Banks attract TD Waterhouse customers’ attention
Angus Rigby, Chief Executive Officer, TD Waterhouse comments: "Fresh from winning a landmark court battle, in which the Supreme Court ruled that the OFT (Office of Fair Trading) cannot investigate whether overdraft charges are unfair, the banks have once again strengthened their position in the top ten - accounting for 50% of this week's trading activity.
"Lloyds Banking Group remains the most popular sell as shareholders mull the banks upcoming £13.5bn rights issue in a desperate bid to escape the Government's £260bn Asset Protection Scheme. The banking giant accounted for a quarter (25%) of the top ten sells as it announced it will be offering the 2.8m private investors on its share register the opportunity to buy shares at a discount of 60% of their value. The Treasury, which holds a 43% stake in Lloyds, is believed to be taking up its rights investing £5.7bn net as an underwriting fee.
"Meanwhile, it seems TD Waterhouse customers are heading to the supermarket for a bargain this week as Morrison's crept into tenth place of the top ten buys. Shares in Britain's fourth largest supermarket fell 4% on Wednesday (18th November) following the resignation of chief executive Marc Bolland. Shares picked up slightly the following day as the supermarket announced a 4.3% rise in like-for-like sales for the third quarter of the year. Bolland is set to take a similar role at rival Marks & Spencer (M&S) in the New Year. As Morrison's shares fell, shares in M&S jumped 5 9% to reach a near 17 month high - helping the food and clothing chain climb to ninth place of the top ten sells. Sir Stuart Rose, who is currently at the helm, will continue as part-time chairman of M&S before finally leaving by July 2011.
"Systems biology company Physiomics made its first appearance in the top ten this week- reaching sixth and seventh place in the sells and buys respectively. Buys were 32% higher than sells as the company announced Energiser Investments has an interest in 50,000,000 ordinary shares, representing 7.7% of voting rights of the company. Back in October the firm revealed its revenue for the year to the end of June is expected to exceed its original forecast of £440,000 made in July 2008."