magazine archive
magazine archive
Big News
Impressive earnings ‘beats’ from service companies and engineers
Thursday 22 Mar 2018Support services and engineering sectors stand out from the recent corporate earnings season with a large number of companies beating forecasts. UBS says more than half of stocks in its European support services coverage beat earnings expectations. It says on average the stocks beating expectations...
Barclays now in Edward Bramson’s cross-hairs
Thursday 22 Mar 2018There could be changes afoot at Barclays ( BARC ) as famed activist investor Edward Bramson takes a 5.2% holding in the company. Bramson’s investment vehicle Sherborne Investors ( SIGC ) paid around £580m for the stake. Previously he has been involved with private equity firms 3i ( III ) , fund...
What does Putin’s win mean for Russia-focused investments?
Thursday 22 Mar 2018As widely predicted Russian president Vladimir Putin is back for another six-year term having secured a landslide victory on a decent turnout. Putting to one side question marks over the validity of the poll and the current deterioration in relations with the West, investment bank UBS remains...
FTSE 100 in a spin amid takeovers, restructures and spin-offs
Thursday 22 Mar 2018The FTSE 100 is going through an unprecedented period of change with a variety of corporate restructurings, spin-offs and takeovers. Life insurer Prudential ( PRU ) is to break into two separately-listed companies, potentially by the end of 2019. Shareholders will receive free shares in M&G...
Is there more to come from Burford Capital?
Thursday 22 Mar 2018Litigation finance provider Burford Capital ( BUR:AIM ) has reported 2017 results significantly ahead of analysts’ forecasts (14 Mar), prompting Liberum to upgrade its 2018 and 2019 earnings per share estimates by an astonishing 100%. At more than £15, the shares are up 15-fold on its 100p stock...
Pound see-saws on Brexit progress and softer price growth
Thursday 22 Mar 2018The pound is going through another volatile period after two major pieces of news served to push and pull the currency. It went up after the European Union and UK agreed terms for a Brexit transition period (19 Mar), before falling after inflation numbers came in lower than expected (20 Mar)...
Spring Statement reveals (slightly) improved economic picture
Thursday 15 Mar 2018The Spring Statement delivered precious little in the way of new policy with any substantive measures set to wait until the Budget in November. There was a slight increase in the Office for Budget Responsibility’s (OBR) economic growth forecast for 2018 from 1.4% to 1.5%. The OBR’s borrowing...
Gem Diamonds is on a roll with high quality discoveries
Thursday 15 Mar 2018Gem Diamonds ( GEMD ) has already found seven high quality diamonds greater than 100 carats this year which is very good considering it only found seven in total during 2017. This provides a welcome reminder about the capabilities of its Letseng mine in Lesotho, although it is pure luck as to when...
Time is running out for GKN shareholders to vote on Melrose takeover offer
Thursday 15 Mar 2018Shareholders in FTSE 100 engineer GKN ( GKN ) have until 29 March to decide whether to accept a takeover offer from turnaround specialist Melrose Industries ( MRO ) . One alternative is to support a deal to merge GKN’s Driveline automotive arm with US engineering group Dana. Melrose originally...
Labour strike risk could lead to higher copper price
Thursday 15 Mar 2018Keep a close eye on the copper price as experts predict supply disruptions which could push up the value of the metal. Investment bank Jefferies says Chile miner strikes could be imminent which could affect output from some of the world’s biggest copper producers. It also flags risks such as...