UK Index Utilities remains a sector under extreme pressure, down another 1% this morning and underperforming the wider market, failing to display the defensive attributes that would normally have one rushing to their safe revenue, profit and dividend streams. Especially during a market volatility storm such as that which we were handed this week. As…
After the European Central Bank began its long-awaited tapering programme and having bid farewell to the Federal Reserve’s Janet Yellen, it’s finally time for the Bank of England to take the spotlight with its quarterly ‘Super Thursday’. The Bank will publish its latest inflation report alongside the monetary policy decision from the nine-strong Monetary Policy…
Redrow shares are positive this morning, lifting UK Housebuilding peers along with it – despite a weaker than expected UK Halifax House Price Index print – after reporting a record-breaking set of half-year results, just six months after doing exactly the same with full-year figures; group revenues +20%, profits +26% and completions +14% were all…
Shares in Stagecoach are sharply lower this morning with the UK government (UK Transport Secretary Grayling), once again, set to take control of the struggling East Coast Mainline rail service from April. This comes with the current Stagecoach/Virgin franchise (run 90/10 by the former, branded the latter) on the verge of hitting the buffers after…
Shares in Vodafone are down 2.5% this morning, depriving the UK Index of a valuable 5pts, after it confirmed preliminary discussions with international cable network owner Liberty Global about the acquisition/swap of overlapping continental European assets (Germany, Eastern Europe). Shares in CityFibre Infrastructure, however, are faring worse, down closer to 4%. This may stem from…
2 Feb Interactive Investor (Link) “With the test and measurement businesses in question accounting for around 25% of the division’s revenues and 42% of its underlying profits, this begs the question why management is selling two businesses with a higher aggregate 14.7% margin. The sale may well be only “slightly dilutive” for the group’s margin (a…