Balfour’s profits boost cements recovery. The recovery at Balfour Beatty (BBY) is complete, the chief executive has declared, with the plan now to produce profit margins better than the rest of the industry.
A venture to persuade Americans to buy car insurance via a price comparison website has forced Admiral Group (ADM) to warn that it would lose it up to $13 million this year and would be in the red again next year.
Philip Day is in talks with landlords to take over several House of Fraser stores in a move that could infuriate the chain’s new owner, . The retail billionaire, who was a losing bidder in the battle for control of the department stores group, is talking to between 10 and 15 landlords about leasing the stores and running them under his Days fascia.
Hochschild Mining (HOC) has increased its estimate of gold and silver resources at its principal mine in Peru by almost 50% after fresh drilling. The miner disclosed the new estimate as it reported a surge in profits for the first half of the year, aided by lower-than-expected costs and higher production. However, it said this was likely to be offset by higher costs and lower output in the second half and left its full-year guidance unchanged.
Lookers (LOOK) has become the country’s largest UK quoted motor dealer after it shrugged off the woes that have hit its rival Pendragon (PDG)
Bears were having a picnic yesterday after concerns about Greencore Group (GNC) US strategy and sales in Britain raised the interest of short-sellers. About 10% of Greencore Group’s shares are now on loan after a new position was taken.
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) was among the gainers on the FTSE 100. It closed up 30½p at £15.90½ after announcing that a study into an injection it had developed had proven that it was as effective as the pills used for controlling Aids.
Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) rose 98p to £17.45 after it said that it expected higher full-year revenue after raising forecasts for sales of its injectable opioids in the US.
BGEO Group (BGEO) and TBC Bank Group (TBCG) both rose as the argument that they were overly sold-off on the back of contagion fears from the Turkey crisis began to win over investors.
Gaming problems at Tencent, the Chinese internet giant that reported a rare drop in profit yesterday, sent shares lower in Frontier Developments (FDEV) the UK-listed games company in which Tencent holds an 8.7% stake. Tencent said that it had been hit by bureaucratic reforms that have effectively frozen the licensing of new games since March.
Nanoco Group (NANO) fell by 11.5% after its year-end trading update indicated its full-year figures would miss expectations because of delays to short-terms orders.
A sell-off in UK-listed mining stocks wiped more than £7 billion off their value as the strong American dollar weighed on commodity prices and data from China showed a slowdown in investment growth. , Glencore (GLEN) and Anglo American (AAL) shed between 5.2% and 6.2% of their share price as the dollar rose to a 14-month high.
