Steel, marketing and models

The FTSE 100 started the day in positive territory following solid overnight gains on Wall Street after Federal Reserve chairman Janet Yellen sounded cautious tones about the state of the US economy and the outlook for future interest rate rises.

“The prospect of Tata Steel finding a buyer for all its UK operations looks very slim,” says AJ Bell Investment Director Russ Mould.

“Tata has taken a £2bn hit on its UK arm in the past five years and any buyer for the entire business would need to be both an eternal optimist and have very deep pockets, given the continuing fall in demand for steel.

“Marketing analytics specialist Ebiquity beat forecasts with underlying operating profits rising by over 50% to £12.4m. The group is seeing an increasing demand for its products and services and is confident about future growth.

“Hobby group Hornby has been given some breathing space by Barclays which has agreed to waive the covenant tests for March. The toy train group, which also owns the Scalextric and Airfix model brands, has issued a series of profit warnings but recent trading has been in line with forecasts with like-for-like growth in its core UK business.”

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