Equities have carried on where they left off yesterday after the ECB-fuelled a surge in buying. Click here to see what the Trader Nicole Elliott makes of the latest market moves. For reaction from editor John Hughman and other writers to the ECB QE announcement, listen to the free IC podcast here.
IC TIP UPDATES:
Carillion (CLLN) has won contracts to supply facilities management services to around 50 prisons in two regions. The Ministry of Justice contracts cover London and the South East, the South Central, Kent and Sussex areas and are worth £200m over five years. Buy.
Close Brothers (CBG) continues to be buoyed by strong conditions in its banking business, which is mitigating a tougher time in securities. The loan book in banking grew by 4 per cent to £5.5bn and the asset management business grew assets under management by 2 per cent to £9.9bn. The securities trading business saw volumes remain steady but income per deal dipped. We retain our buy rating.
KEY STORIES:
Discount store specialist B&M European Value (BME) grew group sales by 28.8 per cent to £527.9m in the 13 weeks to 27 December with its UK business showing like for like sales growth of 4.5 per cent on top of strong comparatives from the previous year. B&M opened 27 stores in the UK in the 13 week period and expects to open 50 this financial year and another 45 in the next financial year.
Recently floated luxury goods business Jimmy Choo (CHOO) grew annual net revenues by 12 per cent to £299m in 2014 with like for like growth of 5.7 per cent with growth recorded in retail, wholesale and licensing. The company had 125 directly operated stores at the year end and hopes to open 10-15 a year in the coming years.
Furniture retailer ScS has announced details of its planned float which will see it place 20m shares at 175p a share to raise £35.7m. Shares are expected to start trading next Wednesday.
Premier Foods (PFD) says trading improved in December although its Power Brands suffered a 3.5 per cent reversal in sales over the fourth quarter. The company reports its highest quarterly market share for three years and its highest December market share for four years.
OTHER COMPANY NEWS:
Ultra Electronics (ULE) says that it has been informed that its contract for Oman airport has been cancelled by the customer. A small provision is likely in its full year results although profit impact will be minimal.
