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Insurance giant Aviva set to deliver on its growth targets
Thursday 10 Aug 2023In its first-quarter trading update in May, composite insurance giant Aviva ( AV. ) reported strong growth across its retirement, health and general insurance lines. Retirement earnings were boosted by positive trends in the bulk purchase annuity market following a string of interest rate rises...
Ukrainian miner Ferrexpo down 82% in two years on the stock market
Thursday 10 Aug 2023Shares in Ukrainian iron ore producer Ferrexpo ( FXPO ) have fallen 82% from their July 2021 peak and green shoots in its half-year results on 2 August weren’t enough to stop the decline in its valuation. The miner’s shares were already falling before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but life has...
Smithson bounces back from a poor year with significant outperformance in 2023
Thursday 03 Aug 2023It was a good first half of the year for Smithson Investment Trust (SSON) after it significantly beat the market. The Fundsmith-managed vehicle grew net asset value by 11.7%, outperforming the MSCI World Small and Mid-Cap index by 9.8 percentage points. That goes some way to making up for the...
Domino’s Pizza shares up 42% in a month but analysts still to be won over
Thursday 03 Aug 2023Shares in Domino’s Pizza ( DOM ) are up by 42% since 5 July to 393p yet analysts appear unconvinced the UK’s largest pizza chain has turned a corner. Four out of the eight analysts who cover the stock have a ‘hold’ or ‘sell’ rating and four have a ‘buy’ rating while the average analyst price target...
The important points from Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds and NatWest results
Thursday 03 Aug 2023While the different share price reactions to their first-half results might suggest the reporting season for the big UK banks was a mixed bag, behind the headline figures there were a few common themes across the sector which were notable. The first and most obvious takeaway is higher interest...
How Adobe rode the AI wave to gain 50% in 2023
Thursday 03 Aug 2023Creative digital software firm Adobe (ADBE:NASDAQ) is one of the best performing US stocks so far in 2023, gaining more than 50% with its shares enjoying particular momentum since May. Adobe has a dominant 50% share of the creative software market, according to analysts. Its offering includes Adobe...
On The Beach’s shares are looking ill after halving in six months
Thursday 03 Aug 2023To say online travel agent On The Beach ( OTB ) has had a bad year is an understatement. The first summer holiday season not besmirched by either Covid or major delays has been marred by escalating marketing spend which has helped keep the company loss-making – £6 million in the red for the six-...
Wildfires and strikes cause investors to worry about airlines and holiday companies
Thursday 27 Jul 2023Shares in airlines and holiday companies including EasyJet ( EZJ ) , Jet2 ( JET2:AIM ) , TUI ( TUI ) and International Consolidated Airlines ( IAG ) suffered losses on 24 July as wildfires took hold in the popular Greek holiday destinations of Corfu and Rhodes and a ‘extreme fire risk’ warning was...
Unilever flexes its pricing power muscles, but market share losses are a concern
Thursday 27 Jul 2023Consumer packaged goods powerhouse Unilever ( ULVR ) topped the FTSE 100 leader board on 25 July after the Marmite-to-Magnum ice cream maker’s second quarter sales beat expectations. Investors were delighted as the Dove soap-to-TRESemmé maker raised full year sales guidance to ‘above 5%’, ahead of...
Ocado’s technology arm gets investors excited again
Thursday 27 Jul 2023The Ocado ( OCDO ) believers have been out in force again as the grocery delivery and warehouse automation company returned to an underlying profit in the six months to 28 May 2023, and confirmed its full year earnings guidance on 18 July. Since then, the stock has soared nearly 35% to 781p, making...