14-12-2011

A round-up of the biggest director deals today so far.

02-12-2011

There are about six billion mobile phones on the planet. There are, as yet, just two million subscribers to the next generation, the 4G networks, mainly scattered across the United States and in the Far East, writes Tempus in The Times. That statistic tells you all you need to know about the stock market's new-found enthusiasm for Anite, which provides mobile phone companies with the equipment used in testing new phones and networks. Part of Anite's problem is that the field is difficult to understand, and riddled with obscure acronyms. The shares sell on about 15 times' this year's earnings; having tipped them previously, Tempus sees no reason to change the stance. The advice is to tuck away for the long term.

01-12-2011

A round-up of the biggest director deals today so far.

01-12-2011

Royal Bank of Scotland: Evolution Securities cuts target from 40p to 35p, buy rating unchanged.

07-10-2011

Even if all the analysts in all the world think your shares are a raging buy, it may not help much in these markets, says the Tempus column in the Times. Intermediate Capital Group (ICG) shares, before yesterday's 16p bounce to 214p, had lost 41 per cent of their value since August 7. Therefore, according to which analyst you believe, the shares are "undervalued", the fall "looks overdone", or they are "staggeringly cheap". ICG was one of my tips for 2011 so, unsurprisingly, I am inclined to agree. They sell on about 7.5 times this year's earnings. House broker Royal Bank of Scotland has cut its forecast for dividends this year because the turbulent markets mean disposals and realisations on investments will henceforth be subdued, but even on a flat outturn and a total of 18p again, the shares still yield 8.4 per cent. Sometimes the market can take a long time coming round to the right point of view, says the paper.

05-10-2011

Sainsbury: H2O Markets downgrades to hold.

21-09-2011

May Gurney, the support services firm focused on public sector and regulated markets, has bagged a waste and recycling contract from the Cheshire West and Chester Council.

03-06-2011

Johnson Matthey, originally in precious metals such as platinum and palladium, still refines and distributes these. But it also puts them into technologies that are used to reduce pollution, such as autocatalysts in cars and devices to cut emissions from power plants. Shares in Johnson Matthey, which through its exposure to car production, coal and gas use and power generation is heavily tied to further progress for the world economy, are on 15 times' this year's earnings and 13 times' next. This can only be justified by a rosy outlook for industrial production, while recent macro-economic indicators have not been that positive. Hold, says the Times.

02-06-2011

The good times keep on rolling at Galliford Try, the housebuilder and construction company. The 103-year-old firm yesterday boasted that it had been selected as a partner on three affordable housing contracts worth a total of £584m in London, the South-east and eastern regions of England. The fact that its shares trade on multiples of around 9 times forward earnings only serves to seal the bull case, in our view, says the Independent, which has a buy recommendation.

01-04-2011

The best that can be said about the full-year results from 888 Holdings is that profits did not collapse quite as badly as feared. The online bookie reported a 56% slide in pre-tax profits to $15.1 million (£9.4m) from revenues up 6.2 per cent at $262.1m. Sell, says the Times.

07-02-2011

A round-up of the biggest director deals today so far.

01-02-2011

AIM-quoted outsourced infrastructure services provider May Gurney Integrated Services has been awarded a £50m contract extension by Norfolk County Council.

03-12-2010

The last two cold snaps boosted like-for-like sales at Domino's Pizza as peckish consumers, wary of slippery pavements, decided to phone for fast food.

02-12-2010

There are definite signs that the market may be running out of patience with Sage Group. The company, one of our most established software groups, has paid a dividend since its 1989 stock market float. But the emphasis in recent years has been on acquisitions to add to a pedestrian rate of growth, and there is no sign yet of these coming through. The problem is that there are no signs of any obvious transformational deal that can justify the rating Sage enjoys in the market, about 14 times' this year's earnings, says the Times.

01-12-2010

Footsie was posting triple-digit gains at trading's close as markets across the globe roared in approval at talk that the European Central Bank may take more measures to deal with the debt crisis.

01-12-2010

After a strong morning session leading shares kicked on some more over the lunch time period, as worries over the eurozone debt situation subside.

01-12-2010

Immunodiagnostic Systems (iSYS) has had a good run but Panmure Gordon observes that the stock has almost reached its target price, and so downgrades the shares.