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Capex cuts matter to investors
Thursday 11 Jun 2020The coronavirus pandemic has forced businesses around the world and across the industrial divide to pull emergency levers to conserve cash. As most private investors will be acutely aware, a hefty toll has fallen on company dividends, with billions of pounds worth of planned payouts from UK stocks...
Green shoots appear in the IPO market
Thursday 04 Jun 2020The initial public offerings ( IPO ) market is showing some signs of life with two initially successful recent listings. Up until these issues it had been a relatively quiet market with just eight new listings completed, which raised around £455m in new funds. Then on 29 May JDE Peet successfully...
Refinancing risk removed as Micro Focus secures funding
Thursday 04 Jun 2020Infrastructure software company Micro Focus ( MCRO ) has removed its near-term debt funding risk after pushing through a previously delayed refinancing package. The FTSE 100 company announced the deal on 29 May, securing two tranches of dollar and euro denoted funding worth $650m and €600m...
Be prepared for wave of going concern warnings
Thursday 04 Jun 2020UK finance regulators are reportedly braced for a wave of listed companies to issue warnings about their ability to survive the coronavirus pandemic, which could see share prices plummet. According to a report in the Financial Times , auditors have warned there is a backlog of annual reports from...
Are we through the worst of the crisis?
Thursday 04 Jun 2020While it’s too early to say the economic recovery is under way, it’s possible we have seen the worst readings in terms of industrial confidence in Europe and Asia. This week analytics and information firm IHS Markit published its widely-followed industrial purchasing managers index ( PMI ) surveys...
Nifty footwork from Boohoo floors short seller
Thursday 04 Jun 2020An entertaining if brief dust-up between AIM online fashion firm Boohoo.com ( BOO:AIM ) and short seller ShadowFall Research, ultimately saw the former prevail. However, even if strong growth is being forecast, we think investors should steer clear of the stock on valuation grounds. Based on...
Investors warned to watch balance sheet strength
Thursday 28 May 2020Investors are once again being warned to carefully vet potential company share purchases for balance sheet strength. A new study has shown that the average position on borrowings for FTSE 100 companies is worse now than during the credit crunch a decade ago. The financial health check report,...
Frontier Developments upgrades earnings guidance for second time
Thursday 28 May 2020While most sectors of the economy have been coming to a standstill during lockdown, the gaming sector has seen a significant boost in business, driven by an increase in the number of people playing video games while stuck at home. On 20 May Frontier Developments ( FDEV:AIM ) upgraded earnings...
Consumer stocks rally on lockdown easing hopes
Thursday 28 May 2020Hopes of a return to a ‘new normal’ saw consumer-facing stocks stage a significant rally as the UK announced plans for reopening of retail businesses. This news, combined with an update on another potential vaccine – developed by US firm Novavax – and a plan approved by chancellor Rishi Sunak to...
Why has the FTSE found it hard to push ahead in the past six weeks?
Thursday 28 May 2020For all the talk of stock markets bouncing back from March lows, UK shares have only delivered marginal gains in the past six weeks. At 6,088 on 26 May, the FTSE 100 index was up just 5.1% since 14 April, despite some wild one-day moves. US stocks have performed in a similar fashion. While...