Attack on Admiral Group (ADM) ‘jobs for the boyos’. Critics said it was completely unjustifiable for the Welsh government to give a grant of £670,000 to Admiral Insurance, which made nearly £200 million in profits in the first half of the year.
Mitie Group (MTO) to axe 480 jobs as cost cuts escalate.
Kingfisher (KGF) makeover hits the bottom line. Sales at B&Q fell by 6.3% to £1.87 billion in the first half.
Asian markets are headache for Diageo (DGE)
Founder of Vedanta Resources (VED) lifts Anglo American (AAL) stake.
Metro Bank (MTRO) slows as fears grow about pace of progress
Ashtead Group (AHT) fell 22p to £17.63 after Rory McKenzie, of UBS, reiterated his “sell” rating.
Reach4Entertainment Enterprises (R4E) bemoaned a lack of new theatre productions as it revealed a 15% slump in revenues in the six months to June 30 to £41.9 million.
Character Group (CCT) fell 22½p to 485p after stating that it did not know what impact the bankruptcy of Toys R Us would have on its trading.
Domino’s Pizza Group (DOM) delivers on buyback. Investors were dining out on Domino’s Pizza after the takeaway group said that it would spend £15 million on buying back shares, lifting the stock by 18p to a close of 293p.
Tempus – Babcock International Group (BAB) – Buy. Babcock has been unfairly classed in with other outsourcers, but its business is much more resilient and contracts much longer term
Tempus – Cambian Group (CMBN)– Avoid. Too early to buy the shares, which look expensive
Tempus – Diageo (DGE) – Avoid. Rating seems up with events, given pace of growth
Tempus – And finally… Shares in Intermediate Capital Group (ICP) have been strong this year. The market is taking its time appreciating its shift from investing its own funds to a more asset management-based model, while the increasing reliability of earnings means that dividends may be raised. A note from Numis Securities suggests that recent share price weakness has been overdone. Intermediate’s way of doing business is one that other asset managers are looking at.
