Instruments and controls manufacturer Spectris (LON:SXS) said that like-for-like sales were up by 6% for the four months ended 30th April, but the negative impact of foreign currency movements meant that revenues only rose by 2% in reported terms. The improvement in sales was driven by strong performances in China, and the pharmaceutical and automotive industries.…
Water and waste management specialist Pennon (LON:PNN) saw its shares rise by 5.29% to 768p as pre-tax profits climbed 3.5% to £258.8 million for the year ended 31st March. Revenues edged up by 2.9% to £1.39 billion on the back of increased tariffs and higher demand at South West Water. Get the latest from Master…
Accrol (LON:ACRL) was floated perhaps two years ago. After a few months, when the price had got to around 150p astonishing losses fell to be disclosed – so much so that this toilet paper roller looked to be out for the count. But ACRL has its fans and it was all a question of its affairs…
Well, I got caught out on Clear Leisure (LON:CLP). Somehow, I had got it into my head that there wouldn’t be yet another placing. So, I merrily went on tucking them away. So, you can understand my disappointment on learning of another placing – 63 million at 0.95p. I understand that this stock has gone…
This week the FTSE-100 hit record territory, cruising towards 8,000. But some sectors in the UK market are faring better than others… Early summer sunshine – at last In the January edition of Master Investor Magazine, I predicted that the Dow Jones Index would continue rising over the course of this year and that it…
Life as a retailer operating in the UK has been challenging in recent years. Consumer confidence has been negative since the start of 2016, with higher inflation causing household disposable incomes to decline in real terms. Shoppers have become increasingly price conscious, and this has created a growth opportunity for budget retailers. Alongside this, consumers…
Given what we have seen in stock markets in recent weeks, it was easy to pick the topic for this month’s charting article. Volatility has jumped, world markets fell heavily – is it the beginning of the end of the long trend upwards for shares? A recent history lesson Let’s go back to where this…
Given the fact that you can barely watch the news today without the “B” word rearing its head, I thought it could be timely to take a look at the fortunes of the pound versus its nearest currency neighbour, the euro. The market convention is actually to quote this the other way around to what…
At no point in my life has tempus seemed to fugit more than now. This year is nearly half over. I am at my house in the Isle of Man, a glass-fringed old café, and the place is boiling. Is this climate change or just an early summer? Who knows, but all this extraordinary weather will undoubtedly…
One big question mark hangs over the markets right now: What effect will the normalisation of monetary policy – by which we mean the gradual withdrawal of quantitative easing (QE) and an increase in interest rates – have on the global financial system and the economy? Many commentators, not least our very own Jim Mellon,…
The performance of global stock markets thus far in 2018 can best be described as ‘volatile’. The S&P 500, FTSE 100 and various other major indices have seen their price levels experience a rollercoaster ride in recent months. There are a number of reasons for this. Tensions in Syria have increased in recent days, while…
It has been a strong year for BlackRock World Mining (LON:BRWM) with a NAV return of 24% in 2017. The performance has been driven by the pick-up in global economic growth, and sentiment towards the fund is finally starting to improve after a significant write-down in 2013 dented investor confidence. If the economic recovery continues…
Augmentum Fintech (LON:AUGM) is a new London-listed investment company that was created to profit from opportunities in the UK and European Fintech sector. It will concentrate on businesses with innovative technologies that have the power to change the way we conduct our financial affairs and will distribute 50% of the realised gains made each year. AUGM…
The best way to assess the performance of an active fund is to look at its risk-adjusted return, which measures how much value the manager has added per unit of risk. Over the ten years to the end of December 2017 the top investment trust using this metric was BlackRock Smaller Companies (LON:BRSC), which was…
The Brexit negotiations have entered a critical phase. Decisions made by both sides in the next three months will have long-term consequences. In a state of conflict, all sides become extreme. A modern English Civil War The classic schoolboy pseudo-history 1066 And All That asserted that, during the English Civil War, the Cavaliers were “Wrong…
The British political class is riven with dissent over what type of Brexit is most desirable. This is because, after two years of Brexit argy bargy, few Brits really understand the issues – and least of all in the Labour Party. A discourteous proposition Last week Monsieur Barnier, the EU Chief Negotiator, threw a document…
