HMV Strategy Impresses Investors

News of the agreement between European Union leaders and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on a financial rescue plan for Greece failed to allay fears for other fragile European economies on Friday morning. In the absence of any meaningful company news the FTSE 100 index struggled to make headway and by 11.00 GMT was down 21.18 points or 0.37% to 5,706.47.

Dominic Turner
shareprices.com - Friday, March 26, 2010

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Property companies were among the best performers, with British Land, up 9.1p or 1.94% to 478.5p and Hammerson, up 3.4p or 0.88% to 390p, going well. Conversely, food, home and personal care giant Unilever was downgraded to "neutral" from "overweight" by HSBC and its share price 14p or 0.73% to 1,916p as a result. Unilever chief executive Paul Polman warned last week that the company may move its operations offshore if its tax and regulatory burden increased.

One of the biggest moves of the day was in the FTSE 250, with entertainment retailer HMV jumping 6.2p or 7.87% to 85p after unveiling its investment strategy. This involves increasing the number of new products on sale in its stores and expanding its live music and ticketing market presence. HMV acquired Mama, which owns 11 music venues including the Hammersmith Apollo, the Forum in Kentish Town and the Jazz Café in Camden, for £46 million in December, but expects to be debt free by 2013 after a series of cost-cutting measures. The firm also targeted an improvement in the performance of its 313 Waterstone's bookstores, which traded poorly over the Christmas period.

 

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