As you might imagine there is a dearth of corporate news this Sunday……….
German-owned Thomas Cook has reportedly hired Citigroup to advise it on the acquisition of First Choice's package holiday division valued at £500m-£600m, according to the Sunday Times.
Most of the broadsheets look at the online retails and conclude they had a bumper Christmas with […]

Goldman Sachs downgrades 2007 and 2008 earnings estimates by 15% and 21% respectively. Retains its neutral stance, price target raised to 108p from 104.7p.

Exane BNP Paribas remains neutral, but lifts price target to 790p from 870p. Shares trading at 822p.

Seymour Pierce - in a note compiled on Dec 22 but not released until today - says the 12% fall in the share price over the past year has been over-done. Has a DCF valuation of 73.5p (today's price 66p). Wonder if Baugur is prepared to pay that price?

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SG - not the greatest broker in the world - says it looks 'strong for 2007'. Retains strong buy and 270p share price target (219p).

Dresdner Kleinwort says the 'opportunistic' acquisition of the rump assets of Empire Online adds 3.4pc to 2007 earnings. Has price target of 50p a share (31p), and decidedly upbeat on one of the dogs of 2006. Suppose it has to be bullish given it is shop to Party.

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UBS retains its buy on AMEC, but ups price target to 490p from 415p refelecting 'disposal proceeds…..and raised expectations for core activities'. Broker has made the changes following the strategy update by the new CEO. UBS retains its buy 1 on Mitie and upgrades price target to 245p from 280p relecting the unwinding of its […]

Seymour Pierce says after results:
The strategy of putting ‘its own house in order', rather than expanding too quickly, has begun to pay off. A modest rating of just into double digits and a yield of over 6% should more than compensate for the succession of self imposed ‘banana skins' after flotation. Retain OUTPERFORM.

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Seymour Pierce respected retail analyst Richard Ratner has some scathing comments on the dog of the sector Instores: Following on, the tale of woe continued, with our ‘favourite stock', Instore, reporting that apart from demand during November not being very good, the
new warehouse management system had been causing problems. The net effect was to increase […]

Citigroup says there is limited upside from current levels, even with the prospects of a leveraged buyout. Says bid does not make sense above £12.80. The Broker says: "Fully valued on fundamentals but speculation likely to be supportive. Following their recent rally, IHG shares are no longer trading on fundamentals. On 22.7x 07E P/E and […]

Board buzzing with chatter on Skye. This post sums up the mostly negative sentiment:
‘What is it about SKP mgmt? why are they all so _useless_?
another loan - on appalling terms - the injectibles deal not done: and they’re in ‘exclusive talks’ with only one party, so SKP are over a barrel in dictating terms. good […]

ADVFN has got a thread on the next ten bagger and who should pop up than uber bear Simon Cawkwell aka Evil Knevil actually puntiong a bear recommendation. So taken aback I can’t really believe it is the man himself.
The great man tells us: ‘Well, Nexus (NXS) can go up 300% from its current 1.4p […]

The year’s biggest ramp is still creating a lot of noise on the bulletin boards. One comment did, however, stroke a chord.
ADVFN says:  ’Several investors who post on this thread, which I read every day, seem to forget that NONE of the substantial shareholders have sold any shares and in the case of Mr Iraj […]

Profit taking after results on Dec 19 - strong performance before and after. Cazenove still a fan, rates the company ‘outperform’ and says:
‘Wood Group is trading on 19.7x, 16.4x and 13.4x based on our upgraded 2006, 2007 and 2008 adjusted EPS forecasts respectively. This means that on our forecasts Wood Group is now trading at […]

My friends in Iceland tells me Baugur won’t be bidding until the respective trading statements hit the wires next month - and only then if they are respectable. In Woolies case, let’s hope things have’nt deteriorated markedly since its profit warning at the start of the month.

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Hope that Baugur is ready to add Woolies to its expanding portfolio of crap UK retailers. The Iclandic firm has got a large strategic stake and has said it will look at possible purchase once Christmas is out of the way.
Our view: Re-heated gossip that is doing the rounds more in hope than expectation.

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Refinancing to borrow £35m. Injectables business will be sold probably the other side of the new year. Market worried about the escalating costs of Flutiform for asthma.
Credit Suisse says the stock is undervalued but says investors need to be sure that management can deliver on Flutiform before the stock is re-rated.
Our opinion: this has been a […]

Press reports of a £15 a share bid from Permira, Starwood and a Dubai-based investment group. Shares currently c£12.70

AstraZeneca price target cut £26 from £27 by UBS; rated a reduce ++ Bodycote price target raised to 315p from 300p by Lehamn Brothers; still overweight ++ Britvic upgraded to neutral from sell at Goldman Sachs ++ Burren Energy price target cut to 1035p from 990p buy Deutsche Bank; still rated a buy ++ Cookson […]

Deutsche Bank has given its assessment of the prospects for the retailers this coming Christmas. It sees Woolies as among the weakest performers, particularly given its recent profit warning. Has a price target of 33p a share and says:’We downgraded forecasts at the time of the company’s profit warning but we have taken a more […]