Why has the weaker pound failed to turbocharge the economy? August 5, 2019 | City Talk The sharp fall in the pound in the wake of the 2016 Brexit referendum would help “rebalance the UK economy”, in the words of Mervyn King, former governor of the Bank of England. But since then, the UK has struggled to improve its trade position and has certainly not seen any boost to GDP growth. [...]
Why the RBS dividend joy is short-lived August 2, 2019 | City Talk While there’s much to like in the Royal Bank of Scotland interims, it’s still far from plain sailing. After years in the investment wilderness, RBS (LSE:RBS) is finally making its way back into the fold. A strong second quarter has helped to inflate the half-year numbers, with total income rising by 20 per cent and the earnings [...]
UK bonds bounce back in June as equity funds lose out August 1, 2019 Bonds are back in favour with UK investors but equities have continued to struggle amid ongoing political uncertainty. £2.4bn flowed into bonds during June – taking this year’s total inflows to almost £6bn – according to figures released by the Investment Association (IA). This included net retail sales of £1.1bn for UK Strategic Bond funds [...]
ii view: Lloyds Bank friendless on results day August 1, 2019 | City Talk by Keith Bowman from interactive investor. Lloyds continues to bear down on costs to offset tough market conditions, but shares have slumped. Half-year results to 30 June 2019 Net income down 2% to £8.82 billion Pre-tax profit down 7% to £2.89 billion Earnings per share down 7% to 2.7p Interim dividend up 5% to 1.12p per share Chief [...]
Neil Woodford fund breaches rules after Guernsey delistings July 31, 2019 Embattled fund manager Neil Woodford has breached fund restrictions after two of his major investments delisted from the Guernsey stock exchange. Woodford has been battling to reduce his Equity Income fund’s investment in illiquid securities after it was suspended following a spike in investor redemption requests. Read more: Neil Woodford’s flagship fund to stay frozen [...]
High-yielding BP shares chased higher after results July 30, 2019 | City Talk It’s a great income stock, and these numbers justify investor interest, writes our head of markets. BP’s (LSE:BP.) strategy is a marathon, not a sprint, and this latest update for the second quarter and half-year shows that the company remains reassuringly on track. Underlying replacement cost profit was strongly ahead compared to the previous quarter and [...]
Vodafone rockets 8% amid IPO excitement July 29, 2019 | City Talk It’s been a long time coming, but Vodafone has a market-friendly strategy to underpin a recovery. The spin-off of the “TowerCo” business is by far the most scintillating development within Vodafone (LSE:VOD) first-quarter trading update. Vodafone had previously mentioned that it was planning to monetise this part of the business, and has now added some flesh to [...]
Neil Woodford defends share sell-off as he faces removal from namesake fund July 29, 2019 Embattled stock picker Neil Woodford has defended his decision to sell the majority of his stake in his investment trust as it considers whether to replace him as manager. Woodford Patient Capital Trust (WPCT) announced this morning that Woodford had sold 1.75m shares, 60 per cent of his stake, to “meet personal financial obligations” including [...]
Herd behaviour is more to blame for the Neil Woodford saga than the man himself July 29, 2019 Over the last two months, the media storm around Neil Woodford has captured the attention of investors, regulators, and even parliament. A man who was once billed as “Britain’s Warren Buffett” is now at the centre of a crisis which threatens to extinguish the star fund manager and his eponymous fund. Woodford built his reputation [...]
AIM delistings fall to lowest level in over a decade July 29, 2019 The number of companies delisting from the stock exchange’s Alternative Investment Market (AIM) dropped to the lowest level for a decade last year. Just 66 companies delisted from AIM during the year ending 30th June, according to research by accountancy group UHY Hacker Young. This is down from last year’s figure of 82, and represents [...]