magazine archive
magazine archive
News
M&A fever in the supermarket sector after Morrisons bid
Thursday 24 Jun 2021Surprise news that supermarket group Wm Morrison ( MRW ) had been approached by US private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice with a £5.5 billion bid, sent the shares 30% higher on 21 June and has sparked a frenzy of speculation in the wider groceries sector. CDR, which was advised on its bid...
Earnings remain key to returns amid inflation and rates shock
Thursday 24 Jun 2021Global stock markets could be powered higher by strong corporate earnings in the months ahead, experts believe, despite ongoing expectations for tighter monetary policy measures potentially weighing on valuations through the rest of this year and into 2022. ‘We expect earnings to drive returns in...
Victorian Plumbing is AIM’s largest ever float as Wise plots direct listing
Thursday 24 Jun 2021Despite the likes of Marex Spectron, Tungsten West and Elcogen postponing proposed flotations, there are still signs of life in London’s new listings market. Payments app Wise is planning a so-called direct listing that could value the company at £9 billion, while online bathroom products retailer...
Markets unmoved by lockdown easing delay
Thursday 17 Jun 2021The delay in easing lockdown restrictions in England from 21 June to 19 July has caused consternation among many business sectors, but if the stock market’s reaction to the news is anything to go by, it doesn’t matter much to the UK’s listed companies. Both the FTSE 100 and more domestically-...
Space the new frontier for investors as ETF and investment trust launch
Thursday 17 Jun 2021The addition to the London market of an investment trust and an exchange-traded fund which invest in companies involved in space activities reflect the theme’s move into the mainstream. Seraphim Space Investment Trust is hoping to raise £150 million to launch the world’s first listed fund investing...
GlaxoSmithKline to spin-off £30 billion consumer healthcare arm in 2022
Thursday 17 Jun 2021Global pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline ( GSK ) plans to demerge its consumer healthcare division by August 2022 and give investors a direct stake in the some of the world’s most iconic consumer brands. While details are still sketchy, the head of the division Brian McNamara told the...
Regulator tells companies to prioritise pensions over dividends
Thursday 17 Jun 2021Companies with large defined benefit pension deficits have been warned by The Pensions Regulator that dividends might have been to put on hold if they are under financial pressure amid efforts to recover from the pandemic. Less than 200 pension schemes have asked to reduce or postpone their deficit...
Record job additions not sparking inflation fears yet
Thursday 17 Jun 2021News (15 Jun) that a record 197,000 people had joined the workforce in May, as the re-opening of non-essential retail and other venues sparked a rush to hire, didn’t contribute to any immediate ratcheting up of inflation or rate hike fears. The increase marks the sixth consecutive month of job...
Chip shortages set to continue into 2022
Thursday 10 Jun 2021Semiconductor designers and manufacturers have warned that the global semiconductor shortage could run into 2022 or even 2023 despite billions being spent on new fabrication capacity. TSMC, or Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Intel and Nvidia have all said they expected the crisis to...
Why ‘meme stocks’ are surging once more
Thursday 10 Jun 2021The boom in the so-called ‘meme stocks’ AMC Entertainment, Gamestop and Blackberry first seen in January and February 2021 looks like it could be repeating itself. Shares in all three have rallied since the last week of May and are once again closing in on peaks reached at the end of January after...