In what one could call a purrfect storm, as economic pressures increase owners seem keen to keep a tighter rein on spending than on their pets.Today, veterinary medicines firm Animalcare announced its microchip business was continuing to suffer because of the economic climate, with sales down by almost a third over the financial year so far.Good news for those who believe in an animal’s freedom to roam but unwelcome for the AIM-listed group which, having formerly expected improvements in the second half, had to admit the Square Mile’s forecasts would be too optimistic.The profits warning left the group in free-fall, with its share price slumping 24p — or 14.12% — to 146p. Although house broker N+1 Brewin tried to put a brave face on things ... Continue reading →

A much-hyped listing swiftly followed by the share price plummeting – sound familiar? As the fall-out from the Facebook IPO continues to rumble on, today marks the one-year anniversary of another debut that has not exactly lived up to expectations. After a massive float worth £37bn, official trading of shares in Glencore International began exactly 12 months ago. However, you could forgive those investors who got in at the start for not blowing out the candles on the cake with too much enthusiasm. Having made its debut priced at 530p a pop, the commodity trading giant's share price has been in freefall ever since, losing more than a third. Last night there was a fresh and rather unwelcome milestone, with Glencore's fall of 17.95p to ... Continue reading →

The London Stock Exchange was floored today after its third and fourth largest shareholders decided to sell out completely.Not only have the Italian banks UniCredit and Intesa Sanpaolo — who together held 11.5% of the bourse and are under pressure to improve their balance sheets — got shot of their stakes at a discount but the sale price ended up at the bottom of expectations. Last night the two announced they believed the shares would be offloaded at between 960p and 1000p a share, and today they confirmed they had gone for 960p.Given that the LSE — whose share price had enjoyed a strong year so far — closed last night at 1021p, the reaction wasn’t pretty.Not too much of a shock perhaps, but dealers ... Continue reading →

There has been no shortage of takeover chatter around Hammerson lately. The possibility of the developer – whose portfolio includes the Brent Cross and Bullring shopping centres in north London and Birmingham – being snapped up has caused much excitement, and the bid spotlight was switched back on yesterday. This time, vague rumours were suggesting the blue-chip group may be a possible target for an unnamed Middle East sovereign wealth fund, with market gossips claiming a potential bid might be worth up to 650p a pop. The chatter was accompanied by a late rally for Hammerson which was 3.2p better off at 420.5p by the bell. Dealers were dismissive of the speculation, however, although a number of analysts have been talking up its attractiveness. In ... Continue reading →

After its share price lost nearly 25% in one session last week, the bosses at Pursuit Dynamics decided on Friday to announce they knew of no reason for the fall. Today they had a reason.It signed a joint development agreement 18 months ago for Procter & Gamble to use the AIM-listed firm’s PDX reactor technology, designed to help slash energy costs.However, the US consumer goods giant, owner of Fairy liquid and Pampers nappies among many other brands, has decided to pull the plug on the deal.That’s not good, with Pursuit admitting that as a result its revenue figures for the year would “materially” miss forecasts, while it has also decided its strategic review will have to hurry up and produce an update by the end ... Continue reading →

† Car insurance: 25% could save up to £487.99, Consumer Intelligence, February 2012; Home Insurance: 51% could save up to £104.21, Consumer Intelligence February 2012; Credit Cards: Card saving based on best 0% product vs. the market average, based on average balance transfer of £2,046, minimum repayment of 2.5% over 12 months, February 2012; Energy: 20% saved over £237.56, based on MoneySupermarket data, February 2012; Loans: Loans saving based on the interest paid on best product vs. the market average loan rate obtained from the Bank of England, taking out £5,000 over a term of 5 years, February 2012; Savings: £43.83 saving based on Bank of England average rate of 0.2% with an average balance of £1,501 vs. best easy access rate, February 2012; Travel ... Continue reading →

The internet behemoth has recently launched its own free service allowing users to compare credit cards as well as current and savings accounts, although unlike other comparison sites it has not decided to promote it with an excruciatingly bad advert.Google appears not to have pushed it out fully yet — a search for “credit cards uk” will bring it up but “credit card uk” will not. Still, that wasn’t enough to stop Moneysupermarket.com crashing 6.9p to 119.45p today as Numis Securities’ David McCann told punters to sell up in response.The scribbler warned that the danger was not so much the increase in competition but that — with the group getting around a third of its revenues from visitors coming via Google — the new service ... Continue reading →

Forget Topshop or H&M, it’s all about the grey pound on the High Street. With the second wave of the post-war baby boomers moving into later life, the City was today eyeing up those retailers set to benefit the most.Saying the gap between what a teenage girl and her grandmother spend on clothing may not be as wide as many think, scribblers from Bank of America Merrill Lynch argued that more and more womenswear purchases will come from those over 45.While claiming it was positive news for the retailers generally, they picked out Marks & Spencer as the best placed, given the high street institution already holds more than a quarter of the over-55s market.The analysts also said the trend would particularly support Debenhams, with ... Continue reading →

They may be at each other's throats, but could Hammerson and Westfield end up together? The two developers are battling it out to see who gets to redevelop the Whitgift shopping centre in Croydon. However, some believe the Aussie giant Westfield may want to put their differences aside and make an approach for its Footsie-listed rival. According to John Kim, an analyst at the Hong Kong-based broker CLSA, there is a "compelling case" for the group to consider snapping up Hammerson, whose portfolio includes the Bullring (below) and Brent Cross shopping centres in Birmingham and north London.Saying they would make a "compelling marriage", the scribbler claimed a deal would help Westfield, which last year opened its second London site in Stratford, build on its success ... Continue reading →