Alliance & Leicester: H1 2006 results
Alliance & Leicester, which was subject to an unsuccessful takeover bid by Credit Agricole SA, reported a drop in core operating profits for the half year to June 2006. Core operating profit for the period dropped to £268m from £272m last year.
The company did warn that margins were under pressure but the drop in profits […]
Prudential: H1 2006 results
Prudential, the UK’s second largest insurer reported that operating profits for the half year to June rose by 17% to £980m, driven mainly by overseas sales and cost savings in the UK business.
New business volumes, which grew 27% in the first quarter, seem to have slacked off with the half year new business volumes growing […]
BP: Q2 2006 Results
Boosted by high oil prices BP’s Q2 (to June 2006) replacement cost profit was $6,118m up 23% on the same period last year. For the half year, replacement cost profit was $11,383m, up 9%.
Replacement cost profit is a measure used by many oil firms to report their profits. This reflects the current cost of supplies […]
St James’s Place: H1 2006 results
Wealth management and insurance group, St James’s Place reported a whopping 55% increase in new business and a 52% increase in operating profits for the half year to June 2006.
Previously, the company reported excellent new business figures for Q1 (up 57%) which was helped by a much firmer market. As in the first quarter, growth […]
Northern Rock: H1 2006 results
Mortgage lender Northern Rock reported that statutory pre tax profits rose 13.3% to £293.9m in the half year to June 2006.
The company announced stellar volume growth: gross lending rose 28.3% to £14.8bn while net lending rose 22% to £7.3bn; something of a record for the bank. The cost:income ratio is also said to have improved […]
HSBC: Acquisition of Grupo Banistmo S.A.
HSBC announced that it is to acquire Grupo Banistmo S.A., a banking group based mainly in Panama, at a cost of $1.77bn.
Grupo Banistmo has assets of $6,973m, shareholders’ funds of $695m and made post tax profits of $115m last year. The acquisition will give HSBC control over Primer Banco del Istmo, Panama’s largest bank and […]
Barrat: FY2006 trading statement
House builder Barrat expects to report growth in sales and profits for the year to June 2006.
The company succeeded in increasing total completions slightly (up by 1.8% to 14,601) but at a lower average selling price (£165,800, down 3.7% on 2005). The company attributed the fall in average selling price to a change in sales […]
ICAP: Q1 2006 trading update
ICAP, the world’s largest voice and electronic interdealer broker, said it had enjoyed a good start to the financial year.
In the first quarter to June 2006 the company said markets had been very active, particularly in the month of May. Many major markets faced sharp dips in the month of May and have remained volatile […]
Premier Oil: H1 2006 trading update
Premier Oil reported that it had achieved a 100% exploration success record from three exploration wells drilled in Indonesia. The company’s first well drilled in Vietnam has also struck oil.
The company says it is on target to deliver four high impact wells during 2006 and has acquired a 16.67% stake in the North Sumatra Block […]
Countrywide: H1 2006 trading statement
Countrywide, the UK’s largest estate agency reported increased activity levels in the first half of 2006.
In the core estate agency business, the pipeline of sales in the hands of conveyancers rose 28.9% to £96.8m over the same period last year. The company said that demand had been firm across all areas of the UK market, […]
Burren Energy: H1 2006 trading statement
Burren Energy reported a 17% increase in working interest production (to 33,900 bopd) for the half year to June 2006. The company has experienced a 40% increase in its weighted average realised oil price ($60.90 for the half year).
This should translate to double digit turnover and profit growth, for the half year, in keeping with […]
Wolseley: FY2006 trading statement
Wolseley, specialist trade distributor of plumbing and heating products to professional contractors and a supplier of building materials, issued an upbeat trading statement for the 11 months to June 2006.
Driven by high rates of organic growth (particularly in North America) as well as acquisitions, the company has seen “strong” increase in revenue and profits for […]
Emap: AGM statement
The statement contained few numbers, however it did contain worrying comments on both sales and ad-revenues.
The problems with sales are that some magazines (men’s and automotive are mentioned) are in decline, offsetting growth elsewhere. Together with weaker ad revenues with both radio and magazines this is expected to lead flat sales for the full […]
Bovis: H1 2006 trading statement
Bovis is the latest house builder to issue a positive trading update on the first half of 2006.
The company said it experienced a “steady” housing market in H1, with “modest” increases in house prices. The company’s legal completions, the number of houses completed and legally transferred to new owners, rose 16% to 1,262 units. Surprisingly, […]
Marshalls: H1 2006 trading statement
Building supplies company Marshall’s said that revenues in the first half of 2006 were up 6.9% to £198m, mainly driven by acquisitions but also helped by a more robust demand from the public sector.
Revenue for the half year increased by £13m, of which £5m was due to acquisitions. On a like for like basis revenue […]
Wilson Bowden: H1 2006 trading statement
Housebuilder Wilson Bowden reported that improvement in sentiment in many parts of the housing market was evident in the first half of 2006.
The company’s trading statement was fairly positive. The forward order book was up 52% to 2,266 units, although this did include 380 units due for completion in 2007/9. Even excluding the longer dated […]
Tullow Oil: H1 2006 trading statement
Independent oil company Tullow Oil announced that trading for the first half of 2006 was at “record” levels. Given the buoyant oil market and Tullow’s recent performance, this should come as no surprise to followers of this stock.
Higher output; half year working interest production was up 8% (to 63,200 boepd), and better prices were the […]
Wimpey: H1 2006 trading statement
Housebuilder Wimpey has issued a positive trading update for the first half of 2006. The company said the housing market in the first half of 2006 had been “stable” in comparison to the weak market last year.
The company entered 2006 with a strong order UK book (up 22% in value) which has resulted in a […]
GUS: Q1 trading statement
The new from the retail business is much better than last year with Argos (38% of operating profit) returning to good like-for-like growth of 7%, although the smaller Homebase (7% of operating profit) continued its decline with like-for-like sales down 5%.
Experian (54% of operating profit) managed slightly lower organic growth (8%) than last year, but, […]
Persimmon: H1 2006 trading statement
Persimmon, the housebuilder released a positive trading update for the half year to June 2006. The company said like-for-like sales reservations were up 7% while sales revenue (bookings for the full year) was around £2.4bn (H1 2005: £1.78bn).
Units booked for the full year rose to 13,000 from 9,974 in the same period last year.
The bookings […]