magazine archive
magazine archive
Big News
XP Power eyes new acquisition push
Thursday 03 May 2018Power switching components designer XP Power ( XPP ) could be close to making a significant acquisition. The company recently extended its lending facilities and any deal could add depth to its product range and possibly broaden its end markets. Likely targets would be in power converter...
Re-rating potential for stocks with large pension deficits
Thursday 03 May 2018Rising bond yields could loosen the financial noose of hefty pension scheme deficits that has strangled the share price performances of some UK companies. This is according to recent analysis by analysts at broker Canaccord Genuity which studied 60 UK-listed companies with the largest pension...
The stories behind a surge in UK corporate activity
Thursday 03 May 2018The FTSE 100 is seeing unprecedented levels of corporate activity and the deals keep on coming. J Sainsbury ( SBRY ) , Shire ( SHP ) , Sky ( SKY ) and Whitbread ( WTB ) are the latest blue chip companies at the centre of M&A and demerger activity and this article will look at the key points...
Eurozone relief... but for how long?
Thursday 26 Apr 2018The latest composite purchasing managers index (PMI) for the Eurozone came in slightly better than expected, helping to ease fears of a slowdown in the economic bloc. The reading, from IHS Markit, of 55.2 for April was unchanged on the March figure but came in better than the decline to 54.2...
Good week for the markets but setbacks for Reckitt and Clarkson
Thursday 26 Apr 2018A few disappointments regarding growth levels and profit warnings failed to sour what was otherwise a decent week on the markets with the FTSE 100 having risen by 2.7% and the FTSE All-Share up by 2.6% in the seven days to 24 April. ID management company GB Group ( GBG:AIM ) outstripped full year...
Stadium purchase to accelerate TT Electronic’s profits scale
Thursday 26 Apr 2018Electronic components manufacturer TT Electronics ( TTG ) has completed the £58m acquisition of smaller peer Stadium, accelerating profit improvement plans. Stadium designs and makes a series of connectivity, power supply and human-machine interface technologies and assemblies. This will increase...
Online isn’t necessarily the ticket to retail success
Thursday 26 Apr 2018Analysts at investment bank Liberum see a widening gap between winners and losers in the retail industry. Importantly this isn’t just divided between traditional bricks and mortar outfits and their online rivals, as has been the case in the recent past. They see some online names as vulnerable and...
Should shareholders get involved with Capita’s £701m rights issue?
Thursday 26 Apr 2018For long suffering investors in outsourcer Capita ( CPI ) , being asked to buy more shares in the company may not be music to their ears. However, the banks acting as joint bookrunners on a planned rights issue, Citigroup and Goldman Sachs, are both fully underwriting the fundraise. This means that...
Fast growth vaping firm Supreme to float on the stock market
Thursday 26 Apr 2018Investors looking to play the growth in demand for e-cigarettes may be interested in the forthcoming stock market listing of Supreme on AIM. The business, expected to be valued between £110m and £130m, hopes to float in early May. Supreme has three business lines serving low-cost retailers,...
Pound pushes to highest level since Brexit vote
Thursday 19 Apr 2018The pound is back on the front foot, reaching its highest levels versus the dollar since the Brexit vote as we went to press. The resurgence of sterling reflects the first increase in UK interest rates in more than a decade in November 2017, expectations for a further hike when the Bank of England...