Investors Chronicle - magazine and web content back issues from November 2007:
BAT big brand strategy pays off.
Nov 01, 2007 ... British American Tobacco has again beaten analysts' expectations Nathalie Olof-Ors British American Tobacco once again posted figures ahead of analysts' expectations when it released its third quarter results. Like drinks group Diageo, it has pursued a strategy of focusing on ...
Legal & General faces the challenge.
Nov 01, 2007 ... Trading conditions remain tough Jonas Crosland "These are challenging times," admitted Tim Breedon, chief executive of Legal & General, as the life assurer reported an 8 per cent drop in new business sales in the first nine months of the year. True, the company was up against ...
Star quality - the new portfolios.
Nov 01, 2007 ... John Mulligan creates three ready made portfolios based on his STAR system which has delivered outstanding results John Mulligan Background to the STAR Process In October last year I wrote an article for the Investors Chronicle outlining the share selection methods I ...
White hot platinum shares feel the heat.
Nov 01, 2007 ... Is a car crash looming for the main market platinum miners? Daniel O'Sullivan Platinum has benefited as much as gold from the flight to "safe havens" against inflation sparked by dollar weakness, with both the white and yellow metals gaining around 17 per cent since the US ...
Celsis raises the temperature.
Nov 01, 2007 ... Celsis is on the look out for bigger acquisitions, its chief executive says Richard Hemming Celsis is poised to make acquisitions at least as big as its $30m (GBP14.5m) purchase of In Vitro Technologies in June 2006. This could well mean issuing more paper, according to the ...
Wolfson dip a temporary blip?
Nov 01, 2007 ... Costs rose in the third quarter, but is the market over-reacting to this? Stephen Gunnion Third-quarter results from Wolfson led to a sell-off in the chip designer's shares, as a bigger-than-expected rise in costs, caused by investment in new products, the main thing spooking ...
Cheese price melts Domino's profit.
Nov 01, 2007 ... When your track record is as good as this, any disappointment hits hard Jonathan Eley It's a simple business, but Domino's Pizza is one of the stars of the Alternative Investment Market, boasting a stellar track record of growth in both profits and share price. That's partly why ...
BG's big in Japan.
Nov 01, 2007 ... The 'black box' nature of the liquefied natural gas business foxes analysts once again Daniel O'Sullivan BG beat City expectations for its third-quarter results thanks to another very strong showing from the liquefied natural gas (LNG) business, which more than offset upstream ...
FTSE still weak.
Nov 01, 2007 ... Weakness in financial stocks depresses the Footsie Jonas Crosland Weakness in financial stocks weighed heavily on the FTSE 100 index, so that by lunchtime it was sporting a loss of 65.6 points at 6,656.0. Mid-cap stocks were also out of favour, and the FTSE250 index was 43 ...
Metnor stumbles on credit woes.
Nov 02, 2007 ... Metnor's hopes for a strong second-half performance have been stymied Graeme Davies The reverberations of the credit crunch and the ensuing property market slowdown are reaching into all corners of the stock market, with construction and property company Metnor the latest to ...
Star quality.
Nov 02, 2007 ... John Mulligan looks over last year's selection of stocks and picks another three ready-made portfolios using his successful STAR methods John Mulligan Background to the STAR Process In October last year, I wrote an article for the Investors Chronicle outlining the ...
THE ULTIMATE HOLIDAY.
Nov 02, 2007 ... Retirement abroad might seem preferable to spending your last years in Blighty but you need to lay the ground carefully John McLeod If you would like to retire abroad, you need to plan ahead carefully, reports John McLeod More and more people are choosing to retire ...
Sales rise, profits fall at BSkyB.(Financial report)
Nov 02, 2007 ... But ongoing investment in new services should see profits rise for the group going forward Shunil Roy-Chaudhuri British Sky Broadcasting's first-quarter results were a mixed bag. Revenues rose by a robust 11 per cent, to hit GBP1.19bn. But net customer growth was relatively ...
SilverJet needs to fill up.
Nov 02, 2007 ... Passenger numbers have almost doubled in six months, but the business-only carrier's load factor has room to improve. Stephen Gunnion Business-only airline Silverjet has almost doubled its capacity since May, assisted by the addition of a second New York service in September ....
Alterian's losses widen as it gears up.
Nov 02, 2007 ... Investment in distribution and acquisition costs combined to increase Alterian's losses in the first half of the year, but are the spending is expected to bear fruit in the second half. Stephen Gunnion A new partnership with Targetbase means that Alterian now provides marketing ...
Dollar headwinds hit British Airways.
Nov 02, 2007 ... Shares in the airline fall after management lowers its full-year revenue guidance due to the weakening US dollar. But cost cutting leads to strong profit growth. Stephen Gunnion British Airways' fuel bill is expected to top GBP2bn for the first time this year due to record oil ...
Rummaging in the rubble.
Nov 02, 2007 ... Our Sipp diarist is looking for bargains in the debris of the sub-prime crash, with Reits and builders top of his list David Stevenson I don't quite know whether to blame the shorter days, the colder weather or my natural stubborn streak for the sudden outbreak of contrarian ...
Haike Chemicals: "Outlook positive".
Nov 02, 2007 ... Haike said its performance in the third quarter was strong despite the high oil price, and its outlook was "very positive" Richard Hemming Chinese oil refiner, Haike Chemicals, buoyed investors with a trading statement that said its business "continued to trade well" in the ...
IC Bidwatch: No Resolution.
Nov 02, 2007 ... Plus more developments at Davenham and Telent Jonas Crosland It is not every day of the year that a company can get away with recommending that its shareholders should stay away from an extraordinary meeting. But in the case of Resolution, the recommendation is justified. It ...
FTSE losses mount.
Nov 02, 2007 ... Renewed concern over banks' exposure to sub-prime debt Jonas Crosland Leading shares have extended their early losses, so that by lunchtime the FTSE100 index was down 70.9 points at 6,515.2 Mid-cap stocks were also hit, although not quite so badly, and the FTSE250 index was off ...
Shire Q3 results fail to impress.(Financial report)
Nov 05, 2007 ... Shire produced a bit each way for the market, and investors reacted likewise Richard Hemming Analysts waxed lyrical about Shire's third-quarter results, but investors were less impressed. True, the pharmaceutical giant's sales were above analysts' expectations, with revenues up ...
Island in a debt sea.
Nov 05, 2007 ... Island Oil & Gas is plugging away at its increasingly diverse portfolio of assets. But shareholders have yet to reap any rewards. Alastair Ford It's been a busy year for Island Oil & Gas, as the company always said it would be. Chief executive Paul Griffiths says that Island ...
Big discount at London Asia Chinese.
Nov 05, 2007 ... Tough new investment rules in China have undermined its business model Nigel Bolitho It's easy to confuse London Asia Chinese Private Equity (LAE) with its sister company London Asia Capital (LAC). Both have a similar management, their investment aims are the same, they share ...
Charteris finally turning around.
Nov 05, 2007 ... The consultancy group's latest recovery plan looks to be doing the trick Nigel Bolitho Charteris' share price has been heading steadily lower for almost three years, but there are signs in the latest results that the new management team is starting to turn things around. ...
Europa Oil & Gas lines up busy 2008.
Nov 05, 2007 ... Europa produces oil at home, and explores away. Nigel Bolitho Europa Oil & Gas has a simple business model: cash generated by its UK onshore activities helps fund exploration elsewhere, primarily in Romania, Egypt and France. In the year to July, output from its three UK fields ...
Carillion closes in on Alfred McAlpine.
Nov 05, 2007 ... Carillion gets the green light for improved offer after key McAlpine shareholders accept Jonas Crosland It's third time lucky for Carillion in its attempt to buy Alfred McAlpine, after the two companies agreed on an indicative offer worth 585p a share, which values McAlpine at ...
Independent Media Distribution beats expectations.(Financial report)
Nov 05, 2007 ... Independent Media Distribution beats forecasts, and there's scope to roll-out its fast and cost-effective delivery system across other European countries Shunil Roy-Chaudhuri Independent Media Distribution (IMD), the UK's leading digital distributor of television and radio ...
IC Trades: Persimmon (PSN).
Nov 05, 2007 ... The chart's still bearish, but seasonal factors will soon turn positive Dominic Picarda Once again, the 55-day moving average has halted Persimmon's latest rally attempt, with a bearish lower high registered in the process. A tumble towards 932p and perhaps 880p ...
Easter coming early for Ryanair.
Nov 05, 2007 ... Full-year revenue at the low cost carrier will be boosted by better winter yields, costs savings and an early Easter next year. Stephen Gunnion Ryanair plans to open four new bases this winter, including Bristol, Belfast and Alicante and Valencia in Spain. And the low cost ...
Coming clean.
Nov 05, 2007 ... Banks can't be honest about their exposure to US mortgages Chris Dillow Market opinion is clear. Banks are not skilful judges of risk, but just punters whose luck ran out when the US mortgage market went belly-up. That's the message given by the fact that global banking stocks ...
Starvest adds to its portfolio.
Nov 05, 2007 ... Proceeds from African Platinum have been reinvested Nigel Bolitho A wonder-holding in African Platinum shares and warrants has kept Starvest profitable for the past few years. The original investment was just GBP100,000 in May 2002 at 1p a share plus 10m warrants exercisable at ...
Does money matter?
Nov 05, 2007 ... Institutional investors have big cash piles. So what? Chris Dillow Financial institutions are awash with cash. Bank of England figures show that their bank deposits have grown by GBP32.5bn (7.4 per cent) in the past three months. Common sense says this must be good ...
Reasons to be cheerful.
Nov 05, 2007 ... There are good reasons to think the US will avoid recession Chris Dillow The housing market is slumping, the oil price is at a record high, the IMF has warned of the "risk of aftershocks" from the "earthquake" that struck financial markets in the summer, and respected investor ...
Acquisitions boost Proactis.
Nov 05, 2007 ... Proactis has reported a decent set of full year results. And there could be more good news to come. Nigel Bolitho Proactis' share price jumped 11p to 69p following publication of its maiden annual results since flotation in June last year. That rise helped to reverse a steady ...
Noble coining it in.
Nov 05, 2007 ... Emerging markets' demand for their rare coins is rising fast, and that's boosting coin specialist Noble Investments Nigel Bolitho The two keys to Noble Investments' impressive 2006-07 results and future prosperity are the growing demand from the well off in emerging markets ...
Doctor Who boosts Character's shares.
Nov 05, 2007 ... Character seems to have put past problems firmly behind it. Nigel Bolitho In mid-2001, Character Group's share price hit an all-time low of 24p when it unveiled a rescue fundraising. Next it signed an agreement with Polaroid to distribute digital cameras but that deal turned ...
Back to fundamentals at Sainsbury.
Nov 05, 2007 ... What's the supermarket group worth without a bid premium built in? Nathalie Olof-Ors After weeks of negotiations, Delta Two has pulled out of its 600p a share bid for supermarket group J Sainsbury, blaming deteriorating credit conditions and the demands made upon it by ...
Cons Min bidder doesn't own 'mystery shares'.
Nov 05, 2007 ... Consolidated Minerals has ruled out bidder Palmary as the owner of a large block of shares Alastair Ford Australian manganese miner Consolidated Minerals has been rounding up the usual suspects in an effort to work out who owns a mystery block of shares held via accounts in the ...
No man's land.
Nov 05, 2007 ... While The Trader waits to see whether the short-term trend has been broken, he considers some new research that casts doubt on the effectiveness of a favourite charting indicator. Marc Rivalland As quickly as the main US indices rallied to their 20-day moving averages, they then ...
Arctic warms up Getech sales.
Nov 05, 2007 ... Geological data is vital for oil exploration, and Getech crunches a lot of numbers Nigel Bolitho As the hunt for new oil and gas reserves pushes into ever more challenging environments, access to quality geological data is vital. And that's where Getech comes in. In return for a ...
Moment of truth?
Nov 05, 2007 ... A spate of portfolio revaluations could support property stocks, or push them lower Algy Hall In the coming weeks, the real-estate investment trusts (Reits) will face a moment of truth. Since the start of the year, share prices have been devastated by speculation that interest ...
Cherry-picking.
Nov 05, 2007 ... Simon Thompson looks at last week's Fed rate cut and advises buying selected blue chips Simon Thompson In a sense, the sell-off in equity markets after the Federal Reserve gave investors exactly what they wanted - a 25 basis point cut in the Fed funds rate - was completely ...
Meldex shares rocket.
Nov 05, 2007 ... Shares in the former BioProgress have rocketed 17 per cent after a series of positive announcements Richard Hemming There aren't many biotech stocks that are close to a 12-month high. But after a 17 per cent gain today, Meldex is one. The latest spurt comes after the group, ...
FTSE losses accelerate.
Nov 05, 2007 ... Investors still unsettled by jitters in financial stocks Jonas Crosland Leading shares extended their losses in morning trade, as investors moved out of the financial sector on renewed worries about exposure to the sub-prime lending market. Sentiment was also badly dented as J ...
SMG rights issue gives breathing space.
Nov 06, 2007 ... Relieving the debt burden will buy SMG some time and let it focus on restructuring Shunil Roy-Chaudhuri Scottish media group SMG is planning a two-for-one rights issue at 15p per share to raise GBP95m. The move is fully underwritten, and will allow the group to reduce its ...
Kirkland Lake in sparkling form.
Nov 06, 2007 ... Kirkland Lake's shares have rocketed since we recommended buying them, but there should be plenty of good news to come Alastair Ford Since we recommended buying Kirkland Lake Gold's shares at 378p (20 Oct 2006), they have soared by more than 80 per cent to 705p. That's because ...
Tate & Lyle lacks some sweetness.
Nov 06, 2007 ... Rising raw material costs and a weak dollar look like making the going tough for Tate & Lyle Jonas Crosland A weak dollar and a sharp rise in raw materials explain the dramatic fall in Tate & Lyle's pre-tax profits during the period. The management had already warned in ...
Ark taps investors for GBP35m.
Nov 06, 2007 ... Ark Therapeutics is raising GBP35.4m for its research programme Richard Hemming Ark Therapeutics has raised GBP35.4m in a placing and open offer to continue development of its pipeline, which includes brain cancer treatment, Cerepro. The raising alleviates ...
Hydrogen joins Imprint race.
Nov 06, 2007 ... Second bidder for recruitment group, but OPD offer gets the nod Jonathan Eley Aim-traded recruitment group Hydrogen says it is looking at making an all-share offer for Imprint at around 125p a share, gate-crashing Imprint's advanced bid talks with OPD. Hydrogen's ...
It's that sinking feeling.
Nov 06, 2007 ... The imminent arrival of a new boss can be the time to turn bearish on a company's shares, says Mr Bearbull Mr Bearbull Kitchen-sinking. Not the most attractive gerund in the English language, perhaps, but it does a job. Newly-appointed chief executives are big on ...
City Trades: easyJet (EZJ).
Nov 06, 2007 ... Charting ace Tarquin Coe tracks the flight of his successful bet on easyJet Tarquin Coe Bullish volume characteristics proved effective in forecasting easyJet's ascent through its 200-day moving average, says Tarquin Coe at Investors Intelligence. The break confirmed ...
Next week's economics.
Nov 06, 2007 ... Next week's economics Chris Dillow The slump in the US housing market isn't hitting consumer spending yet, next week's figures are likely to show. Economists expect Wednesday's retail sales figures to show a gain of 0.2 per cent in October, implying annual nominal growth of 5.2 ...
Uncomfortable times at Land of Leather.
Nov 06, 2007 ... But performance could well be stronger over the all-important January sales period Shunil Roy-Chaudhuri In a first-quarter update, Land of Leather said like-for-like sales orders fell 9 per cent in the 13 weeks to 28 October 2007. Management had already said the period would be ...
International Medical starts to reorganise its portfolio.
Nov 06, 2007 ... International Medical breaks into profit Nigel Bolitho International Medical Devices (IMD) has built up a formidable array of hospital devices through acquisitions. They are either branded products distributed by it, including Penfine diabetic needles and disposable suction ...
Yell faces tough US competition.
Nov 06, 2007 ... Directories publisher Yell has managed to increase its profits strongly despite increased competition in the US and a tough market for the Yellow Pages in the UK Stephen Gunnion UK print revenues remain under pressure at directories business Yell, publisher of the Yellow Pages ...
Primark gives Associated a boost.
Nov 06, 2007 ... Associated British Foods is bounding ahead on the success of discount clothing retailer, Primark, while the sugar and agricultural units also look in good shape Nathalie Olof-Ors Associated British Foods' (ABF) chief executive, George Weston, believes that these figures ...
Store revamps boost Marks & Spencer.
Nov 06, 2007 ... Refurbishment affects sales while it's going on, but boosts them once it's finished Shunil Roy-Chaudhuri On the face of it, Marks & Spencer's rise in like-for-like sales in the first half was unspectacular at 1.6 per cent. And chief executive Stuart Rose, who once remarked that ...
Cryo-Save lists on Aim.
Nov 06, 2007 ... Dutch-based Cryo-Save gave its initial public offering investors a reason to smile Richard Hemming Shares in Netherlands-based stem cell storage provider Cryo-Save floated on Aim at a 9 per cent premium to their 210p issue price on Tuesday. The company raised almost ...
City Trades: Berkeley Group (BKG).
Nov 06, 2007 ... Expect more subsidence from housebuilder, says contracts for difference boss Steven Mayne After achieving an all-time high in mid-May, Berkeley's shares fell dramatically to an annual low towards the end of September, says Steven Mayne at Montague Pitman. Despite ...
IC Trades: FTSE 100 (UKX).
Nov 06, 2007 ... FTSE 100 drops, but new highs likely before long Dominic Picarda The lower high for the FTSE100 on 1 November was bearish and a double-bottom sell signal would occur on the point-and-figure chart at 6400. However, there is decent support from the 200-day exponential ...
IC Trades: Vodafone (VOD).
Nov 06, 2007 ... Still hanging on the telephone for Vodafone Dominic Picarda Mobile phone giant Vodafone looks game for another attack at 200p. The shares stayed above their crucial 179p support level on their latest pull-back. There is additional support from the 21-day moving ...
IC Trades: Capital & Regional (CAL).
Nov 06, 2007 ... While oversold, there is no sign yet of C&R's downtrend reversing Dominic Picarda Capital & Regional's chart has been a picture of almost uninterrupted decline for six months. The 21-day exponential moving average has easily contained every counter-trend rally. A ...
New tack from ClearStream.
Nov 06, 2007 ... ClearStream could be close to breakeven thanks to an ace up its sleeve. Nigel Bolitho Promising three years of losses to come when floating on Aim is not the ideal way to market a company's shares and those of Irish-based ClearStream Technologies have suffered: they came to the ...
Pipeline dreams.
Nov 06, 2007 ... While shares in big pharmaceutical players suffer on the back of regulatory problems, Richard Hemming argues that takeover prospects could prove good news for the smaller companies Richard Hemming Big pharmaceutical players certainly have their bull points. Take GlaxoSmithKline ...
Bid prospects in pharma.
Nov 06, 2007 ... Do mergers create value and who's next to be swallowed up in the pharma sector? Richard Hemming finds out Richard Hemming Whether mergers actually create value - among pharmaceutical players, or any other kind of company - is an old debate. It is possible to argue, for example, ...